16//03//11
QMB VIRTUAL TENANT ACTIVIOMICS SECURES £500,000 INVESTMENT
IP Group plc invests in biomarker specialist Activiomics
Queen Mary Bioenterprises Limited (or ‘QMB Innovation Centre’), a leading technology & science London based Innovation Centre, announces the new of the investment by IP Group plc in virtual tenant Activiomics.
IP Group plc, a developer of intellectual property based businesses, has led an investment of more than £500,000 in Activiomics Ltd, a specialist in new technologies for transforming the way in which drug biomarkers are identified, diagnostics developed and drug candidates identified and profiled. Activiomics’ proprietary technology has broad application in the area of biomarker and drug discovery in a number of disease areas, including oncology and inflammation. Since its incorporation in February 2010, the company has established partnerships with a number of Big Pharma companies, including GlaxoSmithKline, UCB and Genentech.
Mark Warne, Activiomics’ CEO on secondment from IP Group, said: “Better prediction of clinical outcomes is vital to improve drug approval numbers. Biomarkers are a route to improving that prediction. That said, proving that new markers increase predictability in development and treatment is critical. Our technology will enable this and significantly contribute towards pharma and biotech’s efforts to gain timely approvals by regulatory authorities”.
Investors in the funding round included IP Group; IP Venture Fund, a venture capital fund managed by IP Group; and members of Activiomics’ management. Activiomics said the funds raised will strengthen its ability to grow its partnerships with pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies and to pursue the identification of novel predictive and prognostic markers in oncology using its proprietary label-free technology on exclusively accessed human tissue samples. The company will have access to state-of-the-art mass spectrometry facilities while being advised by leading scientists, including its scientific founders, Bart Vanhaesebroeck, an expert in PI3K signaling, and Pedro Cutillas, a pioneer in the field of label-free proteomics.
ENDS
Enquires
Activiomics Ltd
Mark Warne
Interim CEO
Tel: +44 (0) 845 5195 091
Mark.Warne@ipgroupplc.com
Queen Mary Bioenterprises
Simone Reid, Business Development Director
Ramsay Richmond, Executive Manager
+44 (0) 20 7882 8950
simone.reid@qmul.ac.uk
r.richmond@qmul.ac.uk
Queen Mary Innovation
Sandra Rogat, Marketing Manager
+44 (0) 207 882 5289
s.rogat@.qmul.ac.uk
Notes to editors
About Activiomics Ltd
Activiomics is a privately owned spin-out company from the Institute of Cancer, Barts and the London School of Medicine and Dentistry at Queen Mary, University of London. It has developed innovative technologies that utilise mass spectrometry to interrogate and interpret the activity of cellular signalling pathways, generating high value information for the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industry. Its novel ‘TIQUAS’ platform enables the label free quantification of phosphopeptides for biomarker discovery and drug profiling. Unlike other phosphoproteomics techniques, TIQUAS can comprehensively profile and cross-compare phosphopeptides, ensuring accurate and reproducible data.
About Queen Mary Bioenterprises Limited (“QMB Innovation Centre”)
The QMB Innovation Centre is a 39,000 square feet capacity building, providing state of the art commercial Laboratory and office space centrally located within zone 2 of London.
The QMB Innovation Centre is a wholly owned company of Queen Mary, University of London. It is the culmination of a four-year capital investment partnership between Queen Mary and the London Development Agency.
The Innovation Centre encapsulates varied goals providing business Incubation support for new ventures and being a hub for entrepreneurial activity.
About Queen Mary Innovation Limited
The knowledge transfer strategy of Queen Mary, University of London (QMUL) is driven by Queen Mary Innovation (QMI) which promotes enterprise and innovation across the College. QMI provides a route for businesses and the wider community to access the skills and expertise of the researchers, academics and students at QMUL. QMI’s technical and commercial experience in the healthcare and biotechnology sectors is a valuable asset which could bring significant benefits to your company when working with them.