News archive 2009

King’s spinout acquired

19 Jan 2009, PR 10/09

Theragenetics Ltd, a personalised medicine diagnostics company spun out of the Institute of Psychiatry at King’s College London, has been acquired by Avacta Group plc.

Dr Janet Munro, a co-founder of Theragenetics, says: ‘We view this as a very positive development for Theragenetics and a further step towards making personalised medicine diagnostics a reality in psychiatric practice.’

Avacta is a UK based company that develops detection and analysis technology aimed primarily at the pharmaceutical and healthcare markets. The acquisition brings together the complementary technology and know-how within Theragenetics’ that is directed to developing tests to improve the treatment of patients with central nervous system (CNS) disorders such as schizophrenia and depression.

Improved patient outcomes

This “personalised medicine” approach is aimed at identification of patients who will respond more effectively to any given drug treatment. In this way the most appropriate drugs can be administered leading to improved patient outcomes. Mental illness, for example, represents an area that will benefit greatly from personalised medicine both in terms of diagnostics and treatment.

Alastair Smith, Chief Executive Officer, Avacta, comments: ‘This is an opportunity for Avacta to develop further its business in the diagnostics sector. The anticipated integration of Theragenetics within the enlarged group will create a strong intellectual property position in CNS personalised medicine that has the potential to be a significant asset to the Group.’

Dr Alison Campbell, MD of King’s College London Business Ltd, says: ‘This is an exciting development for Theragenetics and another success for King’s. We believe that Avacta will bring complementary technology and expertise to drive the development of the technology towards a benefit for patients. King’s College London looks forward to strong links continuing between the College and Avacta.’

Notes to editors

King’s College London
King’s College London is one of the top 25 universities in the world (Times Higher Education 2008) and the fourth oldest in England. A research-led university based in the heart of London, King’s has 19,700 students from more than 150 countries, and 5,400 employees. King’s has an outstanding reputation for providing world-class teaching and cutting-edge research. In the 2008 Research Assessment Exercise for British universities, 60 per cent of research activity at King’s was deemed world-leading or internationally excellent. The College is in the top group of UK universities for research earnings and has an overall annual income of approximately £450 million. An investment of £500 million has been made in the redevelopment of its estate.

King’s has a particularly distinguished reputation in the humanities, law, social sciences, the health sciences, natural sciences and engineering, and has played a major role in many of the advances that have shaped modern life, such as the discovery of the structure of DNA. It is the largest centre for the education of healthcare professionals in Europe and is home to more Medical Research Council Centres than any other university.

King’s College London Business Ltd
King’s College London Business is the wholly-owned subsidiary company of King’s College London, responsible for the commercial development of research and innovation at King’s. Responsive to the needs of business and industry, the King’s Business team leads the licensing of new technologies, supports creations of new business ventures, engages consultancy services and develops new business partnerships. King’s Business promotes knowledge creation with the College across a variety of sectors including industry, commerce, the public sector and creative and cultural organizations. www.kcl.ac.uk/business

Further information
Melanie Gardner, Senior Public Relations Officer,
Public Relations Department, King’s College London.
Tel: 020 7848 3073; email melanie.gardner@kcl.ac.uk

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