Investment in Avacta Limited

IP2IPO Group PLC
11 August 2005




For immediate release                                             11 August 2005


                              IP2IPO Group Plc

                          Investment in Avacta Limited


IP2IPO Group Plc (AIM: IPO) ('IP2IPO') is pleased to announce that it has
invested £300,000 in cash in Avacta Limited ('Avacta'), a spin-out company from
the University of Leeds.  IP2IPO's investment into Avacta increases its equity
interest to a 46.8% stake.

Avacta is developing breakthrough technology that integrates multiple
spectroscopic techniques with novel biotechnology to enable the unique
characterization of highly complex biological and chemical substances - even at
the level of single molecule sensitivity. This technology platform has a number
of different applications in the homeland security, healthcare, biotechnology
and pharmaceutical sectors. The company is already working on a major
collaborative project developing technology for remote detection of hazardous
substances for defence and counter terrorism purposes.

Avacta has also developed technology to enable high throughput screening of
membrane bound drug targets which represent approximately 35% of predicted new
targets. Due to their insolubility, membrane proteins are particularly difficult
to handle and no high throughput screening technique is currently available to
the pharmaceutical industry.

Avacta is headed by Professor Alastair Smith, Professor of Molecular Biophysics
at the University of Leeds, who has a world class track record of developing
enabling technologies for the biophysical sciences.  Avacta's co-founders are Dr
Simon Webster, Dr Kurt Baldwin and Alan Brain. Drs Webster and Baldwin
previously worked with Renishaw plc and were key members of the team that was
responsible for designing the world's market leading Raman spectrometers.  Mr
Brain was formerly the Head of Microscopy at Smith and Nephew Research Centre in
York.

Professor Smith, Chief Executive of Avacta, said: 'We have developed Avacta's IP
in response to significant unmet market needs.  We believe that the ability of
our platform technologies to uniquely characterize complex chemical and
biological systems will lead to a range of products that will provide enormous
benefits to companies operating in the healthcare, homeland security,
biotechnology and pharmaceutical sectors.  This investment will enable us to
complete the development of our first products.'

For more information please contact:

IP2IPO                                                            020 7489 5200
David Norwood, Chief Executive Officer

Avacta, University of Leeds                                       0113 343 3875
Prof. A. Smith, Chief Executive Officer

Buchanan Communications                                           020 7466 5000

Mark Court, Mary-Jane Johnson


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.


                      This information is provided by RNS
            The company news service from the London Stock Exchange       SCIFFFVTAIILIE