Innovations Portfolio Company Circassia Achieves Key Phase II Clinical Development Milestone

Imperial Innovations Group plc, has announced that its portfolio company Circassia has successfully completed a key large-scale phase II clinical study of its ToleroMune® cat allergy treatment, achieving a significant reduction in allergy symptoms and providing scientific proof of concept for the final stage of development.

Circassia, a specialty biopharmaceutical company focused on allergy, conducted the placebo-controlled double-blind phase II study in Toronto, Canada. The trial included 202 patients with confirmed cat allergies, and compared two short regimes of ToleroMune treatment with placebo.

Circassia is developing a range of allergy T-cell vaccines based on its proprietary ToleroMune® technology and has successfully completed a number of phase II studies with its cat, house dust mite and ragweed allergy products, while its grass allergy therapeutic is in clinical testing. These treatments offer significant market opportunities - more than 150 million people suffer from allergic rhinitis in the US and Europe, while the current treatment market is worth approximately $12 billion per year.

Susan Searle, Chief Executive Officer of Imperial Innovations said: “These Phase II clinical results provide further evidence that Circassia’s T-cell vaccines are effective and safe. The company has established a substantial portfolio in allergy, a market we consider to be highly attractive, and is led by a strong, focused management team. The progress being made by Circassia demonstrates the strength of the Innovations model, which focuses on the rapid and profitable commercialization of pioneering research. We congratulate Circassia on its success in this latest step towards the next stage of its development.”

Steve Harris, Circassia’s CEO said: “By achieving a significant reduction in symptoms after just four doses, whilst also proving extremely well tolerated, our novel T-cell vaccine has demonstrated the true potential of ToleroMune to revolutionize allergy treatment. Our approach contrasts sharply with traditional immunotherapies, which can require dosing over a number of years under expert supervision due to the possibility of severe and even life-threatening reactions. These new clinical results, combined with our earlier successful phase II studies, scientifically validate both our ToleroMune technology and the commercial formulation we intend to progress into the final stage of development.”