Intercytex buys Sheffield spin-out

Sale

AIM-listed Intercytex Group has bought Sheffield spin-out Axordia, a company developing stem cell therapies, said Fusion IP plc, the university IP commercialisation company, which owned 64.1 per centy of Axordia’s shares. The deal, a share exchange, gives Fusion IP a 4.78 per cent shareholidng in the englarged Intercytex Group, valued at £1.1 million.

Intercytex said that the acquisition of Axordia gives it access to a world-leading group focused on the development of embryonic stem cell therapies and significantly broadens Intercytex’s capabilities in regenerative medicine.

Axordia, in collaboration with The London Project to Cure Blindness, is developing a novel stem cell therapy to treat age-related macular degeneration, the leading cause of blindness in the elderly. This programme, which also involves the Moorfields Eye Hospital in London, is currently in late-stage preclinical development.

In addition, through Axordia, Intercytex gains exclusive rights to commercialise discoveries in stem cell research derived from the Centre for Stem Cell Biology at the University of Sheffield. Axordia was founded in 2001 by Sheffield professors Peter Andrews and Harry Moore.

David Baynes, CEO of Fusion IP, said: “We are very pleased to announce this transaction which combines our Axordia operation with Intercytex and gives Axordia a better opportunity to realise its maximum potential. We recognise that Intercytex offers exciting prospects ahead in the stem cell medical arena and therefore believe that the structure of this deal increases the long-term potential for value creation for our shareholders.”