Imperial Innovations Group Regulatory News (IVO)

30 Jul 2007 08:00

Imperial Innovations Group plc30 July 2007 Imperial Innovations Group plc ("Imperial Innovations") Investment in Acrobot Ltd Imperial Innovations Group plc, the technology commercialisation and investmentcompany (AIM: IVO) today announces that it has closed an investment in TheAcrobot Company Limited (Acrobot), a company focusing on computer assistance fororthopaedic surgery. The investment was part of a £2.6 million funding roundwhich was co-led by London Technology Fund and PUK Ventures. The overall goal of Acrobot's technologies is to provide speed, accuracy andreproducibility, which will lead ultimately to minimally-invasive,bone-conserving, orthopaedic surgery. Acrobot is based on the pioneeringresearch of Professor Brian Davies of the Department of Mechanical Engineeringand Professor Justin Cobb in the Faculty of Medicine, both at Imperial CollegeLondon. Acrobot has developed and clinically proven a range of products in three keyareas related to orthopaedic surgery: computer-assisted 3D planning, surgicalnavigation and surgeon-controlled robotic surgery. Acrobot(R) Planner creates apre-operative plan, according to which the bone is prepared and the implantpositioned using Acrobot's unique surgical navigation system, Acrobot(R)Navigation, which tracks the position of surgical instruments relative to thepatient to ensure highly accurate surgery. In the third area, Acrobot's key'active constraint' technology confines a bone cutting tool to a defined volumein space, allowing the surgeon to shape the bone to receive a joint replacementimplant. This simple, universally applicable, surgeon-controlled roboticsolution would replace conventional instrumentation, enabling better bonepreparation and more accurate implant positioning. The company is now poised to move forward to full commercialisation of itsPlanner and Navigation technologies and will further develop its 'activeconstraint' technology for robotic applications. The Acrobot(R) Navigationproduct has been developed by Acrobot in collaboration with Corin Group PLC(Corin) to enable accurate implantation of Corin's lead product - the Cormet(R)metal on metal hip resurfacing implant. Many orthopaedic surgeons are now usingthe products, enabling them to plan and perform hip resurfacing surgery moreaccurately. Graeme Brookes, CEO of Acrobot, said: "We now have the resources necessary to take our exciting developments to marketand to further develop key next generation robotic tools that engage theorthopaedic surgeon and offer reproducibility coupled with improved ease ofuse." Susan Searle, CEO of Imperial Innovations said: "Acrobot's revolutionary products have been validated in clinical trials and arebeing used in hospitals. We are confident that the investment will help thecompany build on what they have achieved to date." -Ends- For more information contact: Imperial InnovationsSusan Searle, Chief Executive Officer +44 (0)20 7594 6591Lucy Ahfong, Marketing Communications Executive +44 (0)20 7594 6644 M:CommunicationsPatrick d'Ancona / Eleanor Williamson +44 (0)20 7153 1539 The Acrobot Company LimitedGraeme Brookes +44 (0)20 7403 5866 JPMorgan Cazenove (NOMAD to Imperial +44(0)20 7588 2828Innovations)Steve Baldwin Notes to Editors About Imperial Innovations Imperial Innovations is one of the UK's leading technology transfer andcommercialisation companies. The company was founded in 1986 and its ordinaryshares admitted to trading on the AIM Market of London Stock Exchange plc inJuly 2006, raising £26 million. The company's integrated approach encompassesthe identification of ideas, protection of intellectual property, developmentand licensing of technology and formation, incubation and investment intechnology businesses. A wide range of technologies are commercialised withinthe areas of healthcare, energy, environment and emerging technology trends. Based at Imperial College London, the company has established equity holdings in70 technology businesses and has completed 116 commercial agreements. ImperialInnovations also commercialises technologies originating from outside ImperialCollege through incubation contracts with the Carbon Trust and WRAP and hasrelationships with a number of multinational corporations including BAE Systems. Imperial Innovations has invested in a range of technology businesses, includingThe Acrobot Company Limited, BioCeramic Therapeutics Limited, Cardiak Limited,Circassia Holdings Limited, deltaDOT Limited, Equinox Pharma Limited, HeliSwirlTechnologies Limited, InforSense Limited, IXICO Limited, Lontra Limited, MidazLasers Limited, NanoBioDesign Limited, Nexeon Limited, NovaThera Limited,PolyTherics Ltd, QuantaSol Limited, Thiakis Limited and Veryan Medical Limited. Imperial Innovations currently holds shares in four technology businesses nowlisted on AIM including the fuel cell company, Ceres Power plc. www.imperialinnovations.co.uk About Acrobot Acrobot was founded by Brian Davies, Professor of Medical Robotics in theDepartment of Mechanical Engineering of Imperial College London, and JustinCobb, Professor of Orthopaedics of Imperial College London and a leadingOrthopaedic Surgeon. The company's products and services centre on the application of computerscience, mechanical, electrical, and electronics engineering disciplines tosurgery. The technology and the derived medical devices are intended to assistsurgical staff, enabling new procedures to be performed and existing proceduresto be carried out to a higher level of accuracy whilst also leading tominimally-invasive operations. Acrobot's portfolio includes Acrobot(R) Planner,which offers pre-operative surgical planning and visualisation software; theAcrobot(R) Navigation System, which provides computer-assistance by tracking thespatial locations of tools and patient and depicting them against apre-operative plan on a computer screen to be used by the surgeon as guidance;and the Acrobot(R) Sculptor Robotic System, a motorised programmable devicewhich uses 'active constraint' to prevent a surgeon accidentally moving outsidea specified area. These systems will be further developed to assistminimally-invasive surgery in orthopaedics. www.acrobot.co.uk This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange