Further Investment in portfolio company

Imperial Innovations Group plc

Innovations invests in £3.6m funding round to develop Veryan's technology

London, 11 March 2010. Imperial Innovations Group plc (AIM: IVO, 'Innovations'), a leading technologycommercialisation and investment company, has invested £1.12 million as part of a further funding round of £3.6 million for portfolio company Veryan Holdings Limited ("Veryan"). This round was led by new investor Seroba Kernel Life Sciences Limited and joined by existing investors, Oxford Capital Partners Limited and NESTA. Following this investment, Innovations will have a 43% stake in the enlarged equity capital of the company and remains the largest investor in the company. This brings the total funding raised to date by Veryan to £12.4m.

Veryan technology

Peripheral vascular disease treatment is one of the fastest growing segments of the cardiovascular device market, the potential market value is in excess of $1 billion. Existing stent technologies have demonstrated significant performance shortfalls including restenosis (re-narrowing) and inadequate mechanical performance leading to suboptimal clinical results. The Veryan concept was originally conceived by Professor Colin Caro at Imperial College London.

Veryan is developing a novel stent platform technology that imposes a 3-dimensional helical geometry onto the stented vessel segment which generates physiological swirling blood flow and has been shown to significantly reduce restenosis (re-narrowing) in pre-clinical experiments. In addition, Veryan has established that the 3D geometry confers significant mechanical benefits. The BioMimics 3D stents are more flexible, kink resistant and fracture resistant than traditional stents.

Initially targeted at peripheral vessels the BioMimics 3D technology is being developed for all stent applications, this may allow entry into the total stent market (currently estimated in excess of $4bn).

First in human study

Veryan has recently commenced its First in Human and CE Mark study at Herz Zentrum, Bad Krozingen, Germany. The Principal Investigator is Professor Thomas Zeller. As well as providing supporting data for achievement of CE Mark status, this study will evaluate the clinical performance attributes of the Veryan stent technology against a contemporary control and will include the assessment of a number of differentiating features of the BioMimics 3D stent.

Susan Searle, Imperial Innovations Chief Executive, commented:

"We are delighted to welcome Seroba Kernel as investors in Veryan. Our further investment underlines our confidence in Veryan's technology and will enable the company to move closer toward commercialization. We are looking forward to the results of its current study.

Chas Taylor, Veryan's Chief Executive, also commented:

"We would like to thank Innovations for its continuing support. The initial results of our first in human study are excellent and appear to confirm the attributes that we have seen in pre-clinical studies. We remain very excited by the potential that the Company has to significantly influence the design of vascular stents in the future, we believe that this technology will provide significant clinical benefit in the treatment of vascular disease."

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Notes to editors

Imperial Innovations - www.imperialinnovations.co.uk 

Innovations creates, builds and invests in pioneering technologies addressing global problems in healthcare, energy and engineering. 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 has exclusive access to scientific and technological developments coming out of Imperial College London, one of the world's leading research institutions. It has already achieved significant success with its early investments; for example its £1.5m investment in obesity drug developer Thiakis could return up to £22m, following its sale to Wyeth for £100m in 2008.

In the year to July 2009, Innovations invested £14.4m in 20 ventures, helping to launch six new companies. With a technology portfolio of more than 80 companies, Innovations' most advanced assets, in addition to Thiakis, include:

·; Ceres Power (now listed on AIM): Micro combined heat and power generators for domestic use

·; Circassia: Innovative vaccines for the treatment of a wide range of allergies

·; Nexeon: Advanced materials that extend the cycle life and significantly increase capacity of rechargeable batteries

·; Respivert: Discovering new treatments for respiratory diseases, including asthma

·; VeryanMed: Stents inspired by the human vascular system