ReNeuron Group PLC (AIM:RENE, OTC:RNUGF), a UK-based leader in Stem Cell-derived Exosome Technologies, has unveiled a jump in revenue for the six months ended 30 September 2022, and issued a funding update.
The company posted revenue for the six-month period of £438,000 (H1 2021: £58,000) related to income from partner-funded development activities and royalty income.
ReNeuron highlighted reduced operating costs incurred in the period of £4.7mln (H1 2021: £6.1mln), primarily as a result of a reduction in clinical trial-related costs following the strategic review in January 2022, partly offset by additional investment made in the exosome technology platform.
Its loss for the period was reduced to £3.2mln (H1 2021: £5.2mln loss) driven by lower costs, increased revenue as noted above and foreign exchange gains.
As of 30 September 2022, ReNeuron had cash, cash equivalents and bank deposits of £10.5mln (31 March 2022: £14.5mln).
The company said it has been investigating an equity raise with institutional and other investors. However, having regard to the unfavourable conditions in small-cap equity markets, its board has concluded that it will not be possible to complete an equity raise at the current time.
In the interim results statement, Catherine Isted, ReNeuron chief executive officer, said: "The last six months have been a time of transition as the executive team has focused on accelerating the development of CustomEx, our exosome drug delivery platform. The data produced to validate the platform, following Dr Corteling's return in March of this year, has enabled us to highlight the potential of CustomEx in comparison to the conventional approach of our competitors."
She added: "In light of current unfavourable equity capital markets, it has not been possible to complete an equity raise at the present time. However, through a review of the cost base and planned initiatives, savings have been identified in order to extend our cash runway to ensure the continued development of our technology platform and maximise partnering opportunities and thereby deliver the value that I believe our customisable and targeted delivery platform should command."
As of 30 November 2022, having recently received an R&D tax credit for full-year 2022, the company said it has cash of £10.0mln, and through deferring certain expenditure on proprietary programmes and other longer-term development plans, the cash runway will be extended until at least the start of the fourth calendar quarter of 2023.
ReNeuron said this is not expected to compromise the company's ability to sign commercial exosome collaborations which upon completion should extend the runway until at least 2024.
Operational highlights in first-half 2022:
Exosomes platform
- Data presented in May highlighted the breadth of the group's CustomE exosome platform with four neural and three non-neural stem cell lines each producing distinct exosome populations.
- Post period end in October, the group presented exciting data on the significant advantages of its CustomE platform, including a 600% increase in delivery of siRNA compared to a conventional human embryonic kidney-derived (HEK) exosome approach.
Fosun Pharma
- In July 2022, a Supplemental Terms Agreement was signed with Fosun Pharma for the technology transfer of CTX into China, highlighting continued progress with the collaboration.
- The group expects to receive approximately £1mln over the 24-month period from signing the agreement, of which £320,000 has been received. In addition there is potential under the technology transfer agreement for the group to receive up to £5mln over the medium to long term, with further potential milestone payments of up to £74mln linked to the main agreement signed in 2019.
ReNeuron's stem cell-derived proprietary exosome technology platform offers a delivery mechanism for a variety of payloads such as siRNA, mRNA, proteins, small molecules and genes. The group has a growing number of partner collaborations with global pharma, biotech and academic partners in this fast-expanding area of scientific and commercial interest.
ReNeuron also has the ability, through its conditionally immortalised induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) platform, to make allogeneic tissue cells of choice and has the potential to produce exosomes with tissue-specific targeting ability.