Investment in New Spin-Out
IP2IPO Group PLC
22 July 2005
For immediate release 22nd July 2005
IP2IPO Group plc
INVESTMENT IN KARUS THERAPEUTICS LIMITED
New drug discovery spin-out company from University of Southampton
IP2IPO Group plc (AIM: IPO) ('IP2IPO') is pleased to announce that it has
acquired a 38.2% stake in Karus Therapeutics Limited ('Karus'), a drug discovery
spin-out company from the University of Southampton. Karus has secured £750,000
in seed capital funding, £475,000 of which has been committed by IP2IPO.
Chemist Dr A. Ganesan from the University of Southampton School of Chemistry,
cancer scientist Dr Graham Packham and heart biologist Dr Paul Townsend, both
from the University of Southampton's School of Medicine, have come together to
create Karus, a company that will develop novel drugs to treat cancer and heart
disease, based on histone deacetylase (HDACs) inhibitors.
There has been intense interest in industry in HDAC inhibitors as drugs because
they have shown great potential in slowing down the growth of abnormal cells in
tumours. These next generation products to be developed by Karus are expected to
offer patients a potent and less toxic treatment than their predecessors not
only in cancer but also in heart disease.
Commenting on the launch of Karus, Dr Packham, co-founder, said: 'Karus builds
on highly successful academic collaborations between different disciplines at
the University. The strong links between chemistry and medicine have contributed
significantly to Karus's platform and we are extremely excited to be taking the
technology we have developed to the next stage.'
For more information contact:
Dave Norwood, Chief Executive Officer, IP2IPO
Tel. 020 7489 5200
Dr A. Ganesan, Karus, University of Southampton
Tel. 023 8059 3897
Dr Paul Townsend, Karus, University of Southampton Tel. 023 8079 8692
Dr Graham Packham, Karus, University of Southampton
Tel. 023 8079 6184
Mark Court and Mary-Jane Johnson, Buchanan Communications Tel. 0207 466 5000
Notes for editors
IP2IPO is an intellectual property (IP) company that specialises in
commercialising university technology. The Company was founded in 2001 and
listed on the AIM Market of the London Stock Exchange plc in October 2003.
IP2IPO's first partnership was with the University of Oxford. In return for an
investment of £20 million, IP2IPO has acquired 50 per cent of the University of
Oxford's equity in spin-out companies and technology licenses based on
intellectual property created at the Chemistry Department until 2015. In
November 2003, IP2IPO created a £5 million seed capital fund for investing in
spin-out companies across the University of Oxford, not just those originating
within the Chemistry Department.
In March 2002, IP2IPO entered into a second long-term partnership with the
University of Southampton. Under the terms of this partnership, IP2IPO is
committed to working with the University of Southampton in the identification
and facilitation of spin-out companies from across the University of Southampton
and to investing £5 million in early-stage University of Southampton spin-out
companies over a four year period in return for equity stakes in those
companies. In addition, IP2IPO also received a 20 per cent stake in Southampton
Asset Management Limited, a company that has been formed to hold the
University's equity stakes in its spin-out companies. The partnership has a term
of at least 25 years.
IP2IPO entered into its third long-term partnership in May 2003 with King's
College London. IP2IPO will work with King's College London to help identify and
progress commercialisation opportunities as well as invest £5 million in seed
capital in spin-out companies from King's College London over a five year period
in return for equity stakes in those companies. In addition, IP2IPO will receive
20 per cent of King's College London's equity in spin-out companies and
technology licenses. The partnership has a term of 25 years.
In October 2003, IP2IPO announced a fourth partnership with the Centre for Novel
Agricultural Products ('CNAP'), based at the University of York. CNAP is a
flagship research centre that specialises in plant and microbial gene discovery.
Under the terms of the partnership a new company, Amaethon Limited, has been
created which has the right to commercialise CNAP's IP for 25 years. IP2IPO has
invested £1.15m in Amaethon Limited in return for a 40% equity stake in Amaethon
Limited (the remaining equity being owned by the University of York) and will
also invest in the spin-out companies based on CNAP's IP which Amaethon Limited
creates.
In June 2004, IP2IPO acquired Top Technology Ventures Limited, an investment
adviser to early stage technology funds. This combines IP2IPO's expertise in the
creation of new ventures based on world leading university IP with Top
Technology's focus on making early stage venture capital investments.
In January 2005, IP2IPO acquired Techtran, a company set up in 2002 to
commercialise university intellectual property under a long-term technology
commercialisation contract with the University of Leeds. Under the terms of the
contract Techtran receives a significant (30%) interest in spin-out companies
created and technology licences negotiated, in return for the provision of
technology transfer services to the University.
In May 2005, IP2IPO announced the launch of LifeUK, a new subsidiary company.
LifeUK will in-license life science intellectual property created by medical
researchers at universities with which IP2IPO already has partnerships, other
universities in the UK and similar academic and charitable research
institutions. LifeUK's objective is to further develop the intellectual property
which it in-licenses with a view to creating substantial value either by
subsequently licensing these development programmes to the pharmaceutical
industry or via the creation of new ventures.
To date, 4 spin-out companies from the IP2IPO portfolio have listed on the AIM
Market of the London Stock Exchange plc: Offshore Hydrocarbon Mapping plc,
Synairgen plc, VASTox plc and Proximagen Neuroscience plc.
For more information please visit www.ip2ipo.com
The University of Southampton is a leading UK teaching and research institution
with a global reputation for leading-edge research and scholarship. The
University has around 20,000 students and nearly 5,000 staff. Its annual
turnover is in the region of £270 million. The Centre for Enterprise and
Innovation (CEI) is the focus of entrepreneurial activity within the University
of Southampton. Formed in September 2000, the office encourages and supports
enterprise activity across the whole university including enterprise education
for students and businesses, consultancy for industry and the commercialisation
of university intellectual property through the creation of start-up companies
and licensing. Since 2000, the CEI has encouraged the start-up of over 25
student and arts-based businesses, supported consultancy transactions across the
university and helped spin out 14 companies, two of which floated on the
Alternative Investment Market of the London Stock Exchange in 2004.
This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
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