23rd May 2005 07:01
IP2IPO Group PLC23 May 2005 For immediate release 23 May 2005 IP2IPO GROUP PLC ("IP2IPO" or "the Company") Oxford NanoLabs receives funding from IP2IPO IP2IPO Group plc (AIM: IPO) is pleased to announce that it has acquired a stakeof 44.3% in Oxford NanoLabs Limited ("ONL"), a spin-out company from theChemistry Department at the University of Oxford. ONL is developing breakthrough technology for biosensing. Its "NanoPore"technology is based on using protein pores for the highly sensitive detection ofa range of medically important molecules. ONL's objective is to develop aseries of products from its platform technology, initially hand-held diagnosticdevices for medical testing with longer-term applications incounter-bioterrorism and gene sequencing. ONL's underlying science has been developed in the research groups of ProfessorHagan Bayley, who previously was based at Texas A & M University andsubsequently became Professor of Chemical Biology at the Chemistry Department inOxford in 2003. Professor Bayley is one of the world's leading experts inmembrane protein engineering and stochastic sensing. The company has appointed Dr Gordon Sanghera as Chief Executive Officer. Aftera spell in academia, Dr Sanghera began his commercial career at Medisense, anOxford-based company that was sold to Abbot Laboratories in 1996 for £876m. AtMedisense, Dr Sanghera played a key role in the development of the company'sglucose strip product, one of the first hand-held devices to be developed fordiabetic testing. Following the acquisition of Medisense, Dr Sanghera becameresearch director and later worldwide marketing director at Abbot Laboratorieswhere he built up a strong track record for delivering novel diagnostic productsto the market. IP2IPO's stake in ONL is comprised of a 5.3% interest received as a result ofIP2IPO's partnership formed in December 2000 with the University of Oxford'sChemistry Department and an interest of 39% acquired as a result of a directinvestment of £487,500. The formation of ONL was assisted by ISIS Innovation,the technology transfer company of the University of Oxford, which has licensedOxford IP to the company. Commenting on today's announcement, Dr Sanghera, Chief Executive Officer of ONL,said: "The NanoPore technology has the potential to revolutionise the diagnosticworld. Professor Bayley has developed a broad platform with the potential toaddress numerous unmet needs in medical diagnostics. The Medisense experienceshows just how valuable a breakthrough in point of care medical diagnostics canbecome and I am delighted to be part of such an exciting opportunity." For more information please contact: IP2IPODavid Norwood, Chief Executive Officer 020 7489 5200 Oxford NanoLabsGordon Sanghera 07768 783 089 Buchanan CommunicationsMark Court, Mary-Jane Johnson 020 7466 5000 Notes for editors IP2IPO is an intellectual property (IP) company that specialises incommercialising university technology. The Company was founded in 2001 andlisted on the AIM Market of the London Stock Exchange plc in October 2003.IP2IPO's first partnership was with the University of Oxford. In return for aninvestment of £20 million, IP2IPO has acquired 50 per cent of the University ofOxford's equity in spin-out companies and technology licenses based onintellectual property created at the Chemistry Department until 2015. InNovember 2003, IP2IPO created a £5 million seed capital fund for investing inspin-out companies across the University of Oxford, not just those originatingwithin the Chemistry Department. In March 2002, IP2IPO entered into a second long-term partnership with theUniversity of Southampton. Under the terms of this partnership, IP2IPO iscommitted to working with the University of Southampton in the identificationand facilitation of spin-out companies from across the University of Southamptonand to investing £5 million in early-stage University of Southampton spin-outcompanies over a four year period in return for equity stakes in thosecompanies. In addition, IP2IPO also received a 20 per cent stake in SouthamptonAsset Management Limited, a company that has been formed to hold theUniversity's equity stakes in its spin-out companies. The partnership has a termof at least 25 years. IP2IPO entered into its third long-term partnership in May 2003 with King'sCollege London. IP2IPO will work with King's College London to help identify andprogress commercialisation opportunities as well as invest £5 million in seedcapital in spin-out companies from King's College London over a five year periodin return for equity stakes in those companies. In addition, IP2IPO will receive20 per cent of King's College London's equity in spin-out companies andtechnology licenses. The partnership has a term of 25 years. In October 2003, IP2IPO announced a fourth partnership with the Centre for NovelAgricultural Products ("CNAP"), based at the University of York. CNAP is aflagship research centre that specialises in plant and microbial gene discovery.Under the terms of the partnership a new company, Amaethon Limited, has beencreated which has the right to commercialise CNAP's IP for 25 years. IP2IPO hasinvested £1.15m in Amaethon Limited in return for a 40% equity stake in AmaethonLimited (the remaining equity being owned by the University of York) and willalso invest in the spin-out companies based on CNAP's IP which Amaethon Limitedcreates. In June 2004, IP2IPO acquired Top Technology Ventures Limited, an investmentadviser to early stage technology funds. This combines IP2IPO's expertise in thecreation of new ventures based on world leading university IP with TopTechnology's focus on making early stage venture capital investments. In January 2005, IP2IPO acquired Techtran, a company set up in 2002 tocommercialise university intellectual property under a long-term technologycommercialisation contract with the University of Leeds. Under the terms of thecontract Techtran receives a significant (30%) interest in spin-out companiescreated and technology licences negotiated, in return for the provision oftechnology transfer services to the University. To date, 4 spin-out companies from the IP2IPO portfolio have listed on the AIMMarket of the London Stock Exchange plc: Offshore Hydrocarbon Mapping plc,Synairgen plc, VASTox plc and Proximagen Neuroscience plc. In May 2005, IP2IPO completed a placing of shares, raising a further £13.7million to enable the launch of a new subsidiary company - LifeUK. LifeUK willin-license life science intellectual property created by medical researchers atuniversities with which IP2IPO already has partnerships, other universities inthe UK and similar academic and charitable research institutions. Its objectiveis to further develop the intellectual property which it in-licenses with a viewto creating substantial value either by subsequently licensing these developmentprogrammes to the pharmaceutical industry or via the creation of new ventures. For more information please visit www.ip2ipo.com This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
Ip Group