Imperial Innovations Group Regulatory News (IVO)

9 May 2007 10:04

Imperial Innovations Group plc09 May 2007 Imperial Innovations Group plc ("Imperial Innovations") Licensing of Intellectual Property to Medical Device Innovations Ltd Imperial Innovations Group plc (AIM: IVO), the technology commercialisation andinvestment company, today announces that Medical Device Innovations Ltd (MDi), amedical device development company, has acquired the exclusive rights to developthe RotaCure(TM)technology, a surgical instrument to repair torn rotator cufftendons in the shoulder. The rotator cuff is a group of four muscles in the shoulder that wrap around theshoulder joint and attach the upper arm to the shoulder blade. Injuries arecommon, caused either by mechanical wear or traumatic injury, such as falling onan outstretched arm, and account for about one third of cases treated atshoulder clinics throughout the developed world. The new surgical instrument invented by Dr Anthony Bull and Dr Adam Hill, fromthe Department of Bioengineering and the Faculty of Medicine at Imperial CollegeLondon respectively, replaces the multiple tools required by contemporarykeyhole methods with a single device that the surgeon can operate with one hand.Currently, existing keyhole surgery for rotator cuff operations requiresmultiple instruments and incisions and great operative skill from severalsurgeons, taking long periods of time to execute. As a consequence of this newinstrument, the surgical procedure will be greatly simplified and the number ofincisions will be reduced to one or two. There is potential, with furtherdevelopment, for such operations to be conducted on an outpatient basis.Development of the initial prototype device has been undertaken in conjunctionwith J K Middleton Surgical Engineering, Wigan, Lancashire, under the directionof MDi. Susan Searle, CEO of Imperial Innovations, said: "We are delighted to haveconcluded this licence deal with MDi. The RotaCure(TM)technology stems fromworld-class research at Imperial College London and we welcome the commercialbacking and expertise of MDi to accelerate its development." David Cottier, CEO Medical Device Innovations Ltd. said: "We are pleased to becollaborating with Imperial Innovations on the development of the RotaCureTMtechnology. This is a high potential project which combines the skill of theinventors with the project management expertise and access to funding providedby MDi. We believe that the result will be a device which significantly improvesfuture clinical outcomes." -Ends- For more information contact: Imperial Innovations Susan Searle, Chief Executive Officer +44 (0)20 7594 6591Lucy Ahfong, Marketing Communications Executive +44 (0)20 7594 6644 M:Communications Patrick d'Ancona / Eleanor Williamson +44 (0)20 7153 1539 JP Morgan Cazenove +44(0)20 7588 2828Steve 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 in66 technology businesses and has completed 90 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 spin-out companies, includingThe Acrobot Company Limited, BioCeramic Therapeutics Limited, Cardiak Limited,Circassia Holdings Limited, deltaDOT Limited, Equinox Pharma Limited, FutureWaves PTE Limited, HeliSwirl Technologies Limited, InforSense Limited, LontraLimited, Midaz Lasers Limited, NanoBioDesign Limited, Nexeon Limited, NovaTheraLimited, 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 MDi Limited MDi is an intellectual property management and development company created torealise value from inventions made by leading surgical & biomedical engineeringgroups throughout Europe. Focused exclusively on interventional medical devices, the aims of the companyare to source, assess, finance and develop new technologies forcommercialisation via partnerships with major healthcare corporations. By converting ideas into products, MDi aims to improve future patient care andclinical practise whilst also enabling inventors & institutions to share in therewards of commercialisation. www.mdi-md.com This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange