TIDMWDC
RNS Number : 9692T
WideCells Group PLC
09 July 2018
9 July 2018
WideCells Group PLC ('WideCells Group' or 'the Group')
Board Changes
WideCells Group PLC, the healthcare services company focused on
providing stem cell services and ground-breaking insurance for stem
cell treatment, is pleased to announce the appointment of Dr.
Jeremy Lea as Chief Operating Officer ('COO') of WideCells Group.
Dr. Lea will be responsible for leading the Group's next phase of
growth as it builds revenues and drives the global uptake of its
innovative portfolio of stem cell services including CellPlan, the
world's first stem cell healthcare insurance plan, WideCells, which
is focused on stem cell storage services, and Wideacademy, the
Group's education and training division.
Dr. Lea replaces Mr. Lopes Gil, who is stepping down for
personal reasons, but will remain with the Group as an advisor.
Non-Executive Director Dr. Marilyn Orcharton is also stepping down
from the Board and will assume an advisory role to support the
building of the Group's dental related stem cell services, which
will include the launch of a new stem cell storage service,
TeethCells.
Dr. Lea has extensive sales and management experience and
success in delivering tangible financial, operational and
efficiency-driven improvements within the healthcare sector. He
already has an in-depth understanding of the Group having led
WideCells Limited, the Group's stem cell storage and research
division, and has also helped in a number of senior management
positions. Prior to joining the Group, he was the Commercial Leader
for Cole-Parmer Ltd, a global manufacturer of laboratory products,
tasked with driving all commercial activities for sales and
marketing within the EMEA region. Other roles held include Sales
and Marketing Manager of Nu Instruments Ltd, a market leading
designer and manufacturer of high-performance mass spectrometers
and accessories, and Global Head of Sales of the AIC division of
Bruker Biospin, Karlsruhe/Billerica, part of the Bruker
Corporation. As Managing Director of Bruker UK Ltd, he managed the
merger of four separate legal entities into one coherent business.
Additionally, as Head of XRF for Bruker AXS GmbH he was
Geschaftsfuhrer/Managing Director in the Karlsruhe headquarters and
simultaneously Vice President of Bruker AXS Inc. in Madison WI. He
has a PhD in Physical Chemistry from Leicester University.
WideCells Group CEO, João Andrade, said, "Having worked with
Jeremy, we understand his ability to develop commercial models and
the operations around them. His understanding of our business,
commercial acumen, global sales experience and knowledge of the
healthcare sector make him well qualified to assume the role of
Group COO as we look to deliver significant revenue, profit and
market share growth.
"As the business develops, we believe Jeremy will be invaluable
on continuing this positive trajectory. We have now completed our
first sales for BabyCells (stem cell storage) and CellPlan (stem
cell insurance) in the UK, which enabled us to complete full sales
cycles for both products, placing us in a better position to grow
our sales in the domestic and international markets. In the near
term, this will include driving sales of our recently launched stem
cell storage services, operated from our Institute of Stem Cell
Technology in Manchester, where Jeremy will be based. We also
continue to target additional sales agreements for our CellPlan
insurance product, with a prospective opportunity identified in
Portugal where this division is based.
"I would like to take this opportunity to thank Lopes, who
started the company with me, as well as Marilyn, for all their hard
work and support. Their start-up experience has enabled us to
establish WideCells Group's highly innovative and unique stem cell
services offering and we are delighted that they will both continue
to support us in advisory roles moving forward. We now look forward
to a new phase of growth and development as we build WideCells
Group's global sales profile and ultimately build the Group into
the leading stem cell services provider we know it can be."
Dr. Jeremy Lea, aged 57, currently holds or has held the
following directorships and partnerships in the last five
years:
Current Directorships Past Directorships
Elucitec Ltd
Bruker Biospin MRI Limited
Oxford Research Systems Limited
Bruker UK Limited
Bruker ASX Limited
---------------------------------
**ENDS**
For further information, please visit the Group's website
www.widecellsgroup.com, follow us on Twitter @WideCells_Group or
contact:
WideCells Group PLC CEO - João Andrade Tel: +351 919 033
171
Smaller Company Capital Broker - Jeremy Woodgate & Tel: +44 (0) 20
Limited Rupert Williams 3651 2912
----------------------------- ------------------
Shard Capital Partners Broker - Damon Heath & Erik Tel: +44 (0) 20
LLP Woolgar 7186 9950
----------------------------- ------------------
St Brides Partners PR - Charlotte Page & Isabel Tel: +44 (0) 20
Limited de Salis 7236 1177
----------------------------- ------------------
Notes to Editors
WideCells Group PLC
WideCells Group PLC is building an integrated stem cell services
company, focused on making stem cell treatments accessible and
affordable. This is achieved through three divisions:
The Group has three divisions:
-- CellPlan: the world's first stem cell healthcare insurance
plan with financial cover for medical treatment, travel and
accommodation expenses and concierge service to manage the
treatment process.
-- WideCells: The Institute of Stem Cell Technology has been
established and is based in the University of Manchester Innovation
Centre to provide stem cell storage services and focus on stem cell
research and regenerative medicine. Its international cryogenics
division specialises in stem cell storage, with the Group currently
offering umbilical cord blood and tissue storage services to
clients in the UK and Europe under the brand name BabyCells.
-- Wideacademy: an education and training division to promote
awareness of the benefits of stem cell storage across the global
general practice community.
The Group has built an experienced senior management team that
has been integral to the development of its growth and business to
date.
Stem Cell Fast Facts:
-- Cord blood (which is taken from the umbilical cord) provides
the most effective source of stem cells for families due to it
being simple, safe and painless to collect relative to other
sources of stem cells such as bone marrow - WideCells will focus on
promoting the collection and storage of cord blood.
-- Since 2005, there has been a 300% increase in the number of
illnesses that can be treated using stem cells.
-- 82 illnesses can currently be treated using stem cell procedures.
-- Despite initial storage often costing no more than a few
GBPthousand, actual treatment can cost in the GBPhundreds of
thousands
This announcement contains inside information for the purposes
of Article 7 of the Market Abuse Regulation (EU) 596/2014 (MAR). On
publication of this announcement, this inside information is now
considered to be in the public domain.
This information is provided by RNS, the news service of the
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END
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