Cell Medica and UCL collaboration

RNS Reach

24 August 2016

Imperial Innovations Group plc

Cell Medica and UCL collaborate to develop modified T cell receptor products for the treatment of cancer

Imperial Innovations Group plc (AIM: IVO or 'the Group', 'Innovations') notes today's announcement by portfolio company Cell Medica (the 'Company') of a new research collaboration with UCL (University College London) which will see the Company utilise UCL's novel T cell receptor (TCR) technology to generate leading-edge modified TCR products for the treatment of cancer.

The collaboration also provides Cell Medica with an exclusive worldwide option and licence agreement for these technologies, as well as TCR gene sequences for the development and commercialisation of specific products.

The collaboration builds on the research of Professor Hans Stauss and Professor Emma Morris of UCL, global leaders in developing modified TCRs for cancer treatments, both of whom are based at the Royal Free Hospital, a UCL Partners academic health science centre.

UCL will conduct the preclinical and early clinical research under the guidance of a Joint Steering Committee. Cell Medica will support the product development work with its substantial experience in manufacturing clinical-grade cell therapies and establishing robust production processes suitable for industrial scale-up. Following completion of successful first-in-man studies, the products will transfer to Cell Medica for later-stage clinical development and commercialisation.

Cell Medica has entered into an exclusive licence and option agreement with UCL Business, the technology commercialisation company of UCL, for the dominant TCR platform patent and two target antigens. As part of this agreement, both parties can bring targets or platform technologies to the collaboration, aiming to generate leading-edge modified TCR products.

In addition, UCL and Cell Medica have signed a Sponsored Research Agreement under which Cell Medica will fund all research and development with an exclusive option to licence all products developed within the collaboration. The financial terms of this transaction have not been disclosed.

Russ Cummings, CEO at Imperial Innovations, said:

"This new collaboration with UCL adds the modified TCR technology platform to Cell Medica's strategy to develop breakthrough treatments for cancer using cellular immunotherapy products.

"It follows the recent exclusive licensing agreement and a co-development partnership signed with the Baylor College of Medicine (Baylor) and the acquisition of Delenex Therapeutics, all of which have significantly added to Cell Medica's armoury as it seeks to capitalise on the market opportunity for next-generation products which harness the human immune response to fight cancer."

Cell Medica is a cellular immunotherapy company, focused on the development, manufacture and marketing of cell-based therapeutics for the treatment of cancers and infectious disease. As at 31 January 2016, the Group had a 27.0% interest in the issued share capital of the Company with such interest having a net fair value of £21.0 million.

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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 £440 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 had invested a total of £236.8 million across its portfolio companies, which had raised collectively investment of £1.3 billion.

About Cell Medica - www.cellmedica.co.uk

Cell Medica develops, manufactures and markets cellular immunotherapy products for the treatment of cancer and infections. The Company employs leading-edge technologies to develop cell-based therapies with the potential to transform the lives of cancer patients in the years ahead.

The Company's lead oncology product, baltaleucel-T, is aimed at a range of cancers associated with the oncogenic Epstein Barr virus (EBV), including non-Hodgkin lymphomas, Hodgkin lymphoma and nasopharyngeal carcinoma. This novel cancer immunotherapy is currently under study in an international Phase II clinical trial (CITADEL) for the treatment of advanced NK/T cell lymphoma. Cell Medica is working in collaboration with the Baylor College of Medicine on the development of baltaleucel-T with funding provided in part by the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas.

Cell Medica recently announced an important expansion of its collaboration with Baylor College of Medicine to include the development of next-generation cellular immunotherapies incorporating chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) with genetically enhanced potency for the treatment of cancers that do not respond to conventional therapies.

In addition to its oncology programmes, Cell Medica is marketing Cytovir CMV for the treatment of cytomegalovirus infections and developing Cytovir ADV for the treatment of adenovirus infections. Both products are for the treatment and prevention of viral infections in patients who are profoundly immunosuppressed following a bone marrow transplant.