Award Win

12 September 2012

Imperial Innovations Group plc

Awarded highest impact investor accolade at OBN Awards 2012

Imperial Innovations Group plc (AIM: IVO, 'Innovations'), a leading technology commercialisation and investment group, has won the highest impact investor award at the prestigious OBN (Oxford Biotech Network) 2012 Annual Awards held in Oxford yesterday.

Portfolio company PsiOxus Therapeutics, a pharmaceuticals company developing novel treatments for a range of diseases associated with significant global mortality, also won the best biotech fundraiser award for its £22m funding round announced on 9 July 2012.

Other portfolio companies Cell Medica and Oxford Immunotec were also shortlisted for best emerging medtech and best medtech fundraiser respectively.

Susan Searle, Chief Executive Officer, Imperial Innovations, said:

"Winning this award is a great recognition of our team's hard work in the Oxford biotech space, as is demonstrated by the achievements of PsiOxus, Cell Medica and Oxford Immunotec amongst others. We continue to be an active investor in great science and exciting companies coming out of and based in Oxford and look forward to more success in the future."

Enquiries:

Notes to editors

Imperial Innovations - www.imperialinnovations.co.uk 

Innovations creates, builds and invests in pioneering university technologies addressing global problems in healthcare, energy, engineering and the environment. It combines deep understanding of science and technology with commercial acumen and strong investment expertise.

Innovations supports scientist-entrepreneurs in the commercialisation of their ideas by:

·; leading the formation of new companies and providing facilities in the early stages

·; providing significant investment and encouraging co-investment to accelerate the transition from R&D to products

·; providing operational expertise

·; helping to recruit high-calibre industry figures and experienced entrepreneurs as executive management and Board members

Innovations invests in companies based on technologies from or associated with four universities: Imperial College London; and Cambridge University, Oxford University, and UCL supported by its collaborations with Cambridge Enterprise, OSEM and UCL Business. These are the UK's leading research intensive universities, measured by research income.

By raising £140 million in January 2011, Innovations has been able to accelerate the making of, and increase the size of its investments. In the year to 31 July 2011, Innovations invested £35.1 million (2010: £14 million) in 23 ventures, and launched six new companies.

In its current portfolio of 78 companies, Innovations' most advanced assets include Circassia, which develops innovative vaccines for the treatment of a wide range of allergies; and Nexeon, a battery materials and licensing company which develops silicon anodes which extend the life and increase the capacity of lithium-ion batteries.

About OBN - www.obn.org.uk

OBN is a not-for-profit business network providing comprehensive support for biotech, medtech and diagnostics member companies in the Golden Triangle biocluster and beyond, providing networking, partnering and group purchasing support.

The 2012 Annual Awards Dinnercelebrates this year's achievements within the bioscience sector in the historic location of the Ashmolean Museum Oxford.