ReNeuron Group PLC (LON:RENE) believes its CTX stem cell line could be used in the fight against cancer.
The platform is currently being taken through the clinic as a possible treatment for stroke patients, with long-term data suggesting it can improve motor function and reduce levels of disability.
IN-DEPTH: ReNeuron well-funded for next phase of development
But ReNeuron thinks the potential is much greater and it will say as much at the 26th Annual Congress of the European Society of Gene and Cell Therapy (ESGCT) in Switzerland later today.
The AIM company will present new data which suggests CTX could be reprogrammed and used to produce new non-donor-specific cell lines, including NK and T-Cells – the cells that can be modified to attack cancer cells.
“The data we are presenting at the ESGCT Annual Congress represents a significant advance in the use of cell re-programming to generate new allogeneic cell lines as potential therapeutic candidates,” said the head of research, Randolph Corteling.
“Importantly, the possibility of generating an allogeneic source of haematopoietic stem cells from our clinical-grade CTX cell line offers the prospect of a potential non-patient-specific alternative to those cancer immunotherapies in development that currently rely on the use of the patient's own T-cells.”
WATCH: ReNeuron focus on new clinical trials
In an interview with Proactive Investors, chief financial officer Michael Hunt added: “It’s not something we would do ourselves, we already have our own programmes therapeutically of course.”
“So it does provide the potential to perhaps licence on these new cell types, if we can generate them and validate them, for use by others and of course we would have a stake in those outsourced programmes.”
ReNeuron shares were up 3.9% to 60.8p in early afternoon trading on Thursday.
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