Further investment in TopiVert

30 December 2013

Imperial Innovations Group plc

Makes further investment in TopiVert

Imperial Innovations Group plc (AIM: IVO, 'Innovations'), the leading technology commercialisation and investment group, has taken part in a further funding round in existing portfolio company TopiVert, which is developing topical anti-inflammatories for the treatment of diseases of the gastrointestinal tract and eye. In December 2011, Innovations invested £4m in TopiVert and in the current round has increased its total commitment to £8.5m cash. It is expected that this will be drawn down alongside further investment by existing investor SV Life Sciences, and new investors NeoMed Management and Johnson & Johnson Development Corporation (JJDC). Following this, the carrying value of Innovations' stake in TopiVert will be £8.6m.

TopiVert operates from the Imperial College Incubator managed by Innovations, and at this early stage is pre-revenue. It made a loss of £4m in the last financial period (sixteen months) ending December 2012 as it continued to develop its narrow spectrum kinase inhibitor (NSKI) technology.

TopiVert is developing technology it has licensed based on NSKI - related intellectual property. It retains exclusive rights over newly discovered NSKIs which have application in the treatment of inflammatory eye and gut diseases such as uveitis and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Uveitis is an inflammation of the intermediate layer of the eye, the uvea, and can lead to serious complications if not treated quickly, including loss of vision in the affected eye. Inflammatory bowel disease refers to a group of inflammatory conditions that affect the colon and the small intestine, including Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis.

Existing treatments for both these conditions are generally not satisfactory, and TopiVert aims to meet the needs of patients affected by uveitis and IBD by developing medicines based on NSKIs which have an equivalent level of efficacy to steroids, without the negative side effects and potential resistance.

The market for inflammatory bowel disease in the major markets (US, Japan and EU) will reach $5.9 billion by 2019 according to Datamonitor, and Global Data predict the global market for uveitis will reach $1.6 billion by 2017.

Maina Bhaman, Director of Healthcare Investments at Innovations, who sits on the TopiVert Board, said:

"We are delighted by the progress TopiVert has made since our first investment, and to support the team as it continues successfully to develop the NSKI technology. 

"We are also excited to be working alongside new co-investors NeoMed and JJDC and existing investor SV Life Sciences."

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Imperial Innovations - www.imperialinnovations.co.uk 

Since founding in 1986, Innovations has invested in the most promising technologies from our brightest scientists. Today it is connected with four of the world's top research universities: Imperial College London, Cambridge and Oxford Universities and University College London. These centres of scientific excellence between them have a research income of over £1.3 billion per annum. Innovations supports scientist-entrepreneurs in the commercialisation of their ideas. It adds value by leading the formation of new spin-out companies, providing investment, encouraging co-investment as well as through its operational expertise. It also runs an Incubator in London that is the initial home for many of its technology spin-outs.

Originally formed as the Technology Transfer office for Imperial College - a role it still carries out - Innovations is today a significant technology investor and has built a portfolio of around 90 companies. Almost £150m has been invested by Innovations and £0.5bn has been raised in total by the portfolio companies. In 2013, a £30 million loan facility was agreed with the European Investment Bank (EIB) for investment in biotech and therapeutics businesses.

Innovation invests in the most promising opportunities from whichever technology sector they arise and has built particular expertise in the key sectors of: Therapeutics, Medtech and devices, Engineering and materials and ICT.