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"The Spanish cord blood and stem cell storage market is one of the most established in Europe and accordingly is a highly prospective region for us,” said chief executive João Andrade

WideCells Group PLC announced it will launch its stem cell healthcare insurance plan in Spain following the product’s debut here in the UK and alongside its imminent roll-out in Brazil.

The local agent for the CellPlan, which costs £170 a year, will be a company called Stem Cell Banco Celulas Madre, a provider of stem cell storage services. Under the re-seller model, the tie-up should generate £50 per sale (after commissions and reinsurance costs).

READ: WideCells ready to ink deal that expands its reach to the Middle East, Africa and Asia-Pacific

In the same stock market announcement, WideCells confirmed its CellPlan e-commerce platform is now “fully live” in the UK. It is expected to be available in Spain by the end of the year.

"The Spanish cord blood and stem cell storage market is one of the most established in Europe and accordingly is a highly prospective region for us,” said chief executive João Andrade.

“Having successfully launched our CellPlan product in the UK, and with sales due to commence in Brazil in the near term, we now have an established framework and roll-out model which enables us to target new geographies quickly and with relatively low cost.”

On Wednesday, the company inked a deal that will take it and its stem cell services into the Middle East, Africa and Asia-Pacific regions.

Read more via Proactive Investors

[Alliance News] 

Energy investment company Path Investments PLC said Monday it swung to profit in the first half of 2017 following its listing on London Main Market in March.

Path Investments swung to pretax profit of GBP73,048 in the six months to June 30 after suffering a loss of GBP1.6 million in the same period last year. 

The investment company floated on the London Stock Exchange in March and raised GBP1.4 million from the placing. 

Path Investments is looking to buy oil and gas production, or near production, assets which have a lower risk profile than exploration and development assets, noting its current focus is on the onshore oil and gas markets.

Path Investments said it has had 27 potential investment opportunities considered since its admission, 7 of which are currently under consideration, with 2 in advanced stages of discussion. 

Chief Executive Christopher Theis said: "The first half of 2017 was a transformational period for the company with the admission to the standard list. Since admission we have been extremely busy investigating potential investment opportunities that may meet our criteria.

"We continue to believe that there is a significant opportunity to acquire interests in assets owned by financially distressed exploration led oil and gas companies and are exploring a number of potential transactions in detail. We look forward to providing further updates on these as appropriate," Theis added. 

Shares in Path Investments down 6.7% at 0.7 pence Monday. 

By Gem Sofianos Alliance News

The Company has also released its interim results: Path_Interim Results Jan-Jun_2017

[Alliance News]

WideCells Group PLC said on Friday it had established "revenue generative operations" and was preparing for "transformational" growth. 

The company provides stem cell services including its stem cell processing and storage business WideCells, training and education business WideAcademy, as well as its "unique" stem cell treatment insurance CellPlan.

WideCells had its initial public offering in July 2016, raising GBP2.00 million.

For the six months ended June 30, pretax loss widened to GBP880,397 from GBP244,255 the year prior.

The company said it had GBP868,829 in cash on June 30, not including the GBP750,000 raised in August.

Revenue was GBP25,000 after it reported no revenue whatsoever the year before.

"Having achieved consistent growth across our portfolio of three divisions during the period, we now have two revenue generative divisions - CellPlan and WideCells - with the third - Wideacademy - targeted to commence operations in early 2018", WideCells Chief Executive Joao Andrade said.

The company noted that it had appointed former Apple Inc Director of Education Alan Greenberg as Senior Vice President of Wideacademy.

WideCells Chairman Graham Hine said Greenberg had "devised a clear programme and strategy through which we are now ideally poised to grow our training and research arm."

Hine said the company was "poised" for "transformational" growth with new product offerings and service growth initiatives in place.

"With a number of growth initiatives already well advanced to build on revenues and expand our global reach, the future continues to look very bright for our company", Andrade said.

Shares in WideCells were up 0.9% at 13.62 pence on Friday.

 By Ahren Lester Alliance News

The Company has also released its interim results: Interim Results Jan-Jun_2017

excerpt from CellPlan blog...

"My main reason for offering to bank my granddaughter’s cord blood and tissue was that, as a grandparent, I could feel I had played a useful role in her and her family’s future health."

Gill Sepe

Gill’s Story

A diagnosis of blood cancer affects the whole family. At CellPlan we provide a unique protection plan that unlocks world-leading stem cell transplantation and covers the travel and accommodation expenses of the patient and a family member. For Gill Sepe, a grandmother from Surrey in the UK, CellPlan offers peace-of-mind: if one of her family falls ill, they will receive the best possible care. 

Stem Cell Treatments

Gill had been aware of stem cell treatments for some time when her first grandchild Frankie, now 5 years old, was born. Like many of us, Gill had seen medical documentaries and success stories featured in the news but had thought that such therapies may be financially inaccessible to her own family: “I had no real idea of the costs involved, other than that they were massive.”

Although there is no history of blood cancer in the Sepe family, there have been other cancers, such as lung cancer, and Gill herself suffers from an autoimmune disease that, she says: “thankfully, doesn’t give me any problems now but perhaps in the future it might deteriorate.”

Cord Blood Banking

A short time ago, Gill happened to see a presentation by João Andrade, CellPlan’s CEO at a business meeting. “He was so passionate about the massive potential of stem cell treatments,” she says “and how CellPlan insurance cover would revolutionise the way in which the average person could access treatments across the world for a fraction of the cost of paying privately.”

Umbilical cord blood contains haematopoietic stem cells (HSCs): an established treatment for leukaemias, lymphomas, multiple sclerosis, metabolic diseases and numerous disorders of blood cell proliferation, including sickle cell disease and Fanconi’s anaemia. Since the first transplant of umbilical cord blood HSCs in 1988, it is estimated that over 35,000 umbilical cord blood transplants have been performed worldwide. (Cell & Gene Therapy Insights, 3/8/17)

Stored umbilical cord blood offers an alternative source of HSCs that has advantages over both peripheral blood and bone marrow. The collection of cord blood is quick, non-invasive and painless, and the HSCs are generally healthier and in higher numbers than those sourced from older donors.

“By the time I heard João speak for a second time some months later, my daughter was pregnant,” Gill says, “so it really was a no-brainer to get on board.”

READ THE WHOLE STORY HERE...

https://www.cellplan.com/blog/why-i-chose-cellplan-for-my-beautiful-grandchildren-gills-story/