28th Mar 2008 07:01
IP Group PLC28 March 2008 28 MARCH 2008 SPIN-OUT COMPANY OXFORD NANOLABS COMPLETES £10M FUNDRAISING IP Group plc (LSE: IPO) ("IP Group" or the "Company" or "Group"), the UK'sleading university intellectual property commercialisation company, is delightedto note that Oxford NanoLabs Limited ("Oxford NanoLabs" or "ONL"), a spin-outcompany from the University of Oxford, has successfully completed a £10 millionfinancing round. Oxford NanoLabs, founded in 2005, is developing nanopore technology for use inDNA sequencing, where it potentially offers significant advantages in cost andspeed over existing technologies. Following completion of the financing round, IP Group has a 35% beneficial stakein Oxford NanoLabs, valued at £19.5 million. IP Group has invested £1 million inthe financing alongside investment of £1.4 million from funds managed by TopTechnology Ventures Limited, a subsidiary of IP Group. The remaining £7.6million was raised from institutional and private investors. The fundraising will result in a total fair value gain to IP Group of £7.2million. For further information, please contact: IP Group plc 0845 0742929 Alan Aubrey, Chief Executive Officer Liz Vaughan-Adams (Communications) 020 7444 0062/07979853802 Financial Dynamics Ben Atwell, Rob Bailhache, Sanjeev Pandya 020 7831 3113 Oxford NanoLabs Dr Gordon Sanghera, Chief Executive Officer 0870 486 1966 Zoe McDougall (Communications) Notes for Editors About IP Group IP Group is an intellectual property (IP) commercialisation company thatspecialises in commercialising university technology. Founded in 2001, IP Grouplisted on AIM in October 2003 and moved to the Official List in June 2006. Ithas made two acquisitions to date - Techtran, a company set up to commercialiseuniversity intellectual property under a long term contract with the Universityof Leeds, in 2005 and Top Technology Ventures, an investment adviser to earlystage technology venture capital funds, in 2004. IP Group has formed long-term partnerships with ten universities - theUniversity of Oxford, King's College London, CNAP/University of York, theUniversity of Leeds, the University of Bristol, the University of Surrey, theUniversity of Southampton, Queen Mary (University of London), the University ofBath and the University of Glasgow. The Company's portfolio is diverse with exposure to five main sectors - Energy &Renewables, Healthcare & Life Sciences: Non-therapeutics, Healthcare & LifeSciences: Therapeutics, IT & Communications and Chemicals & Materials. To date,ten portfolio companies have listed on the AIM market of the London StockExchange, one on PLUS Markets and there have been two trade sales. IP Group alsoestablished three 'Modern-themed' subsidiaries - Modern Biosciences, ModernWater and Modern Waste. Modern Water was the first of these subsidiaries tofloat on AIM in June 2007. For more information, please visit our website at www.ipgroupplc.com. About Oxford NanoLabs Oxford NanoLabs is dedicated to the development of nanopore technology, to powera revolution in DNA analysis. In contrast to current technologies,nanopore-based DNA analysis has the potential to measure single moleculeswithout the need for chemical labels, therefore avoiding the use of expensivereagents and time-consuming amplification steps. Direct electrical measurementof the DNA sequence allows simpler instrumentation and data processing. The Company's proprietary BASETM technology is being developed to use nanoporesto process, identify and record DNA bases in sequence. As each base is passedsequentially through the nanopore, it binds transiently to a site within thenanopore. During binding each base generates a characteristic reduction of theelectrical current through the nanopore, allowing for direct recording of thesignal and simple data processing. Oxford NanoLabs aims to use this elegant and scalable method of analysis totransform the speed and cost of DNA sequencing. There is demand for a newgeneration of powerful and affordable genome sequencing technology that wouldfacilitate a dramatic expansion in genomic research. This is characterised bythe explosive interest in the race for the "$1000 genome", a common phrase thatdescribes a tipping-point where DNA sequencing becomes so affordable andaccessible that research and understanding of the genome would increaseexponentially. A new, disruptive sequencing technology has the potential toenable a new era of genomic applications in medicine, the environment,agriculture and many other areas. Oxford NanoLabs received seed funding from IP Group plc in 2005 and a further£7.75 million was raised in a private round in 2006. For further information please visit www.oxfordnanolabs.com. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
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