15 Aug 2008 07:00
15 August 2008
Imperial Innovations Group plc
("Imperial Innovations")
Three portfolio companies to benefit from Technology Strategy Board investment
Imperial Innovations (AIM: IVO) today announces that three of its portfolio companies are to receive investments from the Technology Strategy Board towards innovative new collaborative research and development projects. The three recipient companies from the Imperial Innovations portfolio are:
A second grant of £685,000 was awarded to a consortium consisting of Polytherics, GlycoForm and Aston University by the Technology Strategy Board and the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council to help accelerate the development of a treatment for anaemia.
Susan Searle, Chief Executive Officer of Imperial Innovations, said:
"In order to accelerate research and development, collaboration plays an important part. We are delighted that the Technology Strategy Board has recognised the technical and commercial potential of these three companies and their syndicates. The grants are an excellent way to encourage companies and institutions to work together, enabling them to take their projects to the next stage of development."
Explaining the background to the Technology Strategy Board's decision to invest in these projects, David Bott, Director of Innovation Programmes said: "The Technology Strategy Board supports the research and development of technology and innovation that both increases economic growth and has the potential to improve quality of life. We are therefore delighted to support these ground-breaking projects, each of which brings together the UK's world class expertise. The projects are excellent examples of first class collaborations between companies and academic institutions and we look forward to following their progress."
-Ends-
For more information contact:
| Imperial Innovations Susan Searle, Chief Executive Officer Lucy Ahfong, Marketing Communications Executive | +44 (0)20 7594 6591 +44 (0)20 7594 6644 |
| M:Communications Harriet Totty / Ben Simons | +44 (0)20 7153 1530 |
| JPMorgan Cazenove (NOMAD to Imperial Innovations) Steve Baldwin | +44(0)20 7588 2828 |
| Polytherics Keith Powell | +44(0)20 7691 4928 |
| BCT Danny Green | +44(0)20 7594 1326 |
| Novacem Lynne Mcgregor | +44(0)20 7594 1049 |
Notes to Editors
About Imperial Innovations
Imperial Innovations is one of the UK's leading technology transfer and commercialisation companies. The company was founded in 1986 and its ordinary shares admitted to trading on the AIM Market of London Stock Exchange plc in July 2006, raising £25 million at an offer price of 365p and £1 million by means of a public offer. In November 2007, the company raised a further £30 million by means of a placing of new ordinary shares with investors.
The company's integrated approach encompasses the identification of ideas, protection of intellectual property, development and licensing of technology and formation, incubation and investment in technology businesses. A wide range of technologies are commercialised within the areas of Healthcare, Energy & Environment, Engineering and Software & IT.
As at the close of its last financial year in July 2007, the company - based at Imperial College London - had established equity holdings in 74 technology businesses and was managing 133 commercial agreements. Imperial Innovations also commercialises technologies originating from outside Imperial College through incubation contracts with the Carbon Trust and WRAP and has commercialisation contracts with a number of multinational corporations.
www.imperialinnovations.co.uk
About the Technology Strategy Board
The Technology Strategy Board is a business-led executive non-departmental public body, established by the government. Its mission is to promote and support research into, and development and exploitation of, technology and innovation for the benefit of UK business, in order to increase economic growth and improve the quality of life. It is sponsored by the Department of Innovation, Universities and Skills (DIUS). For further information please visit www.innovateuk.org.
The Technology Strategy Board's collaborative research and development programme is investing directly in new and emerging technologies and has been designed to help businesses work with each other or with academic partners to develop technologies that will underpin products and services of the future. Since 2004, the programme has supported over 700 projects across 40 technology areas with a combined business and government investment worth over £1 billion.
About BioCeramics Therapeutics
BioCeramic Therapeutics Ltd is a regenerative medicine company. We have proprietary biologically active nanostructured materials that can be implanted or incorporated into other products. Initial markets are orthopedics and dentistry, and our goal is to be able to regenerate all soft tissues. We are developing two generations of products, each with many clinical applications. The first is a series of bioactive ceramics with innovative features and components that promote tissue growth. A key benefit here is an ability to increase biological activity substantially while retaining the regulatory and manufacturing simplicity of medical devices. The second is a series of materials structured on a nano-scale to mimic the extracellular matrix, which has regenerative effects on its own and can be combined with other components that deliver clinical benefit.
www.bioceraminctherapeutics.com
About NovaCem Ltd
Founded in 2007, NovaCem is a spin-out company from Imperial College London, formed to commercialise the development of novel recyclable cementitious binders that can be used for the production of carbon negative construction products.
The manufacture of Portland cement is a highly energy and carbon intensive process and is responsible for ~5% of all anthropogenic CO2 emissions. NovaCem has developed a novel cementitious binder system based on magnesium oxide and special mineral additives. Unlike Portland cement, this binder does not require high temperature processing, and it is manufactured by a chemical process that has minimal CO2 emissions. It hardens by absorbing atmospheric CO2 and therefore offers the unique potential to develop a range of 'carbon negative' construction products.
The construction and operation of UK homes is responsible for more than 30% of all CO2 emissions in the UK. NovaCem's novel cementitious binder can uniquely combine the sustainability of timber, the recyclability of metals, and the technical properties and high thermal mass of concrete, thus minimising CO2 emissions during building construction, operation and disposal.
NovaCem Ltd has successfully won incubation support from the Carbon Trust as its cementitious binder technology has been assessed as having high carbon saving potential. The incubation services will help further develop a business strategy and secure additional funding for its implementation.
About PolyTherics Ltd
Founded in 2002, PolyTherics is a spin-out company from Imperial College London that is dedicated to using biomedical polymers to optimise pharmaceuticals for the treatment and cure of the world's most important diseases.
PolyTherics has developed an innovative patented PEGylation technology to prolong the half-life of molecule fragments for use in drug development. PEGylation is the process by which Polyethylene Glycol chains are attached to protein and peptide drugs. PEGylating molecules or molecule fragments increases the time that a substance remains in the bloodstream before being metabolized or excreted by the body i.e. it improves the half-life of the drug and therefore potentially reduces the frequency of treatments required, decreasing the impact of side effects and improving patient compliance. For example, PEGylated interferon treatments for Hepatitis C can be injected once rather than three times per week.
PolyTherics has recently signed an agreement with BioVectra under which BioVectra will manufacture high quality cGMP MPEG reagents to support clients' clinical development of PolyTherics' novel PEGylation technology, and also market the PEGylation technology to its client base in North America.
For further information: www.polytherics.co.uk