Revolutionary Drug Delivery and Imaging

Vivamer creates novel drugs based on its unique responsive biopolymer chemistry platform. Spun out of Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Cambridge, the company was established in 2002 to commercialize technology developed by founders Professor Nigel Slater and Dr Mark Eccleston.

Vivamer's Localised Medicine

Vivamer’s responsive polymer chemistry platform provides a unique and novel drug delivery system. It protects traditional small molecule drugs and biotech drugs from degradation in the body until they reach the location where they are required.

The delivery system is a peptide-like biocompatible polymer that targets specific disease micro-environments. The drug that is delivered can be a new therapeutic or a generic drug.

This technology provides “Localised Medicine” in which highly active drugs can be targeted to disease sites for maximum effect and significantly reduced side effects:

The precise delivery of active molecules and their selective activation at disease sites has a broad range of therapeutic applications in oncology, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, inflammation and infection. The capability to deliver molecules and activate them responsively at specific locations in the body also has potential applications in therapeutic imaging.

Market Opportunity

The total market sizes for therapeutic imaging and drug delivery are $50B and $4B respectively. Vivamer’s initial focus is oncology due to the compelling scientific opportunity and the large unmet clinical need; 1 in 3 people will get Cancer and 1 in 4 people will die from it. Clinicians need:

• Improved diagnostic imaging techniques


• Improved drug delivery systems

The expected market growth is substantial. The growth of the drug delivery industry has outstripped the pharmaceutical industry over the last decade, as companies seek the competence to enable the delivery of poorly absorbed or targeted chemical and biological agents, to improve product attributes and manage the life cycles of their drugs.

Vivamer has chosen a Localised Medicine cancer focus since:

• The active drug can be a generic substance and Vivamer can patent the drug/delivery combination.


• By contrast, pure drug delivery companies with no drug focus lack differentiation.


• The big unmet needs are in therapeutics, not just delivery systems.

Management

Nigel Slater, Founder and CEO

Nigel Slater is Professor of Chemical Engineering at the University of Cambridge. His career has spanned industry within Unilever Nederland BV and Wellcome PLC and academia at Cambridge University. He consults extensively in bio-product development and is also a non-executive director of Cobra Bio-Manufacturing PLC.

Mark Eccleston, Founder and CSO

Mark Eccleston has deep experience in the area of responsive biopolymer synthesis, and has published widely on this topic.

Nick Slaymaker, Director

Nick Slaymaker is a Technology Manager for the University of Cambridge Challenge Fund.

Advisors

The company's advisors include Dirk Gewert, Tony Phillips and Rowan Gardner who have a total of nearly 70 man-years of experience working in the pharmaceutical industry and bio-entrepreneurial companies.