Oxitec closes second round funding to develop insect control technology

8 June 2005

Oxitec Limited announces the completion of its second funding round of £1.3m, led by Oxford Capital Partners. The existing investors, East Hill Advisors, LLC from Boston and the University of Oxford (through the Isis College Fund), have made further investments in the company as part of this round. Oxford Capital Partners invested £550,000.

Oxitec was formed in 2002 as a spin out from the University of Oxford. The Company is pioneering environmentally safe methods of insect control. It has developed technology (RIDL™) that will radically reduce the cost of existing sterile insect programmes, and open up new markets. The Company operates from a state of the art facility near Oxford, comprising molecular biology laboratories, insectaries and offices.

Oxitec has three RIDL products ready for field trials - the Mediterranean Fruit Fly ("medfly"), a world-wide pest of citrus, the mosquito Aedes aegypti, primary vector of dengue and yellow fever, and the Pink Bollworm, an important pest of cotton. The new funds will be used to progress these lead products through regulatory programmes, and initiate research on new targets.

Ted Mott, Managing Partner at Oxford Capital Partners, said: "Oxitec is at the forefront of non-insecticide solutions for the management of disease carrying and crop pests. We have followed the company since inception and have been encouraged by its progress. The new investment from Oxford Capital Partners and existing investors confirms the company's position as a leader in the sector."

Notes to Editors

Oxford Capital Partners is a venture capital firm focused on investing in science and technology businesses. Specialising in identifying exceptional companies with high growth potential, Oxford Capital Partners supports companies from an early stage through to IPO. Oxford Capital Partners manages the Oxford Gateway Fund No.1 (1999) and the Oxford Gateway Fund No.2 (2003) which together have made 17 investments in technology and life science sectors. Oxford Capital Partners is an active supporter of the UK's science and technology base.

Oxford Capital Partners has led investments in a number of science and technology companies including several spin outs from UK universities. Our current investment portfolio includes 8 university spin outs of which four are from the University of Oxford: Avidex (drug discovery); g-Nostics (pharmacogenetics); Oxonica (nanotechnology); Oxitec (insect control technology).

The sterile insect technique involves the production of large numbers of pest insects which are sterilised (currently using radiation) and released in their millions. These sterile insects mate with the wild pest population, but since there are no progeny, the pest population declines. Such programmes can be conducted on a massive scale. For example the El Pino facility in Guatemala produces over three billion sterile male medflies per week, primarily for release in California and Central America.

For further information, please contact:

David Mott, Oxford Capital Partners
Tel: 01865 860 760
dmott@oxcp.com
www.oxcp.com

David Brooks, CEO, Oxitec Ltd
Tel: 01235 832 393
david.brooks@oxitec.com
www.oxitec.com