Imperial Innovations Group Regulatory News (IVO)

2 February 2016

Imperial Innovations Group plc

Innovations portfolio company MISSION Therapeutics raises £60 million to progress innovative drug platform

Imperial Innovations Group plc (AIM: IVO, 'the Group', 'Innovations') announces that portfolio company MISSION Therapeutics ('MISSION' or 'the Company') has raised £60.0 million to advance a series of first-in-class small molecule drugs candidates from its innovative drug platform.

The financing was jointly led by Innovations and new investor, Woodford Patient Capital Trust Plc with follow-on investment from existing shareholders Sofinnova Partners, SR One, Roche Venture Fund and Pfizer Venture Investments.

Innovations has committed £11.3 million to the round, with the first tranche of £3.9 million invested yesterday, resulting in the Group's holding increasing to 21.6% interest in the Company. As of 31 July 2015, Innovations had invested £5.8 million in MISSION with a net carrying value of £6.0 million.

MISSION is a drug discovery and development company focused on selectively targeting deubiquitylating (DUBs) enzymes to treat cancer, neurodegenerative and other diseases. DUBs are involved in multiple cellular processes, including DNA damage and cell proliferation.

The inhibition of these enzymes has considerable potential for the generation of novel drugs for treating cancer and other unmet medical needs, including neurodegenerative disease, muscle wasting and infectious disease. Despite significant efforts within the pharmaceutical sector, there is a lack of DUB inhibitors in clinical development.

The new funding will enable MISSION to maximise the potential of its world-leading DUB platform and advance a series of first-in-class small molecule drug candidates targeting specific DUBs into early clinical development.

MISSION is another example of Innovations' maturing portfolio continuing to make significant progress. It is now the fourth Innovations portfolio company to raise over £40 million in a single private funding round.

Dr Rob Woodman, Director of Healthcare Ventures, Imperial Innovations added:

"MISSION's world-class DUB platform has the potential to deliver innovative treatments in indications of high unmet need, including neurodegenerative diseases and cancer.

"We are pleased to support the creative management team in realising the full potential of the ground-breaking discovery chemistry, as MISSION enters its next stage of growth."

Anker Lundemose, Chief Executive Officer, MISSION Therapeutics commented: 

"We have attracted one of the highest profile investor syndicates in Europe. I would like to thank all of our investors for their support and Imperial Innovations for leading the investment round, which is a strong endorsement of our unique discovery platform.

"2016 will see us progress our advanced programs into regulatory preclinical development and deepen our pipeline, from a position of increased financial strength."

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Notes to editors

About Imperial Innovations - www.imperialinnovations.co.uk 

Imperial Innovations Group plc ("Innovations") creates, builds and invests in pioneering technology companies and licensing opportunities developed from outstanding scientific research from the 'Golden Triangle', the geographical region broadly bounded by London, Cambridge and Oxford. This area has an unrivalled cluster of outstanding academic research and technology businesses, and is home to four of the world's top 10 universities, as well as leading research institutions, the cream of the UK's science and technology businesses and many of its leading investors.

Innovations supports scientists and entrepreneurs in the commercialisation of their ideas, through the licensing of intellectual property, by leading the formation of new companies, by recruiting high-calibre management teams and by providing investment and encouraging co-investment. Innovations remains an active investor over the life of its portfolio companies, with the majority of Innovations' investment going into businesses in which it is already a shareholder.

Since becoming a public company in 2006, Innovations has raised more than £346.0 million of equity from investors, which has enabled it to invest in some of the most exciting spin-outs to come out of UK academic research. In addition, the Group has agreed £80.0 million in loan facilities from the European Investment Bank (EIB).

Between Innovations' admission to AIM (August 2006) and 31 July 2015, Innovations has invested a total of £236.8 million across its portfolio companies, which have raised collectively investment of £1.3 billion.

About MISSION Therapeutics 

MISSION Therapeutics was founded in 2011 to commercialise expert research into the ubiquitin pathway for the treatment of cancers and non-malignant disease. It has built a world-leading platform for the discovery and development of first-in-class, small molecule drugs that selectively target deubiquitylating enzymes (DUBs) - an emerging, and hitherto intractable, drug class that is attracting significant commercial interest as the potential 'Next Kinase Area'.

DUBs are involved in multiple cellular processes, including DNA damage and cell proliferation, and the inhibition of these enzymes has considerable potential for the generation of novel drugs for treating cancer and other unmet medical needs, including neurodegenerative disease, muscle wasting and infectious disease. Despite significant efforts within the pharmaceutical sector, there is a lack of DUB inhibitors in clinical development.

MISSION's leadership team has a wealth of international, commercial and scientific experience and the company has strong links with key academic and research centres including Cancer Research UK laboratories and the Gurdon Institute, University of Cambridge. Professor Steve Jackson at Cancer Research UK laboratories and the Gurdon Institute, University of Cambridge is the scientific founder of MISSION and is the Chief Scientific Officer of the Company.