ReNeuron loss comes in slightly below expectations

Cell-based therapeutics developer ReNeuron Group said on Thursday that its loss for the year was slightly lower than expectations at £11.3m, compared to a loss of £11.4m in the prior year.

The AIM-traded firm said that included an upfront payment of £5.4m, net of withholding tax, received through the licence agreement for its CTX and hRPC cell therapy programmes in Greater China with Fosun Pharma.

It noted the successful fundraise in December, raising £17.5m before expenses, adding that costs in the year ended 31 March were reduced to £13.2m from £20.6m.

Cash used in operating activities was also lower, at £6.1m, compared to £14.3m in the 2020 financial year.

Cash, cash equivalents and bank deposits as at 31 March totalled £22.2m, up from £12.6m a year earlier, providing at least a 12-month runway.

“Over the previous financial year, we have been successful in designing and implementing an extension cohort in the phase 2a clinical trial of our hRPC cell therapy candidate in retinitis pigmentosa, including doubling of the dose and other changes designed to amplify the efficacy signal seen in earlier cohorts,” said chief executive officer Olav Hellebø.

“We have received regulatory approvals in the US, UK and Spain, and have started enrolment in all countries.

“Although dosing was temporarily suspended during the investigation of a presumed bacterial infection, the clinical trial is being restarted, and we expect subjects to be treated shortly, with further data to be presented later in the fourth quarter of 2021.”

Hellebø said the company’s exosome and iPSC platforms had also progressed well during the year, with multiple industry-based collaborations now in progress across both platforms, and the prospect of preclinical proof-of-concept data in the coming months.

“Our decision in 2020 to focus the company's resources on our retinal disease programme and our exosome and iPSC platforms has resulted in significantly lower operating costs, as reflected in the results for the year.

“This renewed clarity of focus, together with the fundraise in December, will enable us to reach important, data-driven potential value inflection points across our programmes over the next 12 months.”

At 1411 BST, shares in ReNeuron Group were down 2.85% at 105.89p.