Business
Further investment into Oxford Genetics
Further investment into Oxford Genetics.
About this update from Mercia Asset Management Plc
[{"type":"text","content":"\n \nRNS Number : 1945H Mercia Technologies PLC 06 June 2017 \n\n\n\n\n\nRNS Reach \n\n\n6 June 2017\n\n\n\n\n \nMercia Technologies PLC\n(\"Mercia\", \"the Company\" or \"the Group\")\n \nFurther investment into Oxford Genetics\n \nMercia (AIM: MERC), the national investment group focused on the creation, funding and scaling of innovative technology businesses with high growth potential from the UK regions, is pleased to announce that it has completed a £500,000 investment into Oxford Genetics, a synthetic biology company with significant expertise in DNA design. This investment follows the £1.0million of additional capital which was provided by Mercia in October 2016 in order to expand the company's management team, board, patent portfolio and commercialisation strategy. \n \nOxford Genetics joined Mercia's 'Emerging Stars' portfolio of direct investments in December 2015 having first received investment from the Group's managed funds in 2013, as one of the founding investors. The company has now received a total of £5.8million in grants and investment. Mercia currently has a direct equity stake of 47.9%. This latest investment will be used to expand Oxford Genetics' reach into the US market and further drive sales growth alongside its recent access to CRISPR technology, whilst continuing to support its promising Research and Development at its state-of-the art facilities on the Oxford Science Park.\n \nThe company continues to make significant progress including 100% year on year growth in turnover and the successful award of £1.9million of non-dilutive grants in March 2017. This has been driven by impressive development of the patent portfolio, which now consists of one granted patent SnapFast™ and a further five submitted applications, with a plan to file another four in 2017. Furthermore, the board has been expanded with the appointment of Dr David Hames as Chairman, Dr Matt Baker as Non-executive Director and Dr Paul Brookes as Commercial Director. \n \nOxford Genetics operates in the high growth sector of synthetic biology and protein design alongside the bioproduction of complex biologics. The Synthetic Biology Market Report, published by Allied Market Research, forecasts that the global market is expected to reach $38.7 billion by 2020, registerin...