Polarean Imaging PLC Appointment of Non-Executive Director (4439O)

TIDMPOLX

RNS Number : 4439O

Polarean Imaging PLC

01 June 2020

Polarean Imaging Plc

("Polarean" or the "Company")

Appointment of Non-Executive Director

Polarean Imaging plc (AIM: POLX), a clinical stage medical imaging technology company developing a proprietary magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) drug-device combination, announces the appointment of Mr. Cyrille Petit to the Company's Board as a Non-Executive Director with immediate effect.

Mr. Petit is Chief Corporate Development Officer and Head of Strategic Initiatives of the Bracco Group, a global leader in diagnostic imaging and medical devices ("Bracco"). Bracco recently acquired a 7.6% interest in the ordinary share capital of Polarean as part of the Company's GBP8.4m fundraise, which was first announced on 13 March 2020. As such, Cyrille Petit is joining the Board of Polarean as a representative of Bracco.

Cyrille Petit began his career at Goldman Sachs and went on to specialise in external growth, mergers and acquisitions, and strategy at General Electric, where he worked for 15 years. In 2012, he joined the executive committee of Smith & Nephew PLC as Chief Corporate Development Officer, and later added the responsibilities of President, Global Business Services. There, he led the group's transformation and helped to accelerate growth through a series of transactions worth in excess of US$3B.

Mr. Cyrille Petit will be appointed to the Board on the same basis as regards voting and term of appointment as the Company's existing Non-Executive Directors. He will serve on the Audit Committee. He will be subject to the same requirements as contained in the Articles of Association of the Company for such appointment to be approved at the next Annual General Meeting of the Company, and will be subject to the same requirements for retirement by rotation as the other Directors.

Richard Hullihen, Chief Executive Officer o f Polarean, said: "Cyrille's direct experience is well matched to the markets and upcoming evolution of Polarean. He is welcome on the Board, and I am excited that he has agreed to join us in the Non-Executive Director role. On behalf of the Board, I would like to welcome Cyrille to Polarean and we look forward to the skills and advice he will bring to the Company."

Information required under Schedule 2(g) of the AIM Rules for Companies ("AIM Rules")

The following information is disclosed pursuant to Rule 17 and Schedule Two paragraph (g) of the AIM Rules for Companies in relation to Cyrille Yann Nicolas Petit, aged 50:

 
 Current Directorships        Directorships held over the 
                               past 5 years 
 Blue Earth Diagnostics       Bioventus Inc 
  Inc 
                             ---------------------------- 
 Blue Earth Diagnostics 
  Limited 
                             ---------------------------- 
 Bracco Horizons Limited 
                             ---------------------------- 
 Cyrille Petit Conseil 
  SAS 
                             ---------------------------- 
 Flowonix Inc 
                             ---------------------------- 
 Reapplix A/S 
                             ---------------------------- 
 SCI Berteaux 2000 
                             ---------------------------- 
 SCI Caducee 
                             ---------------------------- 
 SCI Familiale de Kerminizy 
                             ---------------------------- 
 SCI Happy Family 
                             ---------------------------- 
 Virbac SA 
                             ---------------------------- 
 

Cyrille Petit holds 350,000 ordinary shares in the capital of the Company.

Save as disclosed above, there are no other matters which are required to be disclosed with regards to the appointment of Cyrille Petit in accordance Rule 17 and Schedule Two paragraph (g) of the AIM Rules for Companies .

Market Abuse Regulation Disclosure

Certain information contained in this announcement would have been deemed inside information for the purposes of Article 7 of Regulation (EU) No 596/2014 ("MAR") until the release of this announcement.

Enquiries:

 
 Polarean Imaging plc                            www.polarean.com / www.polarean-ir.com 
 Richard Hullihen, Chief Executive                                      Via Walbrook PR 
  Officer 
 
 
 SP Angel Corporate Finance LLP                                Tel: [phone] 
 David Hignell / Soltan Tagiev 
  (Corporate Finance) 
 Vadim Alexandre / Rob Rees (Corporate 
  Broking) 
 
 
 Walbrook PR                        Tel: [phone] or [e-mail] 
 Paul McManus / Anna Dunphy                      Mob: [phone] 
                                                                                741 001 
 
 

About Polarean's Technology

Polarean's technology produces hyperpolarized inert Xenon gas, used in conjunction with standard MRI to create high-resolution three-dimensional functional maps of the human lung. This technique provides a unique and sensitive way to monitor changes in lung structure and function; it is currently used in basic and clinical research to study lung physiology and to monitor the efficacy of new drugs.

The central equipment required for hyperpolarized gas MRI is a polarizer. Using circularly polarized laser light, the polarizer transforms the inert, stable noble gas isotope (129) Xenon into its hyperpolarized state. This process leaves the gas chemically unchanged, while only the nucleus is magnetically aligned. The resulting MRI signal is enhanced by a factor of 100,000, making direct imaging of gas atoms possible.

     About Polarean  (   www.polarean.com   ) 

The Company and its wholly owned subsidiary, Polarean, Inc. (together the "Group") are revenue-generating, medical drug-device combination companies operating in the high-resolution medical imaging market.

The Group develops equipment that enables existing MRI systems to achieve an improved level of pulmonary function imaging and specializes in the use of hyperpolarized Xenon gas ( (129) Xe) as an imaging agent to visualize ventilation. (129) Xe gas is currently being studied for visualization of gas exchange regionally in the smallest airways of the lungs, the tissue barrier between the lung, and the bloodstream and in the pulmonary vasculature. Xenon gas exhibits solubility and signal properties that enable it to be imaged within other tissues and organs.

The Group also develops and manufactures high performance MRI radiofrequency (RF) coils which are a required component for imaging (129) Xe in the MRI system. The development of these coils by the Group facilitates the adoption of the Xenon technology by providing application-specific RF coils which optimize the imaging of (129) Xe in MRI equipment for use as a medical diagnostic as well as a method of monitoring the efficacy of therapeutic intervention.

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June 01, 2020 02:00 ET (06:00 GMT)