31st Mar 2005 08:01
IP2IPO Group PLC31 March 2005 For immediate release 31 March 2005 IP2IPO GROUP PLC PROXIMAGEN NEUROSCIENCE PLC SUCCESSFUL PLACING AND ADMISSION TO AIM IP2IPO Group plc (AIM: IPO), the intellectual property company thatcommercialises university technology, is pleased to note that today is the firstday of trading on AIM of shares in Proximagen Neuroscience plc ("Proximagen"), aspin-out company from King's College London focused on neurodegenerativedisease. Proximagen raised £13.5 million (before expenses) at a placing price of 148p pershare (the "Placing Price") and its capitalisation at the placing price was£29.7 million. Following the placing IP2IPO owns 4,704,000 shares in Proximagen (worth £7.0million at the placing price), representing 23.5% of Proximagen's enlarged sharecapital. The press release issued today by Proximagen follows: For immediate release 31 March 2005 PROXIMAGEN NEUROSCIENCE PLC ("Proximagen" or "the Company") FIRST DAY OF DEALINGS ON THE AIM MARKET OF THE LONDON STOCK EXCHANGE Proximagen Neuroscience plc (AIM: PRX), the drug discovery and developmentcompany focused on neurodegenerative disease, is pleased to announce itsflotation on the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange today. Background • Proximagen was founded in November 2003 by Professor Peter Jenner andKing's College London, leveraging more than 25 years of innovativeneurodegenerative research • Proximagen has a pipeline with four compounds in development • £13.5 million (£12.6 million net of expenses) has been raised forProximagen via a placing at 148 pence per share • £1.0 million (before expenses) was raised for King's College. King'sCollege will hold 11% of the enlarged share capital of Proximagen • On admission the market capitalisation of Proximagen at the placingprice will be £29.7 million • The proceeds of the placing will be used to finance the Company's drugdevelopment programmes in Parkinson's disease and Alzheimer's disease • KBC Peel Hunt Ltd is the Company's nominated adviser and broker Commenting on the flotation, Kenneth Mulvany, Proximagen's Chief ExecutiveOfficer, said: "I am delighted by the response to Proximagen's flotation.Commencing life as a public company is extremely exciting for us and we lookforward to progressing our drug development programmes in Parkinson's diseaseand Alzheimer's disease and to generating value for our shareholders." For further information please contact: Proximagen Neuroscience plcKenneth Mulvany, Chief Executive Officer 020 7848 6011 IP2IPO Group plcDavid Norwood, Chief Executive Officer 020 7067 1651 KBC Peel Hunt LtdCapel Irwin 020 7418 8900 Buchanan CommunicationsTim Anderson/Mark Court/Mary-Jane Johnson 020 7466 5000 Notes for editors About Proximagen Background to the therapeutic area: The Group's business is drug discovery and development and is primarily focusedon the identification and subsequent out-licensing of novel therapeutics whichimprove the quality of life of patients suffering from neurodegenerativediseases such as Parkinson's disease and Alzheimer's disease. Parkinson's disease and Alzheimer's disease are the two most commonneurodegenerative diseases. In 2002 Alzheimer's disease was the sixth mostfrequent cause of death for those above the age of 65 in the US. Currenttreatments for Alzheimer's only offer symptomatic relief and mainly only for theearly stages of the disease. The incidence of Parkinson's disease is 300,000 new patients annually worldwide.There is currently no cure for Parkinson's disease and no treatment has beenshown to slow or stop the progression of the disease. The business opportunity: The Directors believe that the neurodegenerative drugs market, as a result ofits size and existing therapeutic needs, represents a significant opportunityfor the Group. Global annual sales of current pharmaceutical products forAlzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease are alone estimated to be in excessof US$4 billion. The life expectancy of the general population is increasing such that theproportion of the world population aged over 60 is forecast by the World HealthOrganisation to double between 2000 and 2050. This suggests that the number ofindividuals suffering from age-related neurodegenerative diseases, such asParkinson's disease and Alzheimer's disease, will also increase. Proximagen seeks to commercialise a pipeline of compounds to address the medicalneeds of patients with neurodegenerative disease. This will be accomplishedthrough the Group's internal research programmes and in-licence programmes thatwill be carefully selected from the wider range of research projects availableto the Group. The business: Proximagen Limited was founded by Professor Peter Jenner in conjunction withKing's College in November 2003 to draw upon over 25 years of pre-eminentneurodegenerative research. The Group's primary objective is to develop andcommercialise a pipeline of compounds to address the medical needs of patientswith neurodegenerative disease. The Group has already made significant progress towards implementing thisbusiness model by commencing three proprietary programmes in the field ofneurodegenerative disease. The Group will seek to out-license its own internalresearch and development programmes as well as commercialise carefully selectedin-licensed and collaborative programmes. Business model: The Group's business model is based upon the following key principles: Core expertise in neurodegenerative disease: The Group's scientific team consists of recognised leaders in neuroscience andrelated drug development, medicinal chemistry and clinical expertise. Members ofthe team have demonstrated their ability to commercialise their R&D through thelaunch of a number of new drugs on to the market. The Directors believe thatthis expertise will significantly enhance the success of the Group's drugdevelopment programme and ultimately make registration of the Group's drugcandidates more likely. Focus on development: The Group's business model is focused on pre-clinical development and earlyclinical trials of novel drug candidates in the field of neurodegenerativedisease. The Group's aim is to develop a risk-weighted portfolio of developmentprogrammes which the Directors believe will generate drug candidates, the IPR towhich can be out-licensed at an early stage up to and including Phase II (proofof concept) rather than the Group committing significant capital resources totake such drug candidates to late-stage clinical trials. Diversified risk business model: The Group intends to minimise the risk inherent in drug discovery by buildingits pipeline of compounds in three different ways: 1) in-house R&D, 2)in-licensing and 3) through collaborations with academic institutions,biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies. Proximagen Board of Directors:Bruce Campbell, Non-Executive Chairman & Director of Drug DevelopmentKenneth Mulvany, Chief Executive OfficerProfessor Peter Jenner, Non-Executive and Chief Scientific OfficerNigel Whittle, Non-Executive Director and Programme Development ConsultantGeorge Murlewski, Non-Executive Director About IP2IPO IP2IPO is an intellectual property (IP) company that specialises incommercialising university technology. The Company was founded in 2001 andlisted on AIM in October 2003. IP2IPO's first partnership was with theUniversity of Oxford. In return for an investment of £20 million, IP2IPO hasacquired 50 per cent of the University of Oxford's equity in spin-out companiesand technology licenses based on intellectual property created at the ChemistryDepartment until 2015. In November 2003, IP2IPO created a £5 million seedcapital fund for investing in spin-out companies across the University ofOxford, not just those originating within 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 future spin-out companies. The partnership hasa term of 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 an initial 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 hascommitted to invest £1.15m in Amaethon Limited in return for a one third equitystake in Amaethon Limited (the remaining equity being owned by the University ofYork) and will also invest in the spin-out companies based on CNAP's IP whichAmaethon Limited creates. 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. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
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