Russia's Human Stem Cell Institute and the UK's Xenetic Biosciences Explore Joint Projects in the International Biotech Sector

MOSCOW, September 12, 2011 /PRNewswire/ --

On the eve of Prime Minister David Cameron's official visit to Russia, Human Stem Cell Institute and Xenetic Biosciences, leading biotech companies from Russia and the UK, met to discuss opportunities for further collaboration and investment in the international biotech sector.

This follows on from the announcement in August that Human Stem Cell Institute and Xenetic Biosciences (formerly Lipoxen) were the initiators of a major cross-border M&A transaction to form SynBio, with additional financing secured from Russia's State Venture Fund Rusnano.  The deal, which is expected to complete by the end of September, was acknowledged at the time as an exceptional example of UK-Russian cooperation, and it is now the intention of the two companies to pursue opportunities to extend their cooperation both within and beyond SynBio.

Human Stem Cell Institute CEO and major shareholder Artur Isaev said:  "We are delighted with our growing cooperation with such a respected and successful British bio-tech company as Xenetic.  As we said at the time of our IPO in 2009, we have global ambitions for our company, and this is the type of partnership that can help us realise our ambitions to become one of few truly innovative Russian businesses with a significant international presence."

Xenetic Biosciences CEO Scott Maguire added:  "We believe that both Russia and the UK have a shared strategic interest in developing more innovative products that serve the global markets. In line with the Russian government's desire to become an international pharmaceutical player and the long history of drug innovation in the UK, Xenetic and Human Stem Cell Institute with their recently announced deals are at the forefront of creating a new class of drug candidates. Here we are combining some of the best Russian and British brains, technology and know-how to form a formidable international partnership, and one that can bring significant value to both of our companies."

OJSC HSCI (Human Stem Cells Institute) is a Russian biotech company founded in 2003. The main focus of HSCI is scientific research and development as well as commercialization and marketing of innovative proprietary products and services arising from cell-based, gene and post-genome technologies. HSCI owns the largest family cord blood stem cells bank in Russia - Gemabank.  http://www.hsci.ru

Xenetic Biosciences (http://www.xeneticbio.com) (formerly Lipoxen) is a leading UK based biopharmaceutical company providing leading edge expertise in the development of novel and next generation biologic drugs and vaccines.  Working with some of the largest pharmaceutical organisations in the world, Xenetic has three platform technologies to improve the efficacy and performance of drugs and vaccines as well as develop novel drug and vaccine candidates.  Xenetic also actively develops its own pipeline of next generation biotherapeutics based on its proprietary PolyXen and ImuXen platform technologies. These technologies will be complemented by a third platform for cancer therapies, Oncohist, which is being acquired as part of the acquisition of Symbiotec, announced in August. Xenetic, which was founded in 1997, trades on the AIM Market of the London Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol XEN.

For additional information, please contact:

M: Communications (PR for Human Stem Cell Institute):

Julia Shmidt
Telephone: +7(495)663-80-06
e-mail: Shmidt@mcomgroup.com

Tom Blackwell
Telephone: +7(495)663-80-12
e-mail: Blackwell@mcomgroup.com

Walbrook Public Relations (PR for Xenetic Biosciences):

Paul McManus
Telephone: +44(0)20-7933-8787
e-mail: paul.mcmanus@walbrookpr.com

Jack Rich
Telephone: +44(0)20-7933-8788
e-mail: jack.rich@walbrookpr.com