Appointment of Scientific Adviser

RNS Number : 0269X

Angle PLC

07 January 2014

 



For immediate release

7 January 2014

ANGLE plc

("ANGLE" or "the Company")

APPOINTMENT OF SCIENTIFIC ADVISER

ANGLE plc (AIM: AGL), the specialist medtech company, is pleased to announce the appointment of Dr Harold Swerdlow as a Scientific Adviser to the Company with immediate effect.

Dr Swerdlow is Head of Research and Development for the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute ("the Sanger Institute") in Cambridgeshire and is a world-leading expert in next-generation sequencing (NGS).  Previously, he was the Chief Technology Officer of Dolomite Ltd., a leader in microfluidics and microfabrication.  

Prior to Dolomite, Dr Swerdlow was an inventor of core technology relating to NGS at Solexa Ltd., a company which he joined when it had only three employees. Dr Swerdlow helped launch Solexa's first product, the Genome Analyzer DNA sequencing platform.

At Solexa, Dr Swerdlow was responsible for instrument engineering, integration of the next-generation DNA sequencing system and early applications work, along with assisting in development of many of the biochemical components. He was a key member of the Senior Management team that delivered Solexa's first genome sequence, an end-to-end proof-of-principle.

Following its NASDAQ listing, Solexa was acquired by Illumina Inc. for US$600 million and Solexa's technology became the core of Illumina's world-leading NGS products.

In his current role at the Sanger Institute, Dr Swerdlow directs the R&D department, which is focussed on novel sample-preparation methodologies for next-generation sequencing. Dr Swerdlow also helped build the Sanger Institute's next-generation DNA-sequencing production facility into one of the world's largest.

ANGLE is working on demonstrating the compatibility of the Parsortix circulating tumour cell (CTC) harvesting capability, with the established molecular analysis platforms deployed by some of the world's largest medtech companies, and has identified this as a key area of commercialisation for the Parsortix system. The aim is that CTCs harvested from patient blood by the Parsortix system, the "liquid biopsy", are analysed for mutations and other important medical information on the medtech companies' existing platforms thereby greatly expanding their market application. 

Next-generation sequencing (NGS) is becoming the premier technique in genetic and genomic analysis.  NGS platforms enable a wide range of applications, allowing researchers to ask virtually any question of the genome, transcriptome and epigenome of an organism and are a key tool in the pursuit of personalised medicine for cancer patients.

ANGLE's Founder and Chief Executive, Andrew Newland, commented:

"We believe that next-generation sequencing (NGS) is a core analytical technology, which will be fundamental to personalised cancer treatment in the future. Aligning the Parsortix cell-capture technology with next-generation sequencing is a key commercial objective.  We are delighted to welcome Dr Harold Swerdlow, an acknowledged world-leader in NGS, as a Scientific Adviser to ANGLE and believe he will make an important contribution to accelerating the widespread adoption of the Parsortix system in cancer care."

For further information:

ANGLE plc	01483 685830
Andrew Newland, Chief Executive Ian Griffiths, Finance Director
Cenkos Securities Stephen Keys, Christopher Golden (Nominated adviser) Andy Roberts, Christian Hobart (Sales)	020 7397 8900
Buchanan Mark Court, Fiona Henson, Sophie Cowles	020 7466 5000

 

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