Mercia EIS Funds

PolyTherics expands collaboration with a top five pharmaceutical company to enhance the clinical properties of biopharmaceuticals using PolyPEG

London, UK, 15 th October 2012 – PolyTherics Limited (“PolyTherics”), a provider of solutions to enable the development of better biopharmaceuticals, has extended its collaboration with a top five pharmaceutical company to further investigate applications of PolyTherics’ polymer, PolyPEG®.

PolyPEG™ is a patented polymer designed to extend the half-life in the body of therapeutic proteins to which it is conjugated. It consists of poly(ethylene) glycol (PEG) ‘teeth’ along a polymer backbone to create a comb-shaped format. The format of PolyPEG™ provides a conjugated protein with a lower viscosity than would generally be possible with an equivalent sized linear PEG. This is particularly useful when a protein has to be administered at high concentration and can enable the use of standard gauge needles for injection.

Under the terms of the collaboration, the properties of several different proteins will be evaluated following conjugation to a range of PolyPEG® polymers of different molecular architectures. The evaluations will include in vitro binding and activity assays with proteins targeted to a number of disease areas. Selected PolyPEG® protein conjugates will also be evaluated in imaging and pharmacokinetic studies.

John Burt, CEO of PolyTherics, commented: “The addition of PolyPEG™, through the acquisition of Warwick Effect Polymers earlier this year, has significantly strengthened and broadened our suite of novel technologies and our offering for producing better biopharmaceuticals. This capability has attracted the interest of several major pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies looking to develop enhanced and differentiated biopharmaceutical products. We are therefore delighted to extend this current collaboration with a top five pharmaceutical company to evaluate the applicability of our technologies across a wide range of proteins.”

About PolyTherics
PolyTherics provides technology solutions to enable the development of better biopharmaceuticals. PolyTherics’ suite of technologies enables the development of novel antibody drug conjugates and biopharmaceuticals with extended duration of action or other desirable clinical characteristics.

The proprietary technologies, TheraPEG™, CyPEG™ and HiPEG™, are used to attach polymers, typically polyethylene glycol (PEG), to specific sites on proteins and peptides to extend their duration of action and,
more recently, to produce antibody drug conjugates for targeted cancer therapy. Following its acquisition of Warwick Effect Polymers in January 2012, PolyTherics can provide two new polymers, PolyPEG® and GlycoPol®, to further tailor the properties of biopharmaceuticals.

Products developed using PolyTherics’ technologies offer significant advantages over the original protein,
including better pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic profile, improved stability, and because they are PRESS RELEASE more homogeneous, more efficient and cost-effective manufacture. PolyTherics has established collaborations with biotechnology and pharmaceutical partners and the first products developed using its technology are expected to enter the clinic within 18 months. In addition to driving existing collaborations, PolyTherics is seeking further partners interested in the application of its technologies to produce better biopharmaceuticals.

PolyTherics is a privately owned UK company and is backed by institutional investors, including Imperial
Innovations (LON:IVO), Proven Health VCT plc, The Capital Fund, Oxford Technology VCT 3 plc and Oxford
Technology 4 plc, Advantage Enterprise and Innovation Fund, Mercia Funds 1 & 2, and high net worth
individuals with funds managed by Longbow Capital LLP. The Company has dedicated facilities in London and
Coventry, UK.

For more information contact:
PolyTherics
John Burt, PolyTherics
Tel.: +44 (0)20 7691 3580
Email: john.burt@polytherics.com
Mark Swallow, Sita Shah, Chris Gardner
Citigate Dewe Rogerson
Tel.: +44 (0)20 7282 2948/1052/2995
Email: mark.swallow@citigatedr.co.uk