Piramed is a UK-based drug discovery company focused on the research and development of targeted therapies for cancer and immune-inflammatory diseases. Founded in July 2003, it has received £12M investor funding from JP Morgan Partners and Merlin Biosciences.

Piramed's area of expertise is centred on specific inhibitors of a family of lipid kinases, namely PI 3-kinases. The PI 3-kinase pathway is considered to be one of the most important pathways in cancer as aberrations in this pathway are common in most tumour types. Activation of the pathway is also important in inflammation and autoimmunity.

Our scientific founders are pre-eminent in this field and gave Piramed a substantial first-mover advantage in what has become a highly competitive area. This advantage has been considerably strengthened by the establishment of a large and influential academic network focussing on this area of biology. Indeed, Piramed has created a strong intellectual property portfolio, encompassing both inhibitors and kinase targets.

In November 2005, Piramed signed a $230m alliance with Genentech for the clinical development and commercialisation of PI 3-kinase inhibitors in cancer. The alliance represents a landmark preclinical deal by a European biotech start-up company, providing significant funding for the growth of the company. The deal received two accolades in 2006; winner of the Biotech:Biotech Innovative BioPartnering Award at Biobusiness Network and placement of Piramed in the top 15 'Fierce Biotech' companies. This deal not only endorses the value of Piramed's technology but also enabled the company to retain downstream value via an option to commercialise in ex-US territories.

Piramed has also discovered highly selective, isoform-specific PI 3-kinase inhibitors. The company's most advanced proprietary programme involves novel selective inhibitors of p110 delta, a PI 3-kinase isoform that is an important target for immune inflammatory disorders. This programme is currently in IND enabling studies and the Company's intention is to create significant value by taking this programme through to clinical proof of concept before partnering.

• Lead product approved to begin UK-based clinical trial in multiple sclerosis (MS) patients
• MS diagnostic blood test under development
• Therapeutic vaccine to prevent factor VIII inhibitor antibodies in haemophilia A patients under evaluation in pre clinical models

The body’s immune system protects us from harmful proteins. However, an abnormal immune response to the bodies own (e.g. the myelin sheath surrounding nerve fibres in MS) proteins can cause serious life threatening damage to the body causing common conditions such as allergies, asthma, MS, rheumatoid arthritis, organ transplant rejection and type I diabetes. All current treatments either treat the symptoms or non-specifically suppress the patient’s immune system and can cause serious side effects such as increased infections and a greater risk of cancer.

Apitope’s therapeutic approach is based on well-established scientific evidence showing that soluble, synthetic peptides can reinstate normal and/or attenuate abnormal immune responses through the induction of a naturally occurring population of IL-10 secreting lymphoctyes.

Lectus was initially financed by the management and in 2003 obtained funding from the Quester-managed SULIS Seedcorn Fund. Lectus quickly gained early endorsement for its innovative approach to ion channel drug discovery through a strategic investment from Takeda Research Investment Inc (TRI; the corporate venture arm of Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Ltd) in 2004. In 2006, building on its early success, in a difficult fundraising climate, Lectus raised £8.2m in one of the biggest series A funding rounds in recent history for an early stage drug discovery company. This bucked the trend for late-stage business financing. Lectus attracted two top tier venture investors: Sofinnova Partners and Quester, as well as two Japanese corporate investors: TRI (who followed their earlier investment) and Astellas Venture Management (the venture capital arm of Astellas Pharma Inc.). This blue-chip investor base endorses the value of Lectus’s approach to discovery of ion channel therapeutics. Throughout its history Lectus has maintained a pragmatic and novel approach to fundraising: delivering value at each stage in the cycle and carefully aligning itself with the market and its investors.

In April 2006 Lectus acquired NeuroServe Ltd: a company that tested electrophysiological effects of compounds. This enabled Lectus to increase the efficiency of its research, expand its intellectual property base and move its headquarters to the Babraham Institute, located near Cambridge at the heart of the UK’s leading biotechnology cluster.

Combinatorial Domain Hunting Advances
Technology Development
We published the technology in a high quality, peer-reviewed journal

Customer Satisfaction
We have achieved an excellent result for one of our early collaborations where we have supplied a domain isolated from a very difficult protein drug target. The following is a quote direct from the customer:
“Probably one the best expressing proteins we have ever had in the insect cell system! Protein from both E.coli and insect cells has been used successfully in generating co-crystals with our in-house inhibitors and we now have a 2.3A structure with our inhibitor bound”
This result is very important as it demonstrates the validation of our technology via a third party customer. More importantly, we have a positive message from the customer that they are considering a larger further collaboration.

Technology Development
Early technology development, part funded by a European grant under FP6, is going well. The initial gene synthesis for two projects has commenced and the technology is ready for testing.

Funding
Domainex was initially funded by BBSF, a Challenge fund linking UCL and ICR spin outs. In late 2006 Longbow Capital invested to enable the development of the technology and particularly the applications, to be accelerated.

The first quarter of 2007 has been a busy time for Domainex. We completed a merger with NCE-Discovery in Cambridge which now enables the complete delivery of novel drug targets from gene to small molecule.
We have embarked on an in-house program of drug target discovery and now complement that activity with the ability to synthesise our own small molecule drugs.

OGeS is making rapid progress towards its goal of being a leader in the development of personalised medicines for cancer. This quickly developing field, combining diagnostics and therapeutics, has been highlighted by Genentech’s Herceptin. This antibody therapeutic that has transformed the treatment of specific group of breast cancer patients. In order to achieve our corporate ambitions, we plan to enter into strategic collaborations with both world-leading antibody companies and with bluechip diagnostic companies.

• Started to develop antibody therapeutics for the treatment of colorectal cancer via our collaboration with Medarex (US), one of the world leaders in this field. This collaboration has since been rapidly extended to a number of other cancer indications.
• Commenced the development of novel commercial diagnostics for colorectal cancer with Biosite (US), a world leader in rapid diagnostic products,
• Extended our search for new clinical biomarkers for colorectal cancer through a new collaborative agreement with the University of Oxford.

LUX biotechnology ltd (LUX) is a technology development house which uses its core expertise in light based technologies to develop solutions across different industries. LUX develops its own product ranges, which it distributes globally through partners in Europe, the US and Japan. Products available on the market include Glowell™, a series of innovative, high quality light standards for the calibration of imaging and analytical equipment and a range of novel research reagents with application in life science research and discovery. In addition, LUX has a rich product pipeline that includes novel detection and measurement of chemicals used in a number of industrial processes in the energy and environmental sector, a water quality monitoring system for detection of pathogens in potable water and also a new diagnostic technology.

As part of this product development, LUX works closely with companies and universities to identify needs which can be fulfilled through cooperative development.

VetCell's first concerted foray into international trade began in the summer of 2004 and by 2006 overseas income made up c35% of turnover.

Whilst on the UKTI Passport to Export program VetCell developed their international trade strategy and put in place their 1st overseas territory (Australasia) deal which became a model for their international business approach.

VetCell explored various routes to market and undertook an exercise comparing distributorships, franchising and licensing. A novel solution was developed that involved having 2 territory partners one under a licensing agreement (for laboratory based services) and one acting as a distributor (for sales & marketing functions).

They prioritised markets by a combination of potential size and ease of access and have taken a stepwise approach to cover the globe. They have gone on to gain business from 19 other countries and opened a US subsidiary last year.

Our goal is to be an industry leader in improving the quality of life for people with dermatological disorders. We aim to achieve this through the application of innovative Research & Development into novel formulations and their effectiveness in a clinical setting. We believe in improving patient care by discovering, developing & marketing novel, high quality and cost effective dermatological products.