Veryan Medical appoints new COO and NEDs

11 July 2012

Imperial Innovations Group plc

Veryan Medical Ltd makes new appointments to the Executive Management and to the Board

Imperial Innovations Group plc (AIM: IVO, 'Innovations'), a leading technology commercialisation and investment group, announces that its portfolio company, Veryan Medical Ltd ("Veryan"), a specialist company in vascular disease, has made an appointment to the Executive Management team and two further appointments to the Board. Nick Yeo has been appointed as Chief Operating Officer and Todd M. Pope and Jeffrey B. Jump appointed as Non-Executive Directors.

Nick Yeo has over 20 years' international experience in the healthcare industry. He began his career in pharmaceuticals, becoming CEO of Sterling Winthrop Prescription Medicines, before moving on to senior marketing and business leadership roles at Gensia Europe and Scotia QuantaNova. Before joining Veryan he held senior management positions in product and clinical development at oncology drug-device specialist Light Sciences, where he led the formation of a cardiovascular technology start-up.

Todd M. Pope is President and CEO of TransEnterix, Inc., an emerging medical device company. Prior to joining TransEnterix, he was the Worldwide President of Cordis Corporation, part of Johnson & Johnson, and before then, he was Chief Executive Officer of Liquidia Technologies. He has held roles of increasing responsibilities in Sales and Marketing at Boston Scientific, rising to Vice President, Global Sales and Marketing, Neurovascular Division.

Jeffrey B. Jump is President of interventional cardiology specialists Biosensors. He is also currently on the board of BeneChill Inc., and PneumRx Inc. Prior to joining Biosensors, Jeff was CEO of medical simulation specialists Xitact, which was subsequently acquired by Mentice. Before this he held senior management roles with several medical device companies, including Embol-X Inc., Alliance Medical Technologies, Cardio Thoracic Systems (CTS), Haemonetics S.A. and Pfizer Hospital Products Group.

Commenting on the appointments, Susan Searle, CEO of Imperial Innovations plc, said:

"Veryan is at a key stage in its development and evolution, and it is therefore timely to add additional skills to the management and Board. Nick, Todd and Jeffrey have a range of skills - from sales and marketing, to clinical and regulatory - which will be very useful to Veryan as they prepare their lead product, the BioMimics 3D™ stent technology, for regulatory submission in Europe and potential commercialisation."

-Ends-

Enquiries:

Notes to editors

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 Veryan

Veryan is developing innovative solutions to improve the performance of vascular stents using the principles of biomimicry. Veryan's BioMimics 3D™ stent technology involves adapting traditional straight stent designs to a three-dimensional helical shape, which more closely mimics the natural geometry of the human vascular system. BioMimics 3D technology is designed to improve clinical performance by improving flow conditions in, and bio-mechanical performance of, stented vessels.

Pre-clinical studies have shown that BioMimics 3D stent technology may significantly reduce restenosis (the narrowing of stented arterial segments) and confer significant mechanical benefits: the BioMimics 3D stent is more flexible, kink and fracture resistant than conventional counterparts.

Veryan has completed enrolment in a pivotal randomised study, MIMICS, and intends to submit a CE Mark application for the BioMimics 3D stent later this year.