Portfolio Update

RNS Number : 2666Z

Woodford Patient Capital Trust PLC

30 August 2018

 

Woodford Patient Capital Trust plc

Update: Genomics announces new fundraising and collaboration

LONDON, 30 August 2018

Genomics, the Oxford-based biotechnology company, and a portfolio company in Woodford Patient Capital Trust, has today announced a new £25 million financing round and collaboration with Vertex Pharmaceutical.

The three-year collaboration, extendable to five years, will use human genetics and machine learning to advance the understanding and improve discovery of targets for precision medicines and the clinical impact of human genetic variation.

Link to official release.

Background information:

About Vertex

Vertex is a global biotechnology company that invests in scientific innovation to create transformative medicines for people with serious and life-threatening diseases. In addition to clinical development programs in cystic fibrosis, Vertex has more than a dozen ongoing research programs focused on the underlying mechanisms of other serious diseases.

Founded in 1989 in Cambridge, Mass., Vertex's headquarters is now located in Boston's Innovation District. Today, the company has research and development sites and commercial offices in the United States, Europe, Canada and Australia. Vertex is consistently recognized as one of the industry's top places to work, including being named to Science magazine's Top Employers in the life sciences ranking for eight years in a row.

For additional information and the latest updates from the company, please visit www.vrtx.com

About Genomics plc

Genomics plc is a leading genome analysis company formed in 2014 by four leading scientists at the University of Oxford, including Professors Peter Donnelly (then Director of the Wellcome Centre for Human Genetics) and Gil McVean (Director of Oxford's Big Data Institute). Its vision is to use genomic insights to transform the drug discovery industry by getting better drugs developed more quickly and targeted at the right group of patients.

Every individual carries a unique set of genetic variants. Many of these variants change aspects of our biology. The powerful idea which underpins the company's work is that to understand the consequences of a proposed drug one can look at individuals who happen to carry genetic variants which affect the same part of our biology as the drug. This human genetics approach allows Genomics to learn about human biology, directly, in humans, rather than having to rely on the model systems which lead to 90% of drug targets failing when they are tested in humans.

Genomics plc has developed the largest platform of its kind in the world linking genetic variants to changes in thousands of measurements and disease outcomes, together with breakthrough machine learning algorithms that use this data at scale to learn directly about human biology.

Backed by some of the leading investors in life sciences, Genomics has an expert cross-disciplinary team of over 40 people, primarily scientists and software engineers, with offices in Oxford and Cambridge UK.

For additional information about Genomics plc, please visit www.genomicsplc.com

For further information, please contact:

Four Broadgate

Roland Cross / Jonathan Atkins

020 3697 4200

woodfordfourbroadgate.com

Notes to editors:

About Woodford Investment Management:

Woodford Investment Management Limited is an asset management company built on a founding philosophy of transparency and simplicity. Launched in May 2014, the company has more than £12.5bn assets under management and advice.

Woodford Investment Management Ltd

9400 Garsington Road Oxford OX4 2HN

[phone]

[e-mail]

Authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority

Registered in England and Wales. Number 10118169

ENDS

 

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