Oxford Investment Opportunity Network

The following four companies are seeking investment via the Network as a result of the 10 May 2011 OION investment meeting at the Conference Centre Oxford. The descriptions available summarise the investment proposal made by the company. The information is provided by the company and has not been vetted in any way by OION.

If you are interested in receiving further information on any of the companies then please contact us.

Company A is a UK Limited Company and is the sole owner of pioneering, novel patented “sensor enabling” platform technologies designed to reduce costs, improve safety and outcomes in the large but complex minimally invasive surgery (MIS) markets. The existing MIS markets are £5.3B strong in the laparoscopic and endoscopic segments.

The Company is currently developing its first product, which is designed to overcome the lack of depth perception facing laparoscopic (key-hole) surgeons due to the 2-D view provided on a surgical video monitor, which results in the loss of binocular depth cues. One monoscopic cue that surgeons use to perceive depth during traditional open surgery is shadow. However, this cue is lost during laparoscopic surgery.

Company A's product overcomes current limitations by introducing an on-demand digital shadow into the operative field, thereby providing the surgeon with a vital visual depth cue. The device is designed to be an ‘add-on’ device that connects to existing laparoscopic equipment allowing for early clinical adoption and integration into clinical practice without the need for large-scale capital expenditure and training. The target market for the device is estimated of over 10 million procedures world-wide annually, representing a total revenue opportunity of c500M GBP.

Company B is a regenerative medicine company founded as a spin-out from Smith & Nephew in 2007. Company B develop novel, versatile bioresorbable scaffolds that provide healthy cells with a 3D structure for enhanced repair of damaged soft tissues or post-surgical procedures.

A patch is applied to a freshly-excised skin cancer wound by the clinician, and this rapidly allows the wound space to be filled with (and then covered by) the patients’ own skin cells. Benefits to the patient (less scarring, less disruption and improved quality of life) result as well as ease of use and off-the-shelf availability which allow cost and time savings compared to alternative interventions. This first product has reached Proof of Concept/Demonstrator stage and could be ready for launch in 2013.

£150k will allow Company B to reach a value point of completion of product testing, registration package and a clinical evaluation involving a small number of patients. They expect this investment to be matched by grant funding from the Technology Strategy Board which has already provided £288k for development of tissue scaffolds. A licensing deal will be negotiated from this value point. The market for skin cancer repair alone is estimated to be £360m and that for facial/acute wounds, £25bn.

The prevention and treatment of microbial infection and contamination is a significant problem across a broad range of markets and is a particularly critical issue within many Healthcare and Hygiene sectors.

Company C, a spin-out company from the University of Manchester has developed innovative anti-infective technology to address this market need. The company’s peptide based anti-infective technology is protected by a strong portfolio of patents. The technology has broad applicability across a wide range of market opportunities including :
• Medical Devices and Disposables
• Oral Care & Dental Hygiene
• Wound Care Products
• Consumer Personal Care & Hygiene Products
• Topical Anti-Infective Therapeutics.

Company C’s innovative anti-infective peptides technology provides significant benefits which address the various major shortcomings associated with other anti-infectives available in the Healthcare & Hygiene markets.

The company, through an IP Licensing business model, has already signed a licensing deal in the Contact Lenses and Solutions market with a UK based pharmaceutical company and is progressing deals in Oral Care & Dental Hygiene and Wound Care markets.

The CEO has over 30 years management experience in major bioscience based blue chip organisations including significant hands-on commercial experience in both peptides and anti-infectives and their target application markets.

Company C is seeking £1.5 Million funding (£1.25M already pledged) to underpin the development programmes for current licensing opportunities and to provide working capital through to company profitability over the next three years.

Company D operates in the field of development, manufacture and marketing of ‘speech valves’ which are also known as voice prostheses or speaking valves. The company’s first product is its novel speech valve, and an associated insertion tool, both for use in patients who have had their ‘voice box’ removed (laryngectomy), normally as a consequence of laryngeal cancer. The product will offer significantly greater service life compared to existing products which typically fail after only 3 months but sometimes much more quickly.

This increased life span not only offers major cost savings for health care providers (over £2,500 per patient) but equally important patient benefits including greatly reduced numbers of hospital attendances and more consistent performance. An investment of £400k is required to fund initial capital and sales costs and pivotal trials of the product which will allow an efficacy claim to be made (i.e. that the product lasts x months). Sales are projected at £1.8m 5 years after launch. Exit is anticipated to be by trade sale to a multinational medical device company within 6 years of launch.