PsiOxus commences clinical trial

26 September 2012

Imperial Innovations Group plc

PsiOxus Therapeutics commences clinical trial of anti-cancer vaccine

Imperial Innovations Group plc (AIM: IVO, 'Innovations'), a leading technology commercialisation and investment group, announces that portfolio company PsiOxus Therapeutics ('PsiOxus'), a development stage biotechnology company using non-traditional approaches to novel therapeutics for cancer and other unmet clinical needs, has launched the first clinical trial of its new anti-cancer vaccine, ColoAd1.

ColoAd1 is a highly potent, broad-spectrum, anti-cancer therapeutic capable of destroying tumour cells at minute concentrations. The vaccine is injected into the bloodstream, and is delivered to cancer sites, where it replicates inside cancer cells, killing them. Each infected cell produces thousands of new copies of ColoAd1, which spread to nearby cancer cells, killing those, whilst ignoring normal cells.

This approach represents a new generation of "self-amplifying" cancer therapy that has the effect of killing tumours and acting as a cancer vaccine. Significantly, Professor Len Seymour and his team at the University of Oxford have already shown that ColoAd1 survives very well in human blood.

The initial target indications for ColoAd1 are metastatic colorectal cancer and primary hepatocellular carcinoma. These are both exceptionally large market segments with significant unmet medical need. The incidence of colorectal cancer is forecast to reach nearly 500,000 cases globally by 2018. Primary hepatic cellular carcinoma 
is the third leading cause of cancer mortality worldwide, and currently has few effective treatment options.

In a two-stage multinational study, the safety, biological activity and efficacy of ColoAd1 will be evaluated in 126 patients, with initial results expected by the end of 2013.

Susan Searle, CEO of Imperial Innovations, said:

"The launch of these trials is a key achievement for PsiOxus and a great step forward in demonstrating the potential of its novel approach to cancer treatment. The successful fundraising in July has helped this trial to get underway as planned."

John Beadle, CEO of PsiOxus, commented:

"This study is a major milestone for both PsiOxus and ColoAd1 as we test a new form of anti-cancer agent with greatly improved selectivity for tumor cells in humans for the first time. While there remains much work to be done, this study could forge a path to a new treatment option for patients with metastatic cancer."

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Imperial Innovations - www.imperialinnovations.co.uk 

Innovations creates, builds and invests in pioneering university technologies addressing global problems in healthcare, energy, engineering and the environment. 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 invests in companies based on technologies from or associated with four universities: Imperial College London; and Cambridge University, Oxford University, and UCL supported by its collaborations with Cambridge Enterprise, OSEM and UCL Business. These are the UK's leading research intensive universities, measured by research income.

By raising £140 million in January 2011, Innovations has been able to accelerate the making of, and increase the size of its investments. In the year to 31 July 2011, Innovations invested £35.1 million (2010: £14 million) in 23 ventures, and launched six new companies.

In its current portfolio of 78 companies, Innovations' most advanced assets include Circassia, which develops innovative vaccines for the treatment of a wide range of allergies; and Nexeon, a battery materials and licensing company which develops silicon anodes which extend the life and increase the capacity of lithium-ion batteries.

About PsiOxus Therapeutics - www.psioxus.com

PsiOxus Therapeutics is an Oxford, UK-based development stage biotechnology company using non-traditional approaches to develop novel therapeutics that address cancer and other clinically unmet diseases. ColoAd1 is an oncolytic vaccine for the systemic treatment of metastatic cancer, which has demonstrated exceptional anti-cancer properties in late pre-clinical development and is now in phase I clinical development. MT-102 is a dual action Anabolic Catabolic Transforming Agent (ACTA) in phase II clinical development for the treatment of cachexia and sarcopenia. The Company is also developing treatments based upon the research phase vaccine platform PolySTAR, which combines recombinant viral vectors with polymers to shield them from the immune system, and the research phase adjuvant and immunotherapeutic platform PolyMAP, which combines polymers with synthetic adjuvants to significantly enhance the effectiveness of vaccines.

Dr John Beadle is CEO of PsiOxus. Dr Beadle was previously a co-founder of PowderMed, which was sold to Pfizer, Inc. for more than $300 million in 2006. Dr Michael Moore, the former CEO of Piramed, which was acquired by Roche in 2008, serves as Chairman of the Board of Directors.

PsiOxus is advised by a distinguished Scientific Advisory Board that includes Prof Len Seymour (Chair of Gene Medicine at Oxford University and Secretary General of the European Society for Gene and Stem Cell Therapy), Dr Kerry Fisher (an internationally-recognized specialist in molecular medicine, also of Oxford University), Prof Andrew Coats (Norwich Research Park Professor-at-Large, University of East Anglia), and Prof Stefan Anker (Professor of Cardiology and Cachexia Research at Charité Medical School, Berlin and President of the Society on Sarcopenia, Cachexia and Wasting Diseases).