Corporate Update

RNS Number : 7820D

Kuala Innovations Limited

29 October 2015

 



For Immediate Release                                                                                   29 October 2015

Kuala Innovations Limited

Company has implemented its Investment Policy

Kuala to change its name to Fast Forward Innovations Limited

Corporate Update

The Directors of Kuala Innovations Limited (the "Company" or "Kuala") are pleased to provide Shareholders with a summary of the activities of Kuala since Shareholders approved a change to the Company's investment policy on 13 July 2015.

Highlights

·              The Company has substantially implemented its investment policy in accordance with Rule 15 of the AIM Rules.

·              The Company has fully invested its currently available funds in four early stage strategic investments (further details below) which the Board believe have the potential to deliver significant returns.

·              Jim Mellon joined the Board as Co Chairman in September 2015. Mr Mellon is an experienced investor in biotech and blockchain technologies (two areas covered by Fast Forward (www.fastforwardbook.com), the investment book co-authored by Mr Mellon in 2014) and has provided access to significant deal flow.

·              The Directors have proposed that the Company change its name to Fast Forward Innovations Limited (subject to shareholder approval) reflecting its strategic investment direction.

The Company's investment philosophy is based on the belief that attractive investment returns can be generated from investing in highly disruptive emerging technologies.  Accordingly, Kuala has adopted a venture capital approach, focussed on early stage investments where the directors believe significant upside can be realised. To date, the Board has particularly focussed on bio-technology and blockchain technology companies.

Kuala Co-Chairman Stephen Dattels commented, "The Board is delighted that it has now implemented its investment policy.  This gives the Company a real opportunity to capitalise on the great work it has done over the last 6 months, since it switched its focus away from natural resources to technology and biotech.  The four investments made by the Company to date all have great potential, and we expect significant business milestones to be reported by each of them over the next 12 months.  All of the Directors will continue to use their network to identify further investment opportunities and we are excited that the next 12 months will be a period of great growth and success for the Company."

Strategic Investments

The four strategic investments made to date are:

The Diabetic Boot Company

In 2014, the prevalence of diabetes in the UK was 5.38 per cent of the total population. It is estimated that approximately 2.5 per cent. of diabetics have diabetic foot ulcers ("DFUs"), at any given time. These prevalence rates led the NHS in England to spend approximately £1.00 in every £150 on the treatment of DFUs and associated lower limb amputation. Similar rates of diabetes and ulceration are observed in other markets.

DBC is a private single product medical device company based near Oxford, in the UK. DBC is focussed on the treatment of DFUs which are a comorbidity of diabetes mellitus. The treatment of DFUs represents a significant commercial opportunity with the current standard of care and alternative therapies lacking efficacy.

DBC's lead product is the PulseFlow® which combines intermittent plantar compression with the current standard of care for the treatment of DFUs called offloading. Technology created by DBC in relation to the PulseFlow is currently the subject of a number of granted patents in key jurisdictions, with further patents submitted. Intermittent plantar compression as a mechanism of action has been shown in independent clinical studies to produce statistically significant improvements over placebo in wound closure.

PulseFlow is approved for sale in Europe having been granted a CE mark in December 2013 as a Class IIa medical device. DBC has submitted an FDA 510(k) application in the USA for PulseFlow in March 2015.

DBC has distribution agreements in place in a number of geographies including Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Saudi Arabia. DBC hopes to expand this list and is currently negotiating with additional distributors in key markets. Further details regarding DBC can be found at www.pluse-flow.net.

Intensity Therapeutics, Inc.

Currently, early detection coupled with surgery and chemotherapy is the most effective treatment against cancer.  However, for late-stage cancer patients, combinations of chemotherapy or targeted therapy, immunotherapy ablation or radiation are less effective.  Current therapies also require administration directly into the bloodstream (systemically) whereby the drug circulates throughout the body damaging healthy tissue.  Often, due to side effects on normal tissue, the doses are limited and only a fraction of the drug reaches the tumour with even less of the drug getting into the actual cancer cells.  Intensity's localised administration approach leads to reduced systemic exposure significantly reducing toxicity.  The activation of the immune system against the cancer allows for the system killing power to attack the untreated tumours and invisible metastases.

Intensity is a biotechnology company focused on cancer immunotherapy.  Intensity's novel technology has the potential to transform the lives of patients with cancer.

Intensity's approach allows for the administration of drugs directly into cancerous tumours.   This method creates high quality antigens from the patients' own attenuated (killed) tumours to promote immune activation.  The immune system, once trained against the patient's own cancer, then can then seek and attack the remaining cancer cells throughout the body to put the patient into remission and prevent the cancer's recurrence. 

Intensity's lead product INT230-6 has demonstrated remarkable activity in multiple animal cancer models.   The Company was awarded a Collaborative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) with the US National Cancer Institute of the American National Institute of Health to better characterise the mechanism of this technology.   The National Cancer Institute has reproduced and confirmed Intensity's findings.   Further details regarding Intensity Therapeutics are available at its website www.intensitytherapeutics.com .

SatoshiPay Ltd

SatoshiPay is developing a two-way payment platform, which will enable online content providers to monetise their digital content through the acceptance of nanopayments. Using the SatoshiPay platform, online media companies will be able to process nanopayments of 5c or less with minimal transaction fees SatoshiPay technology can also process payments greater than 5c, but the company believes the real technical innovation is in relation to nanopayments, in some cases being less than 1c. 

SatoshiPay will provide a direct alternative to pay-walls, currently adopted by some media companies, and require the user to pay for consumption on a per article, per song or per download basis; or for content to be consumed and paid for on an incremental basis (payment per paragraph or minute of audio or video content).  SatoshiPay is frictionless, working without software download or sign-up for the user. Payments are expected to be instant and the user's wallet balance will be available on each website that integrates the SatoshiPay software.  SatoshiPay's platform is stable & secure, with software developed by an experienced team of blockchain and security experts. Regular audits are expected to assure safe money transfers, system uptimes and hacker-proof operation.

SatoshiPay is currently preparing for a trial launch of its nanopayment technology followed by expected full release of its software in the first half of 2016. Further details regarding SatoshiPay are available at its website www.satoshipay.io .

Factom, Inc

In the financial services industry, Factom tools let customers build transparent accountability systems for the financial industry, helping clients build immutable records that can be synced and shared among multiple parties. The validation and verification tools let the client audit these transactions in real time or run more sophisticated business process analysis of systems in the future. 

Factom's software allows companies to maintain a permanent, time-stamped record of their data tied to blockchains, reducing the cost and complexity of conducting audits, managing records, and complying with government regulations.

These same transparent audit tools can be used to build more transparent and accountable claims processing systems for the insurance industry and create more valuable models of risk analysis and customer profiling. Factom is working on proof of concept projects with some key insurance providers and learning how to integrate with existing claims systems.

Significant potential also exists for Factom technology to enhance the security of data and records within the healthcare and pharmaceutical industries, the telecoms industry, mobile banking, and for online real estate transactions.

Factom is currently negotiating terms of engagement with a number of large US companies including those in the banking, insurance and healthcare industries. With a heavy focus initially on development of their platform technology, the company nevertheless has demonstrated early revenues. Further details regarding Factom are available at its website www.factom.org 

Corporate

The Board appreciates the support of its shareholder base during this initial investing phase and in particular our new investors through which we raised £200,000 in September 2015 which has been fully deployed completing the above investments.  As the Board identifies further opportunities additional funds will be required to complete new investments or advance additional cash to existing investee companies.

Kuala Innovations Limited Elysium Fund Management Limited         www.kualainnovations.com  Follow us on Twitter	Tel: [phone] @kualainnovation
Beaumont Cornish Limited (Nomad) James Biddle / Michael Cornish	Tel:  [phone]
Peterhouse Corporate Finance Limited (Broker) Guy Miller / Lucy Williams	Tel:   [phone]

CAUTIONARY STATEMENT

The AIM Market of London Stock Exchange plc does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. No stock exchange, securities commission or other regulatory authority has approved or disapproved the information contained herein. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, in this news release are forward-looking statements that involve various risks and uncertainties, including, without limitation, statements regarding potential values, the future plans and objectives of Kuala Innovations Limited. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate, achievable or recognisable in the near term.

Actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. These and all subsequent written and oral forward-looking statements are based on the estimates and opinions of management on the dates they are made and are expressly qualified in their entirety by this notice. Kuala Innovations Limited assumes no obligation to update forward-looking statements should circumstances or management's estimates or opinions change.

 

END

 

 

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