TIDMWDC
RNS Number : 7247H
WideCells Group PLC
12 June 2017
12 June 2017
WideCells Group PLC ('WideCells Group' or 'the Company')
WideAcademy - Strategic Development Update Following the Recent
Appointment of the Former Director of Apple Education as
WideAcademy Senior Vice President and Group NED
WideCells Group PLC, the healthcare services company focused on
providing stem cell services and ground breaking insurance for stem
cell treatment, is pleased to provide a strategic update on
WideAcademy, its 100% owned education and training division. These
strategic developments follow the recent Board appointment of Alan
Greenberg, former Director of Education at Apple, as Non-Executive
Director of WideCells Group and Senior Vice President of
WideAcademy, and the recent Placing.
-- Mandate: To establish WideAcademy as the thought leader on
stem cell technologies and innovation for medical professionals and
families. The proposition must not only be self-funded but
profitable.
-- Strategy: WideAcademy will secure and work with strategic
partners in the tech and education sectors to produce and deliver
trustworthy, authentic and digestible content and courseware
focussed on the stem cell industry.
-- Global Ambition: WideAcademy will harness technology to drive
access to objective educational tools and content worldwide. It
will firstly focus on creating resources for English-speaking
communities. It plans to develop a number of channels to reach its
audiences and establish WideAcademy as the go-to portal for stem
cells.
-- Target Markets: WideAcademy has identified three core
communities which would benefit from a strengthened understanding
of stem cell innovation:
o Medical professionals - most existing health professionals
have not been educated in stem cell technologies. The same is often
true for those currently being taught and trained who represent the
next generation of medical professionals. Even where stem cell
training / teaching has been undertaken, medical professionals are
not educated on best-practise and have no obvious channel through
which they can access news and stay up-to-date with innovation in
the sector.
-- Enterprise / industry - the insurance broking industry will
be a critical channel in supporting the roll out of CellPlan, the
Company's innovative stem cell insurance product. This industry,
together with cord blood storage facilities, could benefit from an
educational resource.
-- The public - these are the consumers. The more they know
about stem cell innovation, the stronger the market becomes.
-- Multi-channel - both digital distribution channels for the
dissemination of free content and revenue generative initiatives,
including courseware, are being investigated to deliver intuitive
information to target markets
-- Who? Joining Alan Greenberg will be Jimmy Leach, an
experienced digital consultant who has previously been Head of
Digital Diplomacy at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Editorial
Director for Digital at The Independent, Head of Digital
Communications at Downing Street, and executive editor at the
guardian.co.uk. As Editor-in-Chief to WideAcademy, Mr Leach will be
responsible for driving intuitive, informative and engaging
content. WideAcademy is also in the process of making further key
appointments, including a Vice President of Education, with
experience in academic research, learning technology and pedagogy,
and a Vice President of Enterprise, with experience in Continuing
Professional Development and training in the insurance and banking
industries. Further updates relating to these appointements will be
made in due course.
WideAcademy Vice President, Alan Greenberg said, "WideAcademy is
focused on bringing stem cell innovation to the world. Through my
involvement with Apple Education and formative role in launching
educational podcasts I have first-hand experience of the huge
impact engaging digital content can have in driving education.
Technology will be key to unlocking our proposition, which is
centred on creating and distributing easily-digestible and
trustworthy content, much of which will be free to access, share
and 'like'. Courseware, accreditation, and the access to
distinguished networks will come at a price, enabling this
proposition to become self-funding. We believe that these offerings
will be valuable to both individuals wishing to enhance their
knowledge and to professional institutions such as a doctor's
surgery, a teaching hospital, university or medical school
department. I believe stem cell technology is set to transform our
medical world and I am delighted to be a part of the WideCells team
as we look to bring this innovative industry to the wider
market."
WideCells Group CEO, João Andrade, said, "WideAcademy's focus on
promoting best-practise and quality whilst driving innovation is
highly synergistic to the principles held by the rest of the
WideCells Group. It also fits ideally with WideCells' mission to
make stem cell treatment accessible and affordable to all. By
helping people to understand this growing industry from multiple
perspectives and angles, WideAcademy will help drive the uptake of
products and services and in turn investment across the entire
sector. It is this commitment to both innovation and education
which recently resulted in us being ranked as the 21st most
disruptive company globally by DISRUPT 100, which is an annual
index celebrating the businesses with the most potential to
influence, change or create new global markets. We look forward to
continuing to disrupt and advance the rapidly growing stem cell
industry through our multi-focus approach, which alongside the
educational focus of WideAcademy includes stem cell storage and
research and a first of its kind insurance plan, CellPlan. With
multiple value upside triggers ahead, including imminent maiden
revenues from CellPlan, I very much look forward to the
opportunities ahead!"
**ENDS**
For further information, please visit the Company's website
www.widecellsgroup.com, follow us on Twitter @WideCells_Group or
contact:
WideCells Group CEO - João Andrade Tel: +351 919
033 171
------------------- ------------------------- --------------
Smaller Company Broker - Jeremy Woodgate Tel: +44 (0)
Capital Ltd & Rupert Williams 20 3651 2912
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Shard Capital Broker - Damon Heath Tel: +44 (0)
Partners LLP & Erik Woolgar 207 186 9950
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St Brides Partners PR - Elisabeth Cowell Tel: +44 (0)
Ltd & Charlotte Page 20 7236 1177
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Notes to Editors
WideCells Group PLC is building an integrated stem cell services
company, focused on making stem cell treatments accessible and
affordable. The Directors believe that the use of cord blood stem
cells for transplant will drive one of the next important phases in
medicine and is therefore developing market leading products in
complementary, strategic areas which are designed to take advantage
of substantial market opportunities in one of the fastest growing
segments in the healthcare industry. With this in mind, it has
created 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 focus on stem cell research and regenerative medicine.
WideCells also has international cryogenics divisions specialising
in stem cell storage.
-- WideAcademy: developing 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 this
-- 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 information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
END
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