Thursday, 22 October 2015, 21:26 HKT/SGT

United Kingdom, Oct 22, 2015 - (ACN Newswire) - China Regenerative Medicine International Ltd ("CRMI", HK:8158) is pleased to announce that it has jointly entered into a memorandum of understanding ("MOU"), being on the State Visit to the United Kingdom by President Xi Jinping of the PRC, to establish the "The CCBI-CRMI Technology Centre at the University of Oxford" with the University of Oxford and CCB International (Holdings) Ltd ("CCBI", a wholly-owned subsidiary of China Construction Bank Corporation) on 21 October. This is also one of the cooperation achievements for life sciences realized during the State Visit to the United Kingdom by President Xi.

Early in 2014, CRMI and the University of Oxford established the first CRMI regenerative medicine industry R&D Centre (the "Centre"), focusing on major unmet clinical needs, including but not limited to diabetes, cancer, neural degeneration and organ repair using stem cell therapy. According to the MOU, CCBI will provide GBP1.5 million of project funding to the Centre to accelerate research and its translation into treatments, and improve the operating and training capability of this Centre. The three parties, CCBI, CRMI and the University of Oxford, will cooperate to establish a strategic platform for the translation and commercialisation of biomedical research particularly in regenerative medicine. For this purpose, CCBI will provide assistance in the capital market of up to RMB60 billion to support translation and industrialisation of cutting edge research outcomes and promising projects. The new tripartite cooperation, with CCBI's participation, will ensure adequate funding for the industrialisation of R&D results for accelerating its R&D capabilities to enhance the strength of the market.

"The CCBI-CRMI Technology Centre at the University of Oxford" is part of the Oxford Institute of Biomedical Engineering (IBME), directed by Professor Zhanfeng Cui, who is the Donald Pollock Professor of Chemical Engineering at Oxford and a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering. CRMI is the third enterprise to set up such a research and development technology centre that is sponsored by enterprise and undertaking research at the University of Oxford. IBME is part of the Department of Engineering Science, which hosts all three Technology Centres (Rolls-Royce and Invensys support the other two centres).

Mr. Zhengkang Shao, CEO of CRMI, expressed: "Being an innovative high-tech enterprise, CRMI always takes research and development of technology as the foundation for corporate development. For years, we have relentlessly invested enormous funds in scientific research. The cooperation with the University of Oxford not only constructs an international R&D network for China Regenerative Medicine International Limited, but also provides training opportunities to scientific researchers in China. Meanwhile, the cooperation is a bridge for scientific exchanges between China and the UK, becoming a new momentum for the development in the course of human life health."

Professor Zhanfeng Cui, FREng, the Director of the Centre stated: "The UK has always occupied a leading position in the field of stem cell research. We are always keen to translate the leading scientific research into clinical applications. While this time, the cooperation among CRMI, CCBI and the University of Oxford provide a good opportunity to combine the leading position in research and development at the University of Oxford, the industrialisation and commercialisation platforms in CRMI, the financial strength of CCBI, and to create a thrust for translational and regenerative medicine. The outcome will benefit both the UK and China.

Topic: Press release summary Sectors: Daily News, BioTech
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