ProAxsis Awarded Invest NI Grant

RNS Number : 9146P

NetScientific PLC

01 June 2018

 

NetScientific plc

("NetScientific" or the "Company" or the "Group")

ProAxsis Awarded Invest NI Grant for Development of New ProteaseTag® Products

London, UK - June 1^st, 2018 - NetScientific plc ("NetScientific", AIM: NSCI), the transatlantic healthcare IP commercialisation group, announces that its portfolio company ProAxsis has been awarded a grant by Invest Northern Ireland to support the development of its proprietary ProteaseTag® technology to identify and quantify active protease biomarkers.

The project will assist in the clinical validation of new therapeutics for deubiquitinases (DUBs) as part of a £150,000 project. DUBs are thought to play significant roles in the pathogenesis of several types of cancer as well as neurodegenerative disorders, and as such are of high interest to the pharmaceutical industry.

Commenting on the news, NetScientific's Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of ProAxsis, Francois R. Martelet said: "The expansion of ProteaseTag® technology from serine into cysteine proteases represents a strategic cornerstone for ProAxsis and substantially enlarges the addressable market down the line. We thank Invest NI and congratulate ProAxsis on its continuing momentum towards becoming the leader in assays for active protease biomarker measurement."

NetScientific holds 54% of ProAxsis on a fully-diluted basis.

The full text of the announcement from ProAxsis can be found below.

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For more information, please contact:

NetScientific   François R. Martelet, M.D., CEO   Ian Postlethwaite, CFO	Tel: [phone]
Consilium Strategic Communications   Mary-Jane Elliott Jessica Hodgson /   Chris Welsh / Laura Thornton	Tel: [phone] [e-mail]
Stifel Nicolaus Europe Limited (NOMAD and Broker) Jonathan Senior / David Arch / Ben Maddison	Tel: [phone]

ProAxsis receives further backing from Invest Northern Ireland under EU investment

Date: June 1^st, 2018

ProAxsis Limited has received an Invest NI Grant for Research and Development, supporting the company to develop new products using its innovative ProteaseTag® technology.

The grant is part financed under the European Union's Investment for Growth and Jobs Programme for Northern Ireland.  The project, entitled "The development of ProteaseTags® for deubiquitinases (DUBs): innovative tools for biomarker identification and drug discovery in oncology", will be implemented over the next 12 months and aims to allow the design and synthesis of peptide-based inhibitors for the DUBs family, followed by an assessment of their incorporation in to prototype activity-based immunoassay formats.

Dr David Ribeiro, CEO of ProAxsis, commented: "Deubiquitinases are known to play important roles in various diseases including different forms of cancer and neurodegeneration, and therefore represent potential therapeutic targets of high interest to the pharmaceutical industry.  We're excited to explore the expansion of our novel ProteaseTag® technology to measure this family of cysteine proteases, and are extremely grateful to Invest NI, who continue to support our ongoing efforts to establish ProAxsis as a global leader in the design, development and commercialisation of highly specific assays for the measurement of active protease biomarkers of disease."

ProAxsis is part of the NetScientific group and is one of the group's core portfolio companies.  The company is also supported by QUBIS, the commercialisation arm of Queens University.

To find out how ProAxsis can support the measurement of active protease biomarkers of disease, or for any further queries, please contact [e-mail]

About NetScientific

NetScientific is a transatlantic healthcare technology group with an investment strategy focused on sourcing, funding and commercialising technologies that significantly improve the health and well-being of people with chronic diseases. For more information, please visit the website at www.netscientific.net

About ProAxsis Limited:

ProAxsis is developing a range of products for the capture, detection and measurement of active protease biomarkers of disease. Its first commercialised immunoassay measures neutrophil elastase, a leading indicator of infection and inflammation in patients with Cystic Fibrosis (CF), Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) and bronchiectasis, and an important drug target. The rapid and easy-to-use tests being developed by ProAxsis incorporate patented ProteaseTags®; smart molecules which trap an active protease within a complex biological sample and enable a visual readout of its presence. ProteaseTags® provide a unique tool to identify and quantify active protease biomarkers and will assist in the clinical validation of new therapeutics.

ProAxsis is part of the NetScientific Group and is one of the Group's core portfolio companies.  The company is also supported by QUBIS, the commercialisation arm of Queens University.

 

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