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Cascade Fund invests in revolutionary peptide synthesis method developed at the University of Reading – University of Reading

A University of Reading professor has received an investment from the Cascade Fund to commercialise his novel method for the synthesis of peptides, which are molecules that are increasingly being used as new drugs to treat serious diseases like HIV and cancer. This is the eighth investment made by the Cascade Fund in technology from the University of Reading and will enable an intensive licensing exercise to be carried out. It represents a new step for the Fund, managed by Chord Capital Limited, which had previously focused primarily on the development of spin-out companies.

Peptides are widely used in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries, as well as in everyday items such as moisturisers and cosmetics. The new method should increase yield, efficiency and flexibility in peptide manufacturing, which would help produce new peptide-based pharmaceutical drugs.

The novel technology was originally invented by Professor Laurence Harwood, Head of Organic Chemistry at the University of Reading, and his PhD student Ran Yan. The technology is a completely new method for making peptides, which form chains with a nitrogen molecule at one end (the nitrogen terminus) and an acid molecule at the other (the acid terminus). The methodology opens the door to a new type of peptide synthesis in which multiple peptide chains can be brought together to make a long chain without loss of yield of the pure form. It also enables much more efficient manufacture of circular peptide chains (cyclic peptides) - a process that has always been difficult until now.

Professor Harwood, whose research focuses mainly on the development of new synthetic methods and their application to the synthesis of natural products, believes being new to the field of peptide synthesis gave him an advantage in tackling what is widely considered to be a common problem in the area. Professor Harwood said "because we were relatively new to this area of research, we were able to look at the problem with fresh eyes. We are now at a stage where we are ready to take our technology to market and this funding will enable us to do that. Our technology offers peptide manufacturers a unique competitive advantage at a time when peptides are becoming increasingly important in medical applications such as vaccines and therapeutic drugs."

ENDS

Notes to Editors

For more information please contact Sue O'Hare, Head of Technology Transfer, University of Reading. Tel: +44 (0)118 935 7198, Fax +44 (0)118 378 4190, Email: s.c.ohare@reading.ac.uk

The University of Reading

The University of Reading is ranked as one of the UK's top research-intensive universities. The quality and diversity of the University's research and teaching is recognised internationally as one of the top 200 universities in the world. The University is home to more than 50 research centres, many of which are recognised as international centres of excellence such as agriculture, biological and physical sciences, European histories and cultures, and meteorology.

The most recent Research Assessment Exercise confirms our strengths, with 20 departments being awarded top ratings of 5 or above. Of these, Archaeology, English, Italian, Meteorology and Psychology each received a 5** rating in recognition of their high quality sustained over more than a decade. The University takes a real-world perspective to its research and is consistently one of the most popular higher education choices in the UK

The department of Chemistry at Reading is central to the University's Science Strategy and has benefited from over £10M expenditure by the University over the past ten years. In November 2007 the University agreed to invest a further £4.5M to fund an internationally leading Chemical Analysis Facility that will be located within the Department. Researchers within Chemistry have established strong R&D links with many international companies representing all sectors of the chemical industry. The Department's research falls into four main areas: Nanoscience and Materials, Synthetic Methodology, Chemical Biology and Earth Systems Chemistry.

The Cascade Fund

Cascade is an early stage or seed fund available to five partner universities in south east England: Brunel, Reading, Royal Holloway, Surrey and Sussex. It invests in activities that have moved beyond the scope of Research Council funding but which are still too early for conventional funding sources. The Cascade Fund has £4 million, 75% funded by the Office of Science & Technology (with contributions from the Wellcome Trust and the Gatsby Charitable Foundation) under the second round of the University Challenge Scheme, and 25% by the partner universities. The Cascade Fund is managed by an independent fund manager, Chord Capital Limited.

www.cascadefund.co.uk

Chord Capital Ltd

Chord Capital Ltd is an independent fund manager that invests in technology-based opportunities to provide both early stage and development funding, with a particular emphasis on exploiting intellectual property and early commercialisation of new technologies. It invests across a range of technologies where it can bring commercial, technical and financial experience. Chord Capital is authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority.

Chord Capital helps with the commercialisation of technologies, both internally and through external collaborations with partners, to the stage where they can generate licence revenue or be transferred to a new business. In addition, the company has links to a wide range of independent collaborative partners to provide access to new funds, corporate finance skills, specialist technology development services and corporate development expertise.

CommercialiSE

The development of this technology was originally funded through a CommercialiSE award (www.reading.ac.uk/about/newsandevents/releases/PR13828.asp). CommercialiSE links university knowledge with business expertise in the South East to deliver an integrated framework of funding and support. Academics, university staff, students, alumni, SMEs and entrepreneurs can turn innovative ideas into commercial realities.

CommercialiSE is a joint initiative between the Higher Education Funding Council for England and the Office of Science and Innovation. CommercialiSE is a collaborative partnership between eleven universities; Brighton, Buckinghamshire New, Chichester, Cranfield, Greenwich, Kent, Kingston, Oxford Brookes, Portsmouth, Reading and Sussex.

CommercialiSE acknowledges the commitment and support of the South East of England Development Agency, Finance South East, the South East Sector Consortia and the SEEDA Enterprise Hub network.

Professor Laurence Harwood:

Professor Harwood is an internationally renowned researcher in the field of Organic Chemistry and Head of Organic Chemistry at the University of Reading, with a group consisting currently of 9 members. During his 10 years at Reading he has raised over £1.25 million of external funding. He has published over 120 papers and review articles and 4 textbooks in a professional career spanning 25 years at the Universities of Manchester and Oxford prior to Reading.

Professor Harwood collaborates widely with national and international researchers in academia and industry and has won several prestigious industrial awards including the Pfizer Prize and a Syngenta Research Award. A fluent French speaker, Professor Harwood also holds visiting Professorships at the école de Chimie, des Polyméres et des Matérieaux in Strasbourg and the Institut Universitaire Technologique in Cast