Mercia EIS Funds

PolyTherics granted further patents for TheraPEG and GlycoPol

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

PolyTherics granted further patents for TheraPEG™ and GlycoPol™

POLYTHERICS EXPANDS THE COVERAGE OF ITS PATENTS IN MAJOR MARKETS

London, UK, 18th June 2012 – PolyTherics Limited (“PolyTherics”), a provider of solutions to enable the development of better biopharmaceuticals, has strengthened its intellectual property estate with the granting of further patents for TheraPEG™, its site-specific conjugation technology, in Australia and Japan; and for GlycoPol™, a glycopolymer for targeted delivery of biotherapeutics, in the US.

PolyTherics has successfully applied its TheraPEG™ disulfide-bridging conjugation technology to a range of proteins and peptides, including interferons, blood factors and a variety of antibody formats, to either attach poly(ethylene)glycol to extend their duration of action or to produce a protein drug conjugate for targeted delivery. The granting of the TheraPEG™ patents provides PolyTherics with coverage for its intellectual property in two important markets. As with TheraPEG™ patents in other major markets the patent in Australia has broad application and covers products conjugated using TheraPEG™, its reagents and the conjugation process.

The granting of the US patent for GlycoPol™, a novel glycopolymer for targeted delivery of therapeutic agents, is a significant milestone for the Company. GlycoPol™ is a new addition to PolyTherics’ technology offering and was obtained through the acquisition of Warwick Effect Polymers in January 2012. PolyTherics is currently collaborating with several biotech companies and a top five pharma company in the application of GlycoPol™ for targeted delivery of a range of biotherapeutics.

ENDS

About PolyTherics

PolyTherics is a private UK biotech company that provides technology solutions to enable the development of better biopharmaceuticals. PolyTherics has developed proprietary technologies for the site-specific conjugation of polymers, such as poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG), to any therapeutic peptide or protein, including antibodies, antibody fragments and protein scaffolds. Its proprietary linker chemistry and novel reagents can be used to produce protein drug conjugates, targeted imaging agents, bispecific proteins, and more stable proteins and peptides with longer half-lives. Products developed using PolyTherics’ technologies have significant product quality and production advantages, including better pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic profiles, increased product homogeneity, consistency of manufacture and more cost-effective process economics. PolyTherics has licence agreements with Celtic Pharma and Nuron Biotech and expects products developed using its technologies to be in clinical development in the next 12-18 months. In January 2012, PolyTherics acquired Warwick Effect Polymers and extending the company’s offering to include low viscosity polymers, as an alternative to PEG, and glycopolymers for targeted drug delivery.

PolyTherics has raised over £7.5 million of private capital and is backed by a number of institutional investors, including Imperial Innovations (LON:IVO), Proven Health VCT plc, The Capital Fund, Advantage Enterprise and Innovation Fund, Mercia Funds 1 & 2, Oxford Technology VCT 3 plc and Oxford Technology 4 VCT plc, and a number of high net worth individuals with funds managed by Longbow Capital LLP.

For more information, please visit: www.polytherics.com.

For more information contact:

Tim Watson
College Hill
Tel: +44 (0)207 866 7861
Email: polytherics@collegehill.com