TIDMIVO
Imperial Innovations Group plc
21 September 2016
21 September 2016
Imperial Innovations Group plc
Innovations invests GBP5.1m in Artios Pharma Limited
Imperial Innovations Group plc (AIM: IVO, 'the Group',
'Innovations') has committed GBP5.1 million to the GBP25.0 million
Series A funding round of Artios Pharma Ltd. ('Artios' or 'the
Company') a new Cambridge-based private biotech company launched
today, focused on the development of novel DNA Damage Response
(DDR) cancer therapies.
Artios was formed with assets out of Cancer Research Technology
(CRT), the technology transfer unit of Cancer Research UK (CRUK).
The Company is led by Dr. Niall Martin, Artios' Chief Executive
Officer, who has proven expertise in DDR drug discovery as previous
Director of Drug Discovery at KuDOS Pharmaceuticals, which
discovered Olaparib (an FDA-approved targeted therapy for cancer).
KuDOS was sold to AstraZeneca in January 2006 for $210m. Prior to
joining Artios, Dr. Martin was a co-founder and Chief Operating
Officer at MISSION Therapeutics, another Cambridge-based drug
discovery company in which Innovations has invested.
Artios is backed by a strong syndicate of leading European and
US life science investors including SV Life Sciences, Merck
Ventures, Arix Bioscience PLC, CRT Pioneer Fund (managed by Sixth
Element Capital), and AbbVie Ventures in addition to Innovations.
The investment will be used to build a high value pipeline of DDR
therapies sourced from Cancer Research UK and global collaborators,
and to progress its lead programmes, including Pol-theta, into the
clinic.
Following this investment Innovations will hold a 14.9% interest
in the Company.
Bobby Soni, Director of Healthcare Ventures at Imperial
Innovations commented:
"It's not every day that you get an opportunity to help launch
such an exciting company.
"Targeting the DNA Damage Response is an exciting and promising
field of biology. DDR drug products have generated considerable
interest following the recent clinical successes of PARP inhibitors
which have highlighted the potential for DDR drugs to cause
selective death in cancer cells.
"We are delighted to be part of such an impressive syndicate of
investors which reflects Artios' international ambitions to build a
pipeline of first-in-class DDR therapies identified from a network
of global, independent collaborators."
For further information contact:
Imperial Innovations Group plc 020 3053 8834
Russ Cummings, Chief Executive
Officer
Jon Davies, Director of Communications
Instinctif Partners 020 7457 2020
Adrian Duffield/Melanie Toyne-Sewell/Chantal
Woolcock
J.P. Morgan Cazenove (Nominated
Adviser) 020 7742 4000
Michael Wentworth Stanley/Alec
Pratt
Cenkos Securities 020 7397 8926
Stephen Keys
Notes to editors
About Imperial Innovations - www.imperialinnovations.co.uk
Imperial Innovations Group plc ("Innovations") creates, builds
and invests in pioneering technology companies and licensing
opportunities developed from outstanding scientific research from
the 'Golden Triangle', the geographical region broadly bounded by
London, Cambridge and Oxford. This area has an unrivalled cluster
of outstanding academic research and technology businesses, and is
home to four of the world's top 10 universities, as well as leading
research institutions, the cream of the UK's science and technology
businesses and many of its leading investors.
Innovations supports scientists and entrepreneurs in the
commercialisation of their ideas, through the licensing of
intellectual property, by leading the formation of new companies,
by recruiting high-calibre management teams and by providing
investment and encouraging co-investment. Innovations remains an
active investor over the life of its portfolio companies, with the
majority of Innovations' investment going into businesses in which
it is already a shareholder.
Since becoming a public company in 2006, Innovations has raised
more than GBP440 million of equity from investors, which has
enabled it to invest in some of the most exciting spin-outs to come
out of UK academic research. In addition, the Group has agreed
GBP80.0 million in loan facilities from the European Investment
Bank (EIB).
Between Innovations' admission to AIM (August 2006) and 31 July
2015, Innovations had invested a total of GBP236.8 million across
its portfolio companies, which had raised collectively investment
of GBP1.3 billion.
About Artios Pharma Ltd.
Artios is a leading independent DNA Damage Response (DDR)
company focussed on developing first-in-class treatments for
cancer. Established in May 2016, the Company is led by an
experienced scientific and leadership team with proven expertise in
DDR drug discovery. Artios is building a pipeline of
next-generation DDR programmes, including through a unique
partnership with Cancer Research Technology (CRT), the development
and commercialisation arm of Cancer Research UK (CRUK), and with
leading DNA repair researchers worldwide. The Company's investors
include SV Life Sciences, Merck Ventures, Imperial Innovations,
Arix Bioscience PLC, CRT Pioneer Fund (managed by Sixth Element
Capital), and AbbVie Ventures. Artios is based at the Babraham
Institute in Cambridge, UK.
About DNA Damage Response (DDR)
DNA Damage occurs in cells throughout the body every day. To
counteract the harmful effects that DNA damage can cause, the human
body possesses a network of DNA repair pathways, which act to
correct the damage. This process is known as the DNA Damage
Response (DDR). Defects in the body's DDR can lead to an increased
risk of cancer. Human cells have multiple DNA repair pathways, but
in cancer cells, some of these pathways are lost, which result in
genetic instability. Changes to DNA repair pathways can also drive
the growth of tumours. By inhibiting DDR in cancer cells that have
impaired repair pathways, scientists can selectively kill cancerous
cells. DDR inhibitors, therefore, have the potential to act as:
single agents that selectively kill tumour cells through synthetic
lethality; adjunctive therapy to overcome resistance to current
cytotoxics, and potentiating agents to radiotherapy and novel
therapies including immune-oncology treatments.
This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
END
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