20 Feb 2009 07:00
Embargoed: 0700hrs 20 February 2009
Imperial Innovations Group plc
("Imperial Innovations")
Imperial Innovations completes seed funding in three new companies
Imperial Innovations (AIM:IVO), a leading technology commercialisation and investment company, announces that it has completed seed funding in three newly formed portfolio companies based on research from Imperial College London.
Navion Pharma Limited ("Navion")
Navion is a new therapeutics company focusing on discoveries in the areas of Cancer and Metastatic disease (secondary cancer). Navion's science is based on the research of Professor Mustafa Djamgoz, an expert in Cancer Biology and a specialist in Biophysics and Bioelectricity at Imperial College London.
Navion is managed by an experienced board led by Executive Chairman Professor Chris Wood who was formerly Chairman and CEO of Bioenvision, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company quoted on the U.S. Nasdaq until its sale to Genzyme Corporation in 2006. Other key appointments include Dr Nigel Burns who has joined the board as non-executive director. Dr Burns was previously Senior Vice President of Preclinical Development at Cambridge Antibody Technology until its acquisition by AstraZeneca in 2006. The management of the company has invested alongside Imperial Innovations in this seed round.
Professor Chris Wood, Chairman of Navion, commented,
"This is a very promising new business which we hope will bring important benefits to patients in the future. We're pleased to have the backing of Imperial Innovations and look forward to working closely together with them."
Cortexica Vision Systems Limited ("Cortexica")
Cortexica is a new software company based on the research of Dr Anil Bharath and Dr Jeffrey Ng from the Department of Bioengineering at Imperial College London. The inventors have been studying the way the human brain analyses visual information and have replicated this in the Cortexica technology which imitates human visual behaviour. Although potential applications for the technology are diverse, Cortexica is focussing initially on supplying services to brand management and marketing agencies. Cortexica's solution will continuously monitor both broadcast and online video sources, measuring the number of times a brand appears in each video stream and for how long it appears. Measurements can also include a "perceptual" weighting based on the focus of human visual attention. Nick Kingsbury, Chairman of Cortexica, commented,
"We are delighted to be gaining the support of Imperial Innovations to further the development of this exciting technology."
Smart Surgical Appliances Limited ("SSA")
SSA is a medical device company developing sensor-enabled surgical instrumentation that improves the safety and clinical efficacy of minimally invasive surgery (MIS), i.e. keyhole surgery, endoscopic surgery and the newly emerging field of natural orifice transluminal endoscopic surgery (NOTES). A limitation with all MIS procedures is that the surgeon loses dexterity and accuracy because of reduced proximity to the operative site, leading to variable success rates and intra-operative complications. SSA's sensor-enabled instrumentation will, for the first time, provide real-time sensing and feedback from the operative site akin to 'touch and feel', preventing complications, improving judgement and enabling reproducibility usually associated with surgeons of vast experience.
Using seed funding from Imperial Innovations and NESTA, SSA is developing and evaluating technologies which could improve the effectiveness and reliability of operations and reduces recovery time for patients. SSA is based on research emanating from the Department of Biosurgery and Surgical Technology, within the Faculty of Medicine at Imperial College London. As part of the funding round, Paul J Donnelly is investing in the business and has joined as Chairman. Paul previously worked at a senior level within global enterprises such as Johnson and Johnson, CR Bard and GlaxoSmithKline. Over the past 10 years he has focused, as a CEO, in private equity backed medical device businesses where he has led a series of successful fund raisings and investor exits. Before joining SSA, Paul was President International of Puricore plc a leading provider of endoscope sterilisation equipment.
Paul J Donnelly, Chairman of SSA, said,
"SSA is addressing areas of high volume minimally invasive surgery where there are real unmet needs to which we can add significant solutions over time."
Susan Searle, Chief Executive Officer of Imperial Innovations, said,
"Navion, Cortexica and SSA are three companies, each based on high quality research from Imperial College, that we believe offer tremendous potential in their respective fields."
-Ends-
For further information please contact:
Imperial Innovations
Susan Searle, Chief Executive
Diana Crisp or Kamila Kirby-Green
Tel. +44 (0)20 7594 6589 or +44 (0)20 75946506
M:Communications
Patrick d'Ancona or Ben Simons
Tel. +44 (0)20 7153 1540
JPMorgan Cazenove (NOMAD to Imperial Innovations)
Steve Baldwin
Tel. +44(0)20 7588 2828
About Imperial Innovations
Imperial Innovations is one of the UK's leading technology commercialisation and investment companies. Founded in 1986, its ordinary shares were admitted to trading on the AIM Market of London Stock Exchange plc in July 2006, raising £26 million. It raised a further £30 million in November 2007 by means of a placing of new ordinary shares with investors.
Imperial Innovations' integrated commercialisation approach encompasses the identification of ideas, the protection of intellectual property, the development and licensing of technology and the formation, incubation and funding through investment of technology businesses. Based at Imperial College London, Imperial Innovations commercialises a wide range of technologies primarily within the areas of healthcare, energy and the environment.
In December 2008 Imperial Innovations benefitted from its latest significant portfolio company trade sale when Thiakis Limited, a company in which Imperial Innovations had a 23.7% stake, was sold for up to £100 million to US-based Wyeth Pharmaceuticals,
www.imperialinnovations.co.uk