Operational update on the Strategic Investments
14 April 2020
Braveheart Investment Group plc
("Braveheart" or the "Group")
Operational update on the Strategic Investments
Braveheart (AIM: BRH), the fund management and strategic investment group, is pleased to provide an operational update on its strategic investments within the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Pharm 2 Farm Limited ("P2F") (holding 51.72%)
Pharm2Farm has responded to the COVID-19 pandemic by switching part of its manufacturing facility to the production of medical grade alcohol hand sanitiser gel. Currently manufacturing 500 litres per day, they are supplying NHS fulfilment centres, Regional NHS Clinical Commissioning Groups and other users.
Pharm2Farm has begun testing the efficacy of nano-copper particles' anti-viral properties in Personal Protection Equipment ("PPE"). Nanoparticles are being electrospun into nano fibres that can then be woven into sheets of material. These anti-viral sheets could be laminated into surgical masks and embedded into other PPE to enhance protection. The science team believe that these nano anti-viral fabrics could be further utilised by being applied to filtration systems to help prevent the spread of the airborne virus.
Kirkstall Limited ("Kirkstall") (holding 64.67%)
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Kirkstall is targeting specific researchers who are testing drugs on lung cell tissue. Kirkstall has an in vitro cell culture technology, "QuasiVivo", that can be used in the study of respiratory disease which could be faster and more effective than using animals to help understand the disease and the potential efficacy of a vaccine.
COVID-19 is having a major disruptive effect on biomedical research as witnessed by the closure of academic labs worldwide and the forced euthanasia of laboratory animals, some of which had taken years to breed for the specific genotypes the laboratories needed to study immune system responses. The re-starting of laboratory animal experiments will likely take significant time because the pipeline of breeding and nurture has also been disrupted.
Kirkstall believes these conditions will provide an opportunity for a major re-appraisal of whether animal testing methods are appropriate for human relevant research.
Kirkstall has an easy to use QuasiVivo product for in vitro cell culture as a potential replacement for animals and is actively working with leading academics on planning a novel approach to their research once the laboratories re-open.
Phasefocus Holdings Limited ("Phasefocus") (holding 25%)
Following the lifting of the COVID-19 lockdown in China, distributor Sinsi Technology has resumed marketing Phasefocus instruments across the region. It sees a great opportunity to target researchers who will use the LiveCyte instrument to study the effect of viruses on living cells and the performance of drug candidates.
To help support distributors, in this time of restricted travel, the company is releasing a suite of video presentations and webinars to use with customers, explaining the technology and demonstrating capabilities. This work comes on the back of CEO Martin Humphry's successful lecture tour to ten of the leading Canadian research institutions working in cell culture. During this tour he introduced academics to the LiveCyte instrument capabilities and research applications.
Paraytec Limited ("Paraytec") (holding 100%)
In the latest round of the NEXUS project, end user tests with major biopharmaceutical players have been looking at 'virus like particles' (VLPs) that are being used to deliver new gene therapy drugs. Essentially, the active part of a virus is removed and the outer 'shell' is filled with a 'cargo' of the DNA/RNA which constitutes the gene therapy. Biopharma companies need to characterise formulations, to assess critical quality attributes including levels of aggregation and the empty/full ratios of VLPs with nucleic acid cargo. Paraytec's work is early stage but has shown promising results using VLP samples supplied by two biopharmaceutical companies.
Paraytec is moving into the commercial exploitation phase with the outcome of the NEXUS project, the objective being to create a new instrument and look for licensing/commercialisation opportunities. Paraytec is currently having discussions with potential partners who could supply other key elements of the instrument alongside Paraytec's UV imaging system.
Sentinel Medical Limited ("Sentinel") (holding 38.38%)
In addition to the ongoing trials with bladder cancer patient samples, Sentinel is currently awaiting the outcome of a joint grant application with the University of Sheffield, the Aptamer Group and the Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust for a project to look at aptamers as alternatives to antibodies for bladder cancer detection in urine. Here the aptamers will bind to the cancer cells and Sentinel's technology will be used for reporting the presence of those cells. The science team is currently assessing how this approach could be applied in a COVID-19 point-of-care detection instrument.
For further information:
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Braveheart Investment Group plc
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Tel: 01738 587555 |
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Allenby Capital Limited
(Nominated Adviser and Joint Broker)
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Tel: 020 3328 5656
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Peterhouse Capital Limited
(Joint Broker)
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Tel: 020 7469 0936 |
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