Our portfolio company, Total Scientific (TSL) has moved into enlarged accommodation in the newly opened Maia building on the Babraham Research Campus, just south of Cambridge, UK. The new accommodation has been custom-designed to support cell culture as well as a wide range of in vitro biology needs, including TSL's Luminex platform. A suite of offices complement the expanded lab accommodation.

Commenting on the move at a lunch held to mark the expansion, David Mosedale, CEO at TSL, said "We are delighted to be able to stay on the Babraham campus, while at the same time expanding significantly our capacity to support our growing customer base. The state-of-the-art new labs match our core values of quality and excellence."

TSL now has 8 employees, with sales forecast to grow by at least 20% in 2010 despite challenging global economic conditions. The company specialises in provision of biomarker services to diagnostics and drug development companies, including assay design and validation, bioanalysis, bespoke clinical trials, biobanking and data analysis services.

On 8th January 2010, Funxional Therapeutics Ltd, the Cambridge-based clinical-stage drug development company in our portfolio, issued a press release announcing the successful completion of Phase I clinical development of its lead compound FX125L. This compound is a broad-spectrum chemokine inhibitor being developed initially for respiratory indications, including asthma. It is a once daily oral anti-inflammatory compound, with an attractive therapeutic profile.

Following the announcement of the successful single ascending dose study in healthy volunteers in July 2009, which was also presented to the American College of Asthma, Allergy and Inflammation meeting in Miami in November 09, FXT have now shown that the compound was well tolerated following daily dosing for up to 10 days, even at the highest dose tested.

FXT aim to begin Phase II testing in various inflammatory indications in 2010.

LINK : FXT125L PHASE 1 COMPLETION PDF

Pronostics Ltd, developer and manufacturer of next generation multiplexed diagnostics for healthcare providers and the pharmaceutical industry, has signed a distribution agreement with Medipan GmbH, for its autoimmune disease biomarker assays. This range of UltraPlex™ assays provide a powerful tool for clinicians allowing for rapid, accurate and inexpensive diagnosis of autoimmune diseases.
Medipan is a leader in the distribution of in vitro diagnostic tests in the field of autoimmunity and will use its highly experienced sales force initially to sell Pronostics’ UltraPlex™ ANA, Coeliac and Thyroid assays in Germany and Austria. Germany is Europe’s largest market for diagnostic products. As part of the agreement, Medipan will market the assays to hospitals and large private laboratories. The deal could initially generate up to €2 million in revenues and Medipan will have an exclusive license to sell the UltraPlex™ assays throughout the territory. The 2005 worldwide market for autoimmune tests was estimated at $250M and forecast to grow to $410M by 2010 (Kalorama Information April 2006).
Robert Booth, CEO of Pronostics said: “We are delighted to have partnered with a leading distributor in the autoimmune diagnostics field. The agreement is an endorsement of the superiority of our UltraPlex™ technology which underpins our range of multiplexed diagnostic assays. With this agreement, we can now expand the benefits of UltraPlex™ into the largest market for diagnostics in Europe’’.
UltraPlex™ is an exceptionally accurate, digital multiplexing solution which enables tens to hundreds of tests to be performed simultaneously in a single assay using a microscopic bar-coding system. The company’s lead product, the UltraPlex™ ANA assay, which consists of 11 tests in one, provides valuable time and cost savings compared to existing serial testing approaches using panels of Hep-2 screens and ELISA tests. It allows hospitals and laboratories to perform fully automated profiles of patient samples and gives both quantitative and qualitative results for antibodies to autoimmune diseases.
Dr Dirk Roggenbuck, CEO from Medipan, added: “We are very pleased to have been chosen as the distributor for the UltraPlex™ range of autoimmune assays. The UltraPlex™ platform is more efficient and economical in the diagnosis of autoimmune diseases than conventional approaches and we are looking forward to providing our customers with this improved service.”

Konstantinos has more than 20 years of international experience in the Pharmaceutical, Biotechnology and Drug Delivery industry, covering all aspects of Drug Discovery, Development, Registration and Launch. He worked in a wide range of therapeutic areas, including Dermatology, Rheumatology, Gastroenterology, Anti-infectives, CNS, Cardiovascular and Oncology. Prior to joining Funxional Therapeutics, Konstantinos worked for Eurand, based in Milan, Italy, as the Chief Scientifc Officer of the company, responsible for R&D worldwide. Previous appointments include Corporate VP, Head of the Dermatology Therapeutic Area and Corporate VP, Head of the New Therapies Area within Marketing and Sales with Serono, based in Geneva, Switzerland, and various management roles within Clinical Pharmacology with Glaxo/GlaxoWellcome, based in London, UK and within Drug Metabolism and Pharmacokinetics with Farmitalia Carlo Erba, based in Milan, Italy.

Konstantinos has a Pharmacy degree from the University of Athens, an M.Sc. in Industrial Pharmacy and an M.Sc. in Molecular and Cellular Pharmacology and Medicinal Chemistry as well as a Ph.D. in Pharmacology (Pharmacokinetics) from the University of Strasbourg. He also holds an M.B.A. from the LondonBusiness School. He is author/co-author of more than 60 scientific publications and of two patents, was invited to speak in international scientific and business conferences and has held visiting Professor appointments at the Universities of Strasbourg and Padua.