21st Aug 2006 07:00
Imperial Innovations Group plc21 August 2006 Imperial Innovations Group plc ("Imperial Innovations") Investment in Thiakis Limited Imperial Innovations Group plc (AIM: IVO), one of the leading technologytransfer and commercialisation companies in the UK, today announces that it hascommitted to invest, on a milestone basis, £1.5 million in the biopharmaceuticalcompany Thiakis Limited ("Thiakis"). The investment in Thiakis by ImperialInnovations is part of a £10 million Series A funding round jointly led byleading life science venture capital groups, Novo A/S and Advent VenturePartners. The funding round also included substantial participation from new investorsincluding the Royal Society, Esperante, Consensus Business Group and NPIVentures Limited. The investment comes shortly after Imperial Innovations'ordinary shares were admitted to trading on AIM following a £26 millionfundraising in July 2006. Thiakis will use the £10 million investment to develop its oxyntomodulin peptidetechnology for the treatment of obesity and associated conditions throughpreclinical and clinical development. The original research, conducted atImperial College London by Professor Steve Bloom, a leading world expert in thisfield and Professor of Metabolic Medicine, has shown that administration ofoxyntomodulin to human volunteers not only leads to significant weight loss butalso increases energy expenditure. Commenting on the investment, Dr John Burt, CEO of Thiakis, said, "We aredelighted to have completed our first institutional financing and are gratefulto Imperial Innovations for its continued support." Susan Searle, CEO of Imperial Innovations, and Director of Thiakis, said, "Thisnew funding marks a significant step forward in Thiakis' development. Ourparticipation in this round demonstrates our confidence in the quality of thetechnology and the high calibre management team." -Ends- For more information contact: Imperial Innovations Susan Searle, Chief Executive Officer +44 (0)20 7594 6591Lucy Ahfong, Marketing Officer +44 (0)20 7594 6644 M:Communications Harriet Totty +44 (0)20 7153 1590Eleanor Williamson +44 (0)20 7153 1539 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 £26 million. The company's integrated approach encompassesthe identification of ideas, protection of intellectual property, developmentand licensing of technology and formation, incubation and investment in spin-outcompanies. A wide range of technologies are commercialised within the areas ofbioscience and technology and engineering. Based at Imperial College London, the company has established equity holdings in58 spin-out companies and has completed 90 commercial agreements. ImperialInnovations also commercialises technologies originating from outside ImperialCollege through incubation contracts with the Carbon Trust and WRAP and hasrelationships with a number of multinational corporations. Imperial Innovations has invested in a range of spin-out companies including TheAcrobot Company Limited, Cardiak Limited, deltaDOT Limited, Future Waves PTELimited, HeliSwirl Technologies Limited, InforSense Limited, Lontra Limited,NanoBiodesign Limited, Nexeon Limited, NovaThera Limited, Photobiotics Limitedand Veryan Medical Limited. Imperial Innovations currently holds shares in three spin-out companies nowlisted on AIM; fuel cell company, Ceres Power plc, and ParOS plc, a provider ofenergy-saving advanced control solutions, as well as Nanoscience plc, adeveloper of low power integrated circuits and silicon chips, following itsacquisition of spin-out company Toumaz Technology Limited. Website: www.imperialinnovations.co.uk About Thiakis Thiakis Limited is a private biopharmaceutical company, founded in 2004 andbased in London, UK. The company is developing novel medicines for the treatmentof obesity and metabolic disease. Thiakis is the exclusive licensee fromImperial Innovations of intellectual property relating to use of the guthormones oxyntomodulin and PYY3-36 for the treatment of obesity and associatedconditions, based on original research conducted by Professor Steve Bloom andhis colleagues at Imperial College London. In September 2004, Thiakis grantedNastech, a NASDAQ-listed US biotechnology company, an exclusive licence underits PYY3-36 patents in the intra-nasal field. Thiakis will receive patent anddevelopment milestones and patent-based sales royalties on the intra-nasalPYY3-36 product which is in Phase II clinical development. Website: www.thiakis.com About Obesity The incidence of obesity has shown a substantial increase over the past twentyyears. The World Health Organisation (WHO) has identified obesity as an epidemicwhich is the largest global, chronic health problem in adults. In 2003, the WHOestimated that worldwide, over 300 million adults are clinically obese, while 1billion are overweight. Obesity is a major risk factor in the development oftype II diabetes, cardiovascular disease and many forms of cancer. Conservativeestimates of the economic costs of obesity range from 2% to 8% of the totalcosts of healthcare of the developed world. As a consequence, the market fortherapies to promote weight loss and reduce the co-morbidities of obesitycurrently represents a substantial unmet medical need. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
Imperial Innovations Group