Imperial Innovations Leads £18 Million Series B Funding Round in Veryan

Imperial Innovations has led a £18m series B funding round in Veryan Holdings Limited (“Veryan” or “the Company”) alongside co-investors Invesco Asset Management, Seroba Kernel and Seven Mile. Innovations has committed up to £8.4m to the round and following this new investment, will hold a 47.8% stake in the issued share capital of Veryan (following the conversion of loan stock).

Simon Cartmell, an Operating Partner at Innovations, has also been appointed Chairman. Simon has more than 30 years pharmaceutical, biotech and medtech experience and was formerly, CEO of ApaTech, which he developed into a world leader in orthobiologics prior to its sale to Baxter for $330m in March 2010.

Veryan is a specialist in vascular disease that has developed and patented a three-dimensional stent technology, BioMimics 3D™, based on pioneering research by Professor Colin Caro at Imperial College London, into the link between blood flow mechanics and vascular disease.

The objective of Veryan’s technology is to improve upon the biomechanical and flow characteristics of stents, particularly those used in arteries of the leg, where the straight tubular design currently used, tends to straighten the natural curvature present in vessels and may lead to vessel re-narrowing and stent fracture.

In contrast, Veryan’s BioMimics 3D™ stents have a patented three-dimensional helical shape that more closely mimics the natural geometry of the human vascular system, which not only improves blood flow in stented vessels, but also provides greater flexibility, kink and fracture resistance.

In November 2014, the full two-year data from the “Mimics” randomized controlled study of Veryan’s BioMimics 3D™ Stent System were presented by Principal Investigator Professor Thomas Zeller, at the VIVA Symposium in Las Vegas. The results of this study confirmed that the advanced stent design offers statistically significant clinical benefits in terms of improved haemodynamics and clinical outcomes, and improved vascular compatibility, when compared to straight nitinol stents.

Russ Cummings, CEO of Imperial Innovations, said: “The results of the Mimics trial provided independent evaluation of Veryan’s stent technology and confirmed our belief that the Company’s advanced stent design offers outstanding clinical benefits, as well as a favourable and competitive foundation for commercialization in the USA and Europe. The market for peripheral vascular stents is estimated at over $1.2bn per annum and we are excited to be supporting Veryan’s strategy to take its products to market.

“Veryan has already gained a CE Mark enabling sales of its BioMimics 3D™ stent within the European Economic Area (EEA).The funds from the Series B investment round will now enable Veryan to build a team to support the international launch later this year and to expand the addressable market by completing a FDA regulatory trial, with a view to taking the product through pre-market approval (PMA) in the USA.

“I am delighted that Simon Cartmell has been appointed as Chairman of Veryan to help guide the Company through the next phase of its growth.

“Following the £50m funding round we led for Cell Medica, this is another example of Innovations putting its capital to work in businesses we know intimately and are ready to scale.”

Innovations first invested in Veryan in 2004 and as at 31 July 2014, the Group had invested a total of £11.0 million in the Company, representing a 44.0% interest in the issued share capital of the Company, with such interest having a fair value of £18.1 million. The current investment will be subject to a modest uplift in value.