Imperial Innovations Group Regulatory News (IVO)

13 Mar 2008 11:53

Imperial Innovations Group plc13 March 2008 13 March 2008 Imperial Innovations Group plc ("Imperial Innovations") Thriving fortnight for the Imperial Innovations therapeutics portfolio Imperial Innovations Group plc (AIM: IVO) is pleased to note the significantprogress in three of its portfolio therapeutics companies. Within a period ofjust two weeks the following announcements have been made: • PolyTherics signs agreement with Celtic Pharma • Circassia Initiates Phase II Clinical Study • Thiakis Initiates Clinical Trial PolyTherics, an innovative biopharmaceutical company has signed a collaborationagreement with Celtic Pharma, a global private equity investment fund focused onthe biopharma industry. PolyTherics' proprietary drug modification technologieswill be used to enhance some of the pharmaceutical products being developed byCeltic Pharma. PolyTherics also recently announced the expansion of itscollaboration with Biocompatibles International, a leading medical technologycompany in the field of drug device combination products. In June 2007PolyTherics raised £2.3 million. Imperial Innovations has a 20% holding inPolyTherics, which was founded in 2002. Circassia Ltd, a specialty biopharmaceutical company focused on controllingimmune system responses, has initiated a Phase II Clinical Study with itsanti-allergy technology, ToleroMune. Circassia is conducting the study in thefield of cat-dander allergy, a condition which affects approximately 17% ofAmericans and 9% of Europeans, and aims to complete the trial in the comingmonths. Circassia's anti-allergy products have the potential to help over 150million allergic rhinitis sufferers in the U.S and Europe. Circassia completed a£11 million funding round in January 2008 following a £6 million funding roundthe previous year. Imperial Innovations has a 13.2% holding in Circassia, whichwas founded in 2006. Thiakis Ltd, a biopharmaceutical company focused on the development of peptidehormones for the treatment of obesity, has successfully commenced a clinicaltrial of TKS1225, the company's novel oxyntomodulin analogue, for obesitytreatment. The trial will initially focus on safety and tolerability beforeinvestigating the effects of TKS1225 on appetite and food intake. Preclinicalmodels have demonstrated that TKS1225 has the potential to provide a major newtreatment option for obesity. Thiakis raised £10 million Series A funding inOctober 2006. Imperial Innovations has a 24.5% (fully converted) holding inThiakis, which was founded in 2004. Susan Searle, CEO Imperial Innovations said, "We are delighted to see all threecompanies making considerable and rapid progress towards commercialisation. Thisis testament to the strength of their technologies and focusedcommercially-minded management. As with all our technology companies, ImperialInnovations has played an integral role in the foundation and development ofCircassia, Thiakis and PolyTherics and continues to provide support andinvestment as they grow and reach important milestones like these." -Ends- For more information contact:Imperial InnovationsSusan Searle, Chief Executive Officer +44 (0)20 7594 6591Lucy Ahfong, Marketing Communications Executive +44 (0)20 7594 6644M:CommunicationsHarriet Totty / Eleanor Williamson +44 (0)20 7153 1530JPMorgan Cazenove (NOMAD to Imperial Innovations)Steve Baldwin +44(0)20 7588 2828 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 £25 million at an offer price of 365p and £1 million by meansof a public offer. In November 2007, the company raised a further £30 million bymeans 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 andformation, incubation and investment in technology businesses. A wide range oftechnologies are commercialised within the areas of healthcare, energy,environment and emerging technology trends. Based at Imperial College London, the company has established equity holdings in74 technology businesses and is managing 133 commercial agreements as of 31 July2007. Imperial Innovations also commercialises technologies originating fromoutside Imperial College through incubation contracts with the Carbon Trust andWRAP and has commercialisation contracts with a number of multinationalcorporations including BAE Systems. www.imperialinnovations.co.uk About PolyTherics Founded in 2002, PolyTherics is a spin-out company from Imperial College Londonand the London School of Pharmacy that is dedicated to using biomedical polymersto optimise pharmaceuticals for the treatment and cure of the world's mostimportant diseases. PolyTherics has developed and patented an innovative approach to PEGylation,known as TheraPEGTM, to prolong the half-life of proteins for use in drugdevelopment. PEGylation is the process by which Polyethylene Glycol (PEG) isattached to proteins and peptides to modify their pharmacokinetic properties fortherapeutic application. PEGylation increases the time that a compound remains in the bloodstream beforebeing metabolised or excreted by the body, thereby improving its half-life andpotentially reducing treatment frequency, decreasing side effects and improvingpatient compliance. For example, PEGylated interferon treatments for Hepatitis Ccan be administered once rather than three times per week. PolyTherics received initial funding of £850,000 from the Wellcome Trust (nowCatalyst Biomedia) and the Bloomsbury BioSeed Fund. The Company secured afurther investment of £2.3 million from Imperial Innovations Group plc, LongbowCapital LLP and The Capital Fund in June 2007. For more information please visit http://www.polytherics.co.uk About Circassia Ltd Circassia is a specialty biopharmaceutical company focused on developingmedicines designed to control immune system responses. The company has a highlyexperienced management team with a proven track record in product developmentand commercialisation, and having successfully completed two substantialfundraising rounds is backed by a syndicate of world-class venture capital andinstitutional investors. Circassia's lead products target allergies and utilise its proprietary T-cellepitope desensitization technology, which was originally developed at ImperialCollege London. The company is also developing its ToleroTrans organanti-rejection technology, which uses a similar approach to down-regulate immuneresponses in transplant patients. Circassia has a number of ongoing developmentprogrammes, with the most advanced against cat dander allergy havingsuccessfully completed a phase II clinical trial. For more information please visit www.circassia.co.uk About Thiakis Ltd Thiakis is focused on the development of novel therapies for the treatment ofobesity and other metabolic diseases. The Company's core technology, derivedfrom the research of Professor Steve Bloom at Imperial College London, is basedon the peptide hormones oxyntomodulin and PYY(3-36), which are released by theintestines in response to food ingestion, and serve to regulate appetite as partof the body's own natural energy balancing mechanisms. The Company's leaddevelopment compound is a more potent and long lasting oxyntomodulin analogue,TKS1225, currently in clinical development. Thiakis' intellectual property hasbeen licensed from Imperial Innovations (AIM: IVO). In August 2006, Thiakisraised £10 million from a syndicate of venture capital investors, led byestablished biotech funds Novo A/S and Advent Venture Partners; ImperialInnovations made a significant investment in Thiakis in this financing round andThe Royal Society also participated. For more information please visit www.thiakis.com This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange