TIDMIPO
RNS Number : 4913X
IP Group PLC
20 November 2014
FOR RELEASE ON 20 November 2014
IP Group - Modern Biosciences wins GBP2.4 million award from UK
Government's Biomedical Catalyst
IP Group plc (LSE: IPO) ("IP Group" or "the Company" or "the
Group"), the developer of intellectual property based businesses,
is delighted to note that Modern Biosciences plc ("Modern
Biosciences") has announced that it has been awarded a grant of up
to GBP2.4 million by the UK Government-backed Biomedical
Catalyst.
The award will provide support for Modern Biosciences' lead
programme for the development of novel bone-protective compounds in
the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis ("RA").
RA is a severe, crippling inflammatory disease which causes
progressive joint and bone erosion and eventual disability. MBS'
compounds act by an entirely novel mechanism of action to target
both the inflammatory component of RA and its associated bone
destruction. This has the potential to not only protect the joints
of RA sufferers from further damage but to reverse existing
damage.
The Biomedical Catalyst, launched in 2011, is a programme of
public funding designed to deliver growth to the UK life sciences
sector. Today's award to MBS will help fund the clinical
development of a candidate molecule through Phase 1 clinical
studies and provide evidence from patients for the drug's efficacy
and safety. This represents the second award of a Biomedical
Catalyst grant to MBS in relation to the RA programme, the first of
which was announced in 2012.
Dr Sam Williams, Chief Executive Officer of Modern Biosciences,
said: "We are delighted to be offered a second award by the
Biomedical Catalyst and we are grateful to the UK's innovation
agency, Innovate UK, for its support. Our first Biomedical Catalyst
award allowed us to take our rheumatoid arthritis programme to a
point at which we can enter clinical studies, and this further
award will now enable us to demonstrate the utility of the drugs in
patients. Without this funding, our programme would never have
progressed to this critical stage."
Modern Biosciences was established to source late-stage
discovery projects from academia, conduct early proof-of-principle
clinical studies and out-license the resulting programmes to the
pharmaceutical industry. IP Group holds an undiluted beneficial
interest of 61.1% in Modern Biosciences and, as a result, its
income and expenses are consolidated into those of the Group.
For more information, please contact:
IP Group plc www.ipgroupplc.com
Alan Aubrey, Chief Executive Officer +44 (0) 20 7444 0050
Liz Vaughan-Adams, Communications +44 (0) 20 7444 0062 / +44 (0) 7979 853 802
liz.vadams@ipgroupplc.com
FTI Consulting (for IP Group)
James Melville-Ross/Simon Conway/Victoria Foster Mitchell +44 (0) 20 3727 1000
Modern Biosciences
Dr Sam Williams, CEO +44(0) 845 074 2929
Notes for editors
About IP Group
IP Group is a leading UK intellectual property commercialisation
company, developing technology innovations primarily from its
research intensive partner universities. The Group offers more than
traditional venture capital, providing its companies with access to
business building expertise, networks, recruitment and business
support.
IP Group's portfolio comprises holdings in around 90 early-stage
to mature businesses across the Healthcare, Biotech, Cleantech and
Technology sectors. These businesses include Oxford Nanopore
Technologies, the DNA sequencing development company, Revolymer,
best known for its removable chewing gum, and Xeros, which has
received many accolades for its revolutionary clothes washing
technique with a much reduced requirement for water.
For more information, please visit our website at
www.ipgroupplc.com.
About Modern Biosciences
Modern Biosciences is a drug development company which sources
late-stage discovery projects from academia, conducts early
proof-of-principle clinical studies and out-licenses the resulting
programmes to the pharmaceutical industry. Modern Biosciences'
major shareholder is IP Group plc, the developer of intellectual
property based businesses. For more information, please visit
www.modernbiosciences.com.
About Innovate UK
Innovate UK, the new name for the Technology Strategy Board, is
the UK's innovation agency. Its goal is to accelerate economic
growth by stimulating and supporting business-led innovation.
Sponsored by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills
(BIS), Innovate UK brings together business, research and the
public sector, supporting and accelerating the development of
innovative products and services to meet market needs, tackle major
societal challenges and help build the future economy. For more
information please visit www.innovateuk.org.
About Catalysts
Catalysts are run jointly by Innovate UK and the Research
Councils. A Catalyst is a form of research and development funding
which focuses on a specific priority area and aims to help take
projects from research to as close to commercial viability as
possible. The Catalyst model supports projects in priority areas
where the UK research base has a leading position and where there
is clear commercial potential. Current Catalysts include:
Biomedical Catalyst, Agri-tech Catalyst and the Industrial
Biotechnology Catalyst.
For more details please visit:
https://www.innovateuk.org/-/catalysts
About rheumatoid arthritis
Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) is a chronic, progressive and
disabling auto-immune disease affecting 165 million people
worldwide, or one per cent of the global population. It is an
incredibly painful condition, can cause severe disability and
ultimately affects a person's ability to carry out everyday tasks.
The disease can progress very rapidly causing swelling and damaging
cartilage and bone around the joints. Any joint may be affected but
it is the hands, feet and wrists that are most commonly involved.
It is a systemic disease which means that it can affect the whole
body and internal organs such as the lungs, heart and eyes.
About MBS' bone-protective compounds
MBS' novel bone-protection programme was licensed in 2007 from
OsteoRX Limited ("OsteoRX"), a spin-out company from the University
of Aberdeen ("Aberdeen"). The programme comprises a series of
orally available small molecules which are highly effective in
preventing RA in disease models. The compounds act via a novel
molecular mechanism which means they not only reduce inflammation
and bone damage associated with RA, but have the potential to
reverse bone damage via a directly protective effect that is unique
amongst existing agents.
ENDS
This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
END
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