GUILDFORD, UK - ReNeuron Group plc, a leading UK-based stem cell therapy development company, announced in a press release that it has received a Notice of Allowance from the US Patent and Trademark Office for a key patent application covering its cell cryopreservation technology. 

The patent application, “Cellular Compositions for use in Therapy” (No. 13/132,475), contains broad claims relating to cryopreserved neural, retinal and mesenchymal stem cells using a formulation developed by ReNeuron researchers that, uniquely, is free of toxic cryopreservants. ReNeuron has deployed its cryopreservation technology to its lead CTX stem cell line to derive a cryopreserved, long shelf life cell therapy candidate, designated CTXcryo. 

The Company has received regulatory approval to use CTXcryo, with a current six-month shelf life, in its ongoing UK clinical trials in both stroke disability and critical limb ischaemia. ReNeuron believes that its patented CTXcryo product will provide the Company with significant commercial and competitive advantages in terms of the availability of a genuine off-the-shelf, low cost-of-goods cell therapy candidate with a shelf life enabling shipping to, and storage at, clinical sites on a global basis. 

Equivalent patents to the allowed US patent have already issued in Europe, Japan and Australia. ReNeuron has broad and multi-layered patent protection covering all of its cellbased technologies and therapeutic candidates. The Company owns or has exclusively licensed more than 80 issued patents, providing protection for its technologies in key potential markets across the globe. Olav Hellebø, Chief Executive Officer of ReNeuron, said: “The US Notice of Allowance for our cell cryopreservation technology is an important further addition to ReNeuron’s extensive patent estate. We have invested heavily in patents over the years, an investment that we believe will provide significant returns for the Company as our technologies and therapeutic candidates approach commercialisation.”