Regenerative medicines specialist WideCells Group PLC (LON:WDC) has raised £750,000 through a share placing as it looks to further its penetration of the rapidly growing stem cell market.
The London-listed company has issued 5.35mln shares at 14p apiece to both new and existing shareholders, as well as several members of the board.
WATCH: WideCells supercharged to support growth plans
Chief executive and co-founder João Andrade, chairman Graham Hine and chief financial officer David Brigland were among those directors to invest some of their own money.
WideCells will use the cash raised to “rapidly accelerate” the roll-out of its three stem cell services divisions: CellPlan, WideCells and WideAcademy.
It will also go towards executing a “range of additional opportunities” the board has identified over the past year.
‘Ideally positioned in stem cell sector’
“This is an extremely exciting phase in our development as we look to accelerate the growth of all three divisions through the aggressive roll out of new and existing products and services,” said CEO Andrade.
READ: WideCells Group secures research licence from UK's Human Tissue Authority
“Our growth trajectory has been steep and we are set to continue this in the coming months as our proprietary insurance product CellPlan gains traction, the marketing of INDUS, a novel synthetic bone graft which promotes new bone formation increases, and the expansion of our stem cell bank relationships as well as our own storage capabilities expands.”
“We are ideally positioned to build on our position as a key service provider and leading international innovator in the stem cell arena.”
As Andrade mentioned, the company has been making great strides in recent months.
WATCH: Launch of synthetic bone graft opens up 'exciting' new market and opportunities for WideCells
Its CellPlan stem cell insurance cover can now be purchased by BioVault – the UK’s largest private human tissue storage facility – customers here in the UK.
WideCells’ own storage facility, the Institute of Stem Cell Technology at the University of Manchester Innovation Centre, was recently granted a research licence from the UK Human Tissue Authority, while its WideAcademy has been established to educate both the masses and healthcare professionals about stem cell technology.