Theragenetics Financing
IP Group PLC
10 July 2007
For immediate release 10 July 2007
IP Group plc
IP GROUP SPIN-OUT COMPANY, THERAGENETICS, ANNOUNCES SUCCESSFUL COMPLETION OF £3M
FINANCING
IP Group plc (LSE: IPO) ('IP Group'), the intellectual property
commercialisation company, is delighted to note that TheraGenetics Ltd ('
TheraGenetics' or 'the Company'), a personalised-medicine diagnostics company
focused on central nervous system (CNS) disorders and a spin-out company from
the Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London, has today announced the
successful completion of a £3 million Series A venture financing round.
Swarraton Partners Ltd ('Swarraton Partners') led the financing with
participation from Tudor Capital, IP Venture Fund, IP Group's venture capital
fund raised in partnership with the European Investment Fund, and existing
investor IP Group. As part of the transaction, Mr. Stephen Brooke, Managing
Partner of Swarraton Partners, has joined TheraGenetics' Board of Directors.
TheraGenetics has developed a series of proprietary technologies and methods in
the field of personalised medicine based upon pharmacogenetics. Under the
umbrella of the Institute of Psychiatry at King's College London, the founding
team translated 15 years of research into the development of the first
pharmacogenetic test for response prediction in psychiatry. The company is
building on that success and developing a portfolio of additional
pharmacogenetic diagnostic tests.
Richard P. Kivel, Chief Executive Officer of TheraGenetics, commented: 'This
venture financing round will be used to expand our intellectual property
position and expedite the development of our portfolio of pharmacogenetic
diagnostic tests. Our tests will guide Doctors in their treatment of patients
suffering from CNS disorders such as schizophrenia, Alzheimer's disease, and
mood disorders. We are pleased to welcome Stephen to the Board. He will be
instrumental in our future expansion and success.'
Stephen Brooke of Swarraton Partners added: 'Giving physicians the diagnostic
tools to predict patient response to CNS drugs has tremendous value. The era of
personalised medicine is quickly approaching and TheraGenetics has the potential
to be a leader in the field.'
For further information, please contact:
IP Group plc
Alan Aubrey, Chief Executive Officer 020 7444 0050
Liz Vaughan-Adams (Communications) 020 7444 0062/07979853802
Buchanan Communications 020 7466 5000
Tim Anderson, Mary-Jane Johnson, Mark Court
TheraGenetics
Richard P Kivel, CEO , TheraGenetics
rich@theragenetics.com
LaVoie Group 00 1 978 745-4200 x105
Bryan Murphy
bmurphy@lavoiegroup.com
Notes for Editors
About IP Group
IP Group Plc is an intellectual property (IP) commercialisation company that
specialises in commercialising university technology. Founded in 2001, IP Group
listed on AIM in October 2003 and moved to the Official List in June 2006. It
has made two acquisitions to date - Techtran, a company set up to commercialise
university intellectual property under a long term contract with the University
of Leeds, in 2005 and Top Technology Ventures, an investment adviser to early
stage technology venture capital funds, in 2004.
IP Group has formed long-term partnerships with ten universities - the
University of Oxford, King's College London, CNAP/University of York, the
University of Leeds, the University of Bristol, the University of Surrey, the
University of Southampton, Queen Mary (University of London), the University of
Bath and the University of Glasgow.
As at 31 December 2006, 53 spin-out companies had been created among IP Group's
university partners. Of those, eight have listed on the AIM market of the London
Stock Exchange, one on PLUS Markets and there have been two trade sales. IP
Group also has three 'Modern-themed' subsidiaries - Modern Biosciences, Modern
Water and Modern Waste. Modern Water was the first of these subsidiaries to
float on AIM in June 2007.
For more information, please visit our website at www.ipgroupplc.com.
About TheraGenetics
TheraGenetics is a privately held, personalised-medicine diagnostics company
that is developing and commercialising a portfolio of pharmacogenetic diagnostic
tests to guide and improve the treatment of CNS disorders, bringing the right
medicine to the right patient. TheraGenetics' was created as a spin-out of the
Institute of Psychiatry at King's College London. Swarraton Partners Ltd., IP
Venture Fund and Tudor Capital join current investors, IP Group plc and
Kinetique Biomedical Seed Fund.
For more information, please visit www.theragenetics.com.
About Swarraton Partners
Swarraton Partners is a venture capital firm investing in early stage technology
companies based on world class European research.
About Tudor Capital
Tudor Capital is part of the The Tudor Group, which currently manages $17.7
billion, and is involved in active trading, investing and research in the global
equity, debt, currency and commodity markets.
About King's College London
King's College London is the fourth oldest university in England with
approximately 13,700 undergraduates and 5,600 graduate students in nine schools
across five London campuses. The College has had 24 of its subject-areas awarded
the highest HEFCE rating of 5* and 5 for research quality and it is home to five
Medical Research Council Centres, more than any other university. King's has a
particularly distinguished reputation in the humanities, law, social sciences,
natural sciences, biomedicine and nursing, and has played a major role in many
of the advances that have shaped modern life, such as the discovery of the
structure of DNA.
ENDS
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