Last month, the Nigerian president signed off on the 2012 budget which has earmarked a US$5.8 billion equivalent on security spending – and Westminster is well placed to benefit from that.

On top of the franchise fees of over 1.7 million over the term, all business the franchise undertakes will be done using Westminster’s products and solutions, so will be generating potentially huge revenues for the group.

Only yesterday, Westminster announced a strategic investment to the tune of £500,000 from a new partner which is now looking to assist with the delivery of many of the group’s opportunities in West Africa.

It had also reported that initial revenue forecasts for its US$150 million+ airport security contract with an African country announced in February may have been too conservative, and the deal has the potential to generate substantially more revenue than anticipated.

Initial revenue forecasts for this contract were based on modest growth of passenger numbers and did not allow for additional revenues from cargo scanning and other services. In the light of new forecasts and planned extensions of airport services in this country, the initial forecasts look too conservative, according to Westminster.

Following the two month pre-implementation period, the group has commenced operations at the airport today.  It has started to deploy new surveillance equipment, new procedures, new signage, and it launched a new ‘dog squad’ with explosives and drug detection dogs in operation within the airport.

The group's principal activity is the design, supply and ongoing support of advanced technology security solutions, risk assessments and close protection services.  It serves the security, defence, fire protection and safety markets worldwide.

Services can range from product only assignments, such as the supply of specialised scanners, to the design and implementation of an integrated system solution such as a border detection and surveillance system. The majority of Westminster’s customer base, by value, comprises governments and government agencies, non-governmental organisations and blue chip commercial organisations.

The new, more advanced form of the device, called GEN2, allows blood to flow through significantly faster, while almost completely eliminating the problems of clogging and debris occasionally encountered by the original version.

Parsortix’s first device had captured circulating cancer cells (CTCs) in the bloodstream in patients with prostate and breast cancer.

It also caught CTCs from blood spiked with a number of other forms, including lung cancer, colon cancer and ovarian cancer.

By capturing these CTCs cells at an early stage, ANGLE hopes it can help develop a simple blood test to allow the prognostic assessment of patients to predict the likely outcome of their cancer; to monitor the progress of cancer patients during treatment and to monitor patients in remission for early detection of potential relapse.

The first version was limited to a blood sample volume of circa 1ml and a flow rate of circa 0.1ml/hour, but clinics require separations of 7.5ml blood volumes in times of a few hours for research. 

ANGLE said the new GEN2 device should not only be fast enough to be used in clinical research, but will also capture the patient’s white blood cells, another advance from the original design.

“Successfully redesigning the cassette to address these key issues has been considered a major technology risk remaining with the Parsortix development and has required a major engineering development effort over the last six months,” the firm said.

The new GEN2 device can separate blood sample volumes of 8ml and possibly larger volumes if required. At a flow rate of 8ml/hour this was no fracture or damage to the target cancer cells, which ANGLE says was the top end target set for the device.

It added that the most challenging separation so far completed was 15 cancer cells added to 8ml of whole blood, which equated to looking for one cancer cell in 2.8 billion other cells.

Andrew Newland, founder and chief executive, said: ”Solving the critical issues of sample volume and processing time is extremely important.  This major breakthrough proves the potential for the Parsortix technology to address the market requirements and in doing so brings us much closer to market launch."

A new version of the device, GEN3, is now under development and is expected to involve a Parsortix GEN3 cassette as a consumable together with a compact and relatively inexpensive instrument on which to run the separation.

“This work is in progress and we hope that it will be complete in time for us to take delivery of the first units in Q3 this year.  Sales for research purposes can then commence once the product has been tested both in-house and by our partners,” ANGLE said.

The US$128,000 contract sees Westminster supplying Saudi Arabia with airport security equipment, for scanning both people and luggage. And it is another sign that Westminster’s newly established aviation security division is beginning to take off.

Today’s contract follows a massive long term contract win, worth over US$150 million, to kit out and operate the entire security services at an international airport in Africa. 

"I am delighted to be able to announce this latest airport security contract following on from other recent aviation contract wins and an expansion of our aviation business,” said chief executive Peter Fowler.

Operations under the African contract, awarded in February, will get underway next month and it is should generate US$4.5 million in revenue for the first year.  This represents a significant boost in revenues – with this one contract giving its more than 30 per cent of last year’s annual revenue.

Revenues are derived from the airport’s passenger volumes, and therefore the number of people processed through airport security. And according to Westminster’s own estimates the 15 year contract may conservatively generate more than US$150 million in revenue over its life.

Indeed the airport is currently used by a number of major European airlines. And Westminster says the airport is seeing a marked increase in traffic due to the growing domestic economic prosperity.

It is also expected that a number of North American and Middle Eastern airlines will start using this particular airport in the ‘foreseeable future’.

Westminster does, however, see far more potential beyond these deals. And that is why the firm established its Aviation Security Services division, which is expected to be of increasing strategic importance for the group.

Airport security has been identified by Westminster as a key growth market. And the combination of growing global air travel and the fear of aviation-focused terrorism is driving this growth.

An independent report, produced earlier this month, clAIMs that over US$19 billion was spent on airport security last year and it estimates that this annual figure will grow to over US$45 billion by 2018.

"High threat perceptions of criminal or terrorist attacks will continue to boost investment in airport security," the Frost & Sullivan report said. And the report goes on to say that airport operators are compelled, by domestic and international legislation, to continually update the latest security procedures and technology solutions.

According to Frost & Sullivan it is becoming more desirable for airport operators to source a ‘total security option’ from one company in the procurement process.

It says that integration of security systems is vital for airport security managers and technology that can be easily integrated will be in the most competitive position in the procurement process. This is exactly the space in which Westminster operates. It has both technology and manpower divisions and has a successful track record of integrating such projects around the world.

These industry trends identified by Frost & Sullivan highlight the potential of this market, which promises to be central to Westminster’s growth strategy in the coming years.

Investors on AIM were buoyed by today’s news. After an initial rally in which shares rose nearly 10 per cent, by 10:30 the shares were up 1.25p, or 8.7 per cent, trading at 15.5p.

In January’s results statement, Westminster reported record order intake for the 12 months to December 31 2011 of around £14.7 million, up from just £2 million in the year before. 

It entered 2012 with a contracted order book of £4.7 million. Revenues for the year were around £10 million compared to £3.8 million in 2010, reflecting the much improved performance in the second half where revenues were more than £8 million, the trading update showed.

The group also achieved a significant underlying operating profit in the second half of the year, which compared favourably year-on-year.

The deal is worth US$128,000 and it is expected to be completed in the second half of this year.

"I am delighted to be able to announce this latest airport security contract following on from other recent aviation contract wins and an expansion of our aviation business,” said chief executive Peter Fowler.

“This is yet another new governmental client to Westminster and could lead to further contract awards following successful implementation." 

Westminster told investors that the equipment being sold screens both people and baggage, however it said that any further information about the deal is restricted because of the classified nature of the project.

This is latest in a series of contract wins for the Banbury headquartered firm. In the past few months it has won deals for Airport security services in Africa, countermeasure systems in the Gulf and a variety of products to a government in sub-Saharan Africa.

Prior to that, in January’s results statement Westminster reported record order intake for the 12 months to December 31 2011 was around £14.7 million, up from just £2 million in the year before. And it entered 2012 with a contracted order book of £4.7 million 

Revenues for the year were around £10 million compared to £3.8 million in 2010, reflecting the much improved performance in the second half where revenues were more than £8mln, the trading update showed.

The group also achieved a significant underlying operating profit in the second half of the year, which compared favourably to the same period last year. As at year-end, it held £0.4mln in cash compared to £0.3 million in 2010.

It means the Parsortix device has now been successful in capturing both prostate cancer circulating tumour cells (CTCs) and breast cancer CTCs in patient blood. These two are the most common cancers in men and women respectively. 

Parsortix’s device has also been successful in capturing cells from a number of different cancers in blood with the cells added or spiked blood including lung, colon and ovarian cancers. 

ANGLE said it was the first time the Parsortix device has been used for breast cancer patient blood.  

The study will be repeated with other patient samples to ensure it is reproducible especially as some aspects of the results of this first separation were unexpected, it said and notably that a much larger number of CTCs were captured than might have been expected.

The company said this may mean either the patient had an unusually large number of CTCs in her blood or that the Parsortix device may be exhibiting up to ten times greater sensitivity than existing CTC capture techniques. 

The study found that in addition to large individual CTCs, the device also captured clumps of cancer cells. 

These clumps of cells are believed to be an important mechanism of metastasis leading to secondary cancers in other organs.  

Parsortix's capture and enumeration of clumps of cancer cells in a future clinical product may therefore be of clinical relevance.

Andrew Newlands, ANGLE’s chief executive, said: "The successful capture and identification of CTCs in breast cancer patient blood broadens the potential application of the Parsortix technology so that it now covers the most prevalent cancer types for both men and women."

Evaluation of the Parsortix GEN2 separation design is in progress and the company added it may report on this slightly ahead of plan.

ANGLE owns 90 per cent of Parsortix.

The advance means that Parsortix’s cancer cell device has now captured cultured cells for ovarian cancer, breast cancer, prostate cancer, lung cancer and colon cancer from spiked blood.  

ANGLE said the development is a further step towards showing Parsortix’s separation technology can capture any solid tumour cancers without the need for modification or dependence on cancer specific antibodies.

The firm added it also means there is the possibility of developing an effective, non-invasive screening technique to enable the early diagnosis and monitoring of ovarian cancer.

Mortality rates among patients with ovarian cancer are disproportionately high, ANGLE added, because of the difficulties of diagnosis in its early stages and the lack of accurate screening and detection tests that do not give false results.

Survival rates in patients where there is early detection is double the average at 93%, but it requires invasive surgery for a definitive diagnosis.

The capture of ovarian cancer CTCs in a patient's blood offers the prospect of a non-invasive test to detect the cancer early and to help target its treatment, ANGLE said.

The firm added that development of Parsortix’s device is on track with the milestones coming up to include: validation for other cancer types; new designs to increase the volume and flow of blood through the screener device; third party validation of the cancer screener and the launch of a product for research centres and pharmaceutical firms.

Andrew Newlands, Parsortix’s chief executive said: “The successful capture and identification of cultured ovarian cancer cells added to blood is significant as it suggests that the Parsortix separation technology may work with all solid tumour cancers."

Intellectual property group Fusion IP (LON:FIP) said it expects to meet its profit targets this current year after an “excellent” first half.

Fusion posted a pre-tax loss of £1.7 million in the six months to January (January 2011: loss of £414,000), but said this deficit largely related to the timing differences in completing funding rounds for its stable of investments.

The carrying value of its investments rose by 4% to £17.5 million (June 2011: £16.8 million), but most of an anticipated uplift in their values is now expected in the second half.

Excluding intangibles the group reported an operating loss of £765,000, however, with expected second half fundings, the company said it remains broadly on plan to achieve its profit target for the full year.

Since January, Fusion, which is focused on turning university-derived intellectual property into commercial businesses, has sold Simcyp to Certara for $32 million, generating a return of £4 million.

It has also completed fund raisings for LED specialist Seren, medical devices group Asalus and drug developer Diurnal to fund the final phase of its Chronocort Phase I trial.

Fusion’s cash balance is currently £8 million following the Simcyp sale.

David Baynes, Fusion’s chief executive, said it had been an excellent period for the company.

“This has been another encouraging period of development for Fusion, in which we raised an additional £5 million for the company, progressed the development of our portfolio, increased our share price by 187 per cent between periods and, most importantly, subsequent to the period end, secured our first major portfolio exit with a £4 million cash return generating a 200 fold pay back on our original investment. 

"We believe this demonstrates the significant potential for our portfolio and for the university pipelines that we hold exclusive rights to.

"The key change is that many of our early stage spinouts are gaining sufficient critical mass to demonstrate clearly the potential value of our exclusive university pipelines," he added.

As at 2.25pm, Fusion shares stood up 2.92 per cent, at 70.50 pence.

Seren’s revolutionary technology was developed by Professor Tao Wang from the University of Sheffield.

The technology greatly increases the efficiency of high brightness LED’s, as it significantly reduces heat generation under normal running conditions. It means that either much brighter LED lamps can be manufactured or that the power consumption of LED lamps can be reduced, Fusion says.

"We are delighted to have secured this significant investment,” said chief executive Carl Griffiths.

“The funds will enable us to accelerate the transfer of Seren's technology to manufacturing partners. 

“This will start with our existing collaboration partner in India and we are already in discussion with HB LED manufacturers in China about the possibility of licensing or creating a joint venture manufacturing facility. We will continue to look for other potential partners outside of these territories."

The company raised the money from a number of investors. I2BF Global Ventures invested £1.1 million, Fusion invested £300,000 and fellow AIM investment firm IP Group contributed £400,000.

Following the investment round Fusion will own a 40.2 per cent stake in Seren.

"We are very pleased to join I2BF Global Ventures and IP Group in this funding round, which will enable Seren to continue its impressive development of its LED technology,” director Peter Grant said.

“We remain confident that Seren can make a significant contribution to enabling the use of LEDs in a variety of different energy efficient applications where there is a continuous need to reduce power consumption and improve product performance.  

“With this funding in place we look forward to the Company securing further deals for the use of its technology internationally."

Westminster Group (LON:WSG) expects the tie up with mobile and web technology group ROK Global to be of a “great benefit” to the company .

The AIM quoted security group told the markets this morning that it has entered a memorandum of understanding with ROK to market its suite of mobile phone-based police, security and executive services via its distribution network.

Under the terms of the deal, ROK will market Westminster’s monitoring services to their own clients.

The combination of one of ROK’s products, the mobile phone based Homeland Security (RHS) service, and Westminster’s monitoring services will enable clients to instantly transmit critical information in real time for prompt response, the companies said.

RHS helps law enforcement officers gather and manage information in a variety of formats including encrypted data. The device has been specifically designed for use in counter-terrorism operations, investigations, counter-narcotic operations and physical security, noted Westminster.

“ROK has developed a fantastically effective range of safety, security and policing products which we believe will be of enormous benefit to many of our existing clients and when combined with our 24/7 monitoring centre services will create a powerful security solution,” said chief executive of Westminster Peter Fowler.

ROK Global PLC was co-founded by US Billionaire John Paul DeJoria and UK-based serial technology-specialist entrepreneur, Jonathan Kendrick.

Westminster said its new partner has “pioneered many new and innovative technologies in the rapidly-evolving mobile and web space”.

Shares in Westminster traded at 22.75 pence this morning, up one percent from Monday’s close. The group currently has a market cap of £6.75 million.

Squadron Leader Ben Gwillim has been appointed as country manager of Westminster Aviation Security Services in West Africa, it said.

Gwillim has a wealth of experience and served in the RAF for more than 20 years. Much of that time was spent working on security and investigation within the RAF police.

He was also the RAF's senior investigative officer and has served in Westminster's areas of operations both in the Middle East and Africa.

His past experience includes developing and training specialist teams of more than 200 people, air transport security, criminal investigation, counter intelligence and close protection for overseas deployments.

He has also provided media campaign training to foreign forces and provided journalists with support for high profile VIP visits to hostile environments.

Westminster chief executive Peter Fowler said Gwillim's addition to the aviation security business strengthened what was already an impressive management team.

"Our aviation security business is continuing to gather momentum and is developing numerous opportunities in the aviation sector," he said.

Gwillim said: "I am particularly excited at being based, once again, in a part of Africa where I have previously served and know well.  Hopefully my experience of the region and of the security issues involved will assist Westminster's already impressive prospects."

Fusion IP (LON:FIP) is to receive US$6.4 million (£4.1 million) after the first sale of one of its stable of start-up companies.

Drug group Certara has agreed to buy Simcyp for $32 million.

Fusion has a 20 per cent stake in Simcyp, which has developed a modelling and simulation platform for predicting the fate of drugs in virtual populations.

The sale is conditional on Certara's getting funding for the acquisition funding, but is expected to complete by next week.

Fusion will used the cash to invest in a number of existing portfolio companies and to establish new ventures from its university partnerships. 

In the year to last July, Simcyp made a £1.9 million post-tax profit. 

David Baynes, Fusion’s chief executive said: "We are delighted to announce our first significant exit from our growing portfolio of companies.

Simcyp is a world-class software company and the 200 fold return we have made on our investment amply demonstrates the excellence of our university pipeline agreements and the value that can be extracted from these exclusive relationships."

Fusion has reported strong progress from a number of its portfolio companies in the past month, sending its shares soaring.

Semiconductor testing associate Mesuro announced a pick-up in orders, 43% -owned Diurnal, a drug developer, reported a significant milestone in the progression of Chronocort, a replacement cortisol and Seren Photonics signed its first collaboration agreement for its LED technology. 

Laparoscopic surgery device maker Asalus also raised £232,000 after first closing of a £0.7 million funding.

Asalus, one of the stable of companies controlled by intellectual property group Fusion IP (LON:FIP), expects to launch its key product Innervision in 2013 after completing a first round of fundraising.

Asalus raised £232,000 after first closing of a £0.7 million funding round that followed a pre-clinical study of Innervision, its new electrosurgical smoke clearance device.

Fusion put more money into the group in this funding round alongside Finance Wales and IP Group (LON:IPO).

They have an option to invest a further £392,000, subject to investor approval and the achievement of milestones.

The money will fund the start of Innervision's 'first-in-man' clinical study once regulatory approval comes through and to begin the process of scaling up the technology prior to its expected launch in 2013.

Asalus is developing three products targeted at laparoscopic surgery, a technique that has grown rapidly in recent years.

Laparoscopic or keyhole operations in the abdomen are performed through small incisions and are much less invasive than previous methods.

As well as Innervision, which clears electrosurgical smoke during procedures, Asalus is developing Surehold to manipulate tissue and organs without causing damage, and Snugport, a new type of surgical access port.

Peter Grant, operations director of Fusion, said that Innervision continued to meet its development milestones as well as excite surgeons and distributors alike.

“The product answers a clear requirement within the sector and we are very pleased with the market feedback and progress of this novel product. Asalus is a product of our strong working relationship with Cardiff University.”

Dominic Griffiths, managing director of Asalus added: "These funds will allow us to reach the critical milestone of completing a clinical trial with Innervision and the excellent results obtained in the GLP pre-clinical study give us confidence that the trial will meet its endpoints." 

Following the first closing, Fusion will have a 46% undiluted shareholding in Asalus, which drops to  44% if the further option to invest is taken up.

Fusion shares have been strong performers over the past three months as the group has reported good progress from a number of its stable of companies.

In the past two weeks, the group’s semiconductor testing associate Mesuro announced a pick-up in orders, 43% -owned Diurnal, a drug developer, reported a significant milestone in the progression of Chronocort, a replacement cortisol and Seren Photonics signed its first collaboration agreement for its LED technology. 

Broker Seymour Pierce said keyhole surgery was a rapidly growing market. 

Surgeons use electrosurgical devices with high-frequency electric currents to cut tissue, rather than blades.

One problem with these devices is that they also produce electrosurgical smoke, which can stop surgeons seeing inside the body.

Innervision clears this smoke from minimally invasive and open surgical procedures.  

The broker added that with Surehold and Snugport, Asalus as a business is positioned in some of the most exciting areas of surgical device development. 

“With recent strong news flow from Fusion, and more to come as its portfolio companies continue to make developmental and commercial progress, our outlook on the stock remains positive,” it added.  

Fusion shares jumped 13% to 65p.

Under the terms of the agreement, the unnamed LED products manufacturer has been granted exclusive rights to its technology for certain lighting applications in India.

The deal also gives the partner the option of a licence for manufacture of product incorporating Seren's processes.

Seren’s technology helps to increase the amount of light created at the very heart of a white high brightness LED.

Dr Godfrey Ainsworth, Seren's Chairman, said: "We estimate that the first sales of manufactured product, incorporating our technology, will start as early as 2013 and lead to an increasing royalty stream, as our partner brings our process in to full production and their own manufacturing capacity increases.”

Dr Ainsworth added that the agreement was the first of many it hopes to sign and that it was for just one for just one application in one territory in the world.

“We are already in discussions with a number of our manufacturers around the world and expect to see further agreements made in a number of territories in 2012/13," he added.

Fusion’s chief executive David Baynes added: “This is another great example of the value of the technology in our pipeline. Seren clearly has the potential to become an extremely valuable portfolio company and we look forward to more deals in the future.”

Fusion IP has a 48 % shareholding in Seren.

Yesterday, Fusion announced that 43% -owned Diurnal, a drug developer, had achieved a significant milestone in the progression of Chronocort, a replacement cortisol.g in Seren.

Diurnal, the drug developer 43 per cent owned by stock market listed Fusion IP (LON:FIP), has achieved a significant milestone in the progression of Chronocort, a replacement cortisol.

Clinical trials have been successfully concluded on healthy volunteers. It will allow the group to identify the formulation that most closely resembles the body’s production of the hormone. 

Chronocort is being designed to help patients suffering reduced levels of cortisol in a manner that mimics the body’s 24-hour hormone cycle, known as the circadian rhythm.

Diurnal hopes to move into phase II trials this year, and plans to complete them by the middle of 2013.

Peter Grant, operations director for Fusion IP, said: "We are very pleased with this clinical result.  A major challenge for the Chronocort concept was to show that it could mimic the natural levels of the hormone it needs to replace in humans. 

“The formulation of choice needs to be further tested but a major development objective has been achieved with a concomitant increase in the value of the Chronocort offering. 

“The company has the funds to complete its phase I and II trials and although it is hard to estimate what the value will be at the end of phase II, it is notable there has been acquisition activity involving a similar drug in a comparable indication which attracted high value."

And alongside the agreement between subsidiary Novocellus and Danish firm Origio, the group unveiled a £1.2 million cash call, which will help fund the development of the EmbryoSure selection system.

The cash will also be used to take the company’s lead product, a cancer screening device developed by its Parsortix business, to the stage where it can be sold to the research market.

This will then provide an early, but much needed source of revenue ahead of full commercialisation of the cancer screening device.

The cash was raised via a direct subscription and a placing of stock at 70 pence a share, a 13 per cent discount to last night’s close.

ANGLE said EmbryoSure trials will begin shortly in order to launch the product by mid-2014. 

There are two elements to these trials.  A retrospective investigation will look at the benefits to the IVF selection process had EmbryoSure been used to assess pregnancy.   

In the second study the technology will be used to select embryos for transfer. It will consider the effect on pregnancy and measure the success rate.

Recognising the increased costs of the trials, ANGLE has agreed to pay more towards the trials, with the maximum contribution being £500,000. 

ANGLE’s holding in Novocellus will increase by 10 percentage points to 92 per cent.

It will receive £4.5 million in milestone payments and a 25 per cent royalty payment if and when EmbryoSure goes on sale.

ANGLE founder and chief executive, Andrew Newland, said: "We are delighted that the EmbryoSure trials are now progressing without delay and continue to believe that EmbryoSure has the potential to make a major impact in the IVF market."

The science behind the product was developed by the University of York, and it tests the amino acid profile of the culture medium used to carry the fertilised egg.  

“We believe EmbryoSure will identify with 95 per cent confidence which one of the embryos is likely to be a top quartile embryo,” said Newland in a recent interview. 

Currently there is no such means of identifying the best eggs. 

Novocellus reckons EmbryoSure has the potential to increase pregnancy rates by a quarter and possibly by as much as 40 per cent. 

As well as increasing pregnancy success rates, this has two other major benefits. The first is cost.  If as touted EmbryoSure reduces the number of cycles of IVF required to get pregnant, the overall IVF cost will fall. 

The second is less obvious and relates to the push from inside the healthcare system towards single embryo transfer instead of double embryo transfer. 

Having a way of spotting these “top quartile” eggs would aid the transition to single embryo transfer. 

“We believe there is going to be a regulatory drive behind our product,” Newland added.

Novocellus is partnered with Origio, a Danish firm, which sells the culture medium used in IVF.

In a separate announcement today, the group posted a first half loss of £1.8 million. Its cash balance as at the October 31 was £1.2 million.

However it was a strong period for the group, its developments and in particular the progress of Parsortix.

It is the first time the device has identified circulating tumour cells (CTCs) in blood taken from someone with cancer.

Previously the Parsortix device had identified cultured breast cancer cells, prostate cancer cells and lung cancer cells in “spiked blood”, where the cells had been added. 

ANGLE said the latest test results are significant because a sample of actual cancer patient blood would be expected to contain only a very small number of CTCs and it was not clear if the patient’s disease would adversely affect the device’s performance. 

ANGLE founder and chief executive, Andrew Newland said: "The successful capture of CTCs in cancer patient blood is a tremendous step forward towards our goal of establishing the Parsortix separation technology as a market-leading product, which is simple, effective and affordable."

The results are the first from the recent research agreement with the University of Surrey’s oncology department. 

Using facilities at the university, Parsortix undertook a series of small volume separations of the blood of late stage prostate cancer patients.  

The blood passed successfully through the device and in a number of separations captured tumour cells were clearly identified and confirmed by the University of Surrey's oncology team.  

The results compare favourably with the existing FDA approved antibody-based capture technology, ANGLE added. 

Professor Hardev Pandha at the University of Surrey Oncology Department added: "The University of Surrey is delighted to be working with ANGLE on this novel approach to CTC capture.  Effective monitoring of the level of CTCs in patients' blood offers great potential for the improvement of cancer treatment." 

Shares in ANGLE have nearly trebled since last September when it announced Parsortix had been successful in early trials to separate cancer cells using its device.

The group said today the next stages for development will include the validation of the separation device for other cancer types, particularly those where the existing antibody affinity capture technology is unable to capture CTCs, such as ovarian cancer.

ANGLE also said it wants to optimise of the device to allow its easy use in the laboratory and to increase the volume of blood that can be screened and the speed of blood flow.

It will also work to get validation of the performance of the Parsortix device by leading independent cancer research centres.

ANGLE believes the device will have huge ramifications for the way cancer is treated and monitored going forward.

As well as detecting CTCs at a very early stage, the device can also help identify if chemotherapy is working or not, which would mean a huge improvement in the way chemotherapy is administered.

The device also has the potential to monitor patients in remission and to pick up early signs of the return of the cancer ahead of the patient experiencing any symptoms.

A simple blood test using the Parsortix device could also provide routine screening of healthy people to check for early signs of cancer ahead of any symptoms, while it could be possible to use the captured CTCs for molecular profiling to help define tumour biology and risk of progression, ANGLE said.

To be sold for use in hospitals the device requires approval from the all powerful US Food & Drug Administration and a CE Mark here in Europe, but research facilities and laboratories do not need regulatory certification.

ANGLE estimates the potential in the clinical and research markets to be worth conservatively around US$4 billion annually in the United States alone

ANGLE owns 90 per cent of Parsortix.

The size of the offer is not disclosed however market sources indicate it could be "north of $600 million."

Pacific Brands is trading at a 52 week low share price of $0.56, off from a high of $1.10.

The approach from KKR, while opportunistic is pitched at a time when manufacturers and retailers in Australia are struggling, and would seek to gain access to the brands owned by Pacific Brands, many of which are inconic in Australia at an historically low market valuation.

National Milk Records (PLUS:NMRP) is looking to new pastures for growth to build on its already commanding position in Britain’s dairy industry.

Like peers Dairy Crest and Genus, the PLUS-quoted company’s roots are in Britain’s old Milk Marketing Board, but its speciality is milk recording services in the UK. 

As such, it provides management information on an individual cow's performance in terms of milk quality, yield and fertility. 

This information is supplied to farmers, industry bodies and to major supermarket chains such as Tesco, Sainsbury and Marks and Spencer.

Servicing the country’s entire milk industry, either directly or indirectly, the relatively mature business is looking for new sources of revenue, chief executive Andrew Warne told Proactive Investors.

“We already deal with around 60 per cent of the UK’s dairy producers directly and 100 per cent of the market indirectly through our arrangements with the milk buyers,” Warne said.

“So obviously we need to be looking at new territories and/or new products for the company to grow.”

Ireland is the obvious new territory according to Warne. He says that the industry there is just as big as Britain’s and there are clear synergies with NMR’s established operation here in the UK.

Indeed the Irish venture has now been up and running for just over a year and it is already profitable. This new business, called Independent Milk Laboratories, is a joint venture with Irish genetics firm Progressive Genetics.

Warne says the business relies on corporate contracts and a number of new deals are currently being lined up.

“We’ve got a couple of good prospects at the moment and in the next twelve months we are hopeful that we’ll some more growth coming from this part of our business,” he said.

“We are happy that IML has established a foothold in the Irish market and we would hope that it will follow the three-year business plan that we’ve put in place. 

“At the moment it is pretty much on track.”

According to Warne, the key to this new venture is the fact that NMR is simply replicating a business model that has already been established in the UK.

“We are able to recycle the investments that we have already made in the UK business.

“The Irish dairy sector is very similar to the UK prior to the restructuring that has taken place in the past ten years. As a similar consolidation happens in Ireland, we would be really well placed to advantage.

“It really is a case of replicating the systems that we are already in place here in the UK business.”

Meanwhile, NMR has also been working to develop new products and services that can be rolled out to its existing customer base in the UK.

These initiatives include the Silent Herdsman product, an electronic collar, which monitors the cows to help farmers manage their reproductive operations. As well as new quality and disease testing services.

“Each of area is still developing, although the progress has not come as quickly as initially hoped,” he added.

Warne reflects on the actual rate of product take-up with a degree of pragmatism. “Really it comes down to optimistic forecasting rather than us make some sort of mistake or encountering any problems,” he explained.

“The market is there for these kinds of products and services. It is just that the farming community is fairly conservative. So we are not seeing the sales and growth as quickly as we might have. But the business model we are working to is still valid.”

Warne expects the Silent Herdsman will start delivering additional revenue within the next six months.

Meanwhile, he says that NMR is already seeing incremental growth through the other initiatives.  

“Overall we are pretty confident that we are going to start seeing more growth coming through to the bottom line in the next six months.”

However, he explained that the real growth in the financials is likely to come further down the line  during the 2013/13 financial year. 

Operational cost savings provided by a new laboratory in Staffordshire will also provide a boost to the firm’s profitability.

Last week NMR’s interim results, for the six months ending September 30, showed a 3.9 per cent increase in turnover to £8.64 million. The profit for the period was £347,000, down from £407,000 in the same period of last year

The company said that profitability is being affected by its significant investment in new projects and the re-organisation cost associated with the construction of the new lab.

ANGLE (LON:AGL) said the potentially revolutionary cell separation device being developed by its Parsortix business has been successful in capturing cultured lung cancer cells.

This is an important milestone in that it proves the technology is capable identifying different solid tumor forms without modification.

It has already successfully identified breast and prostate cancer cells in blood. The next advance will be to repeat the exercise with blood drawn directly from cancer patients.

ANGLE chief executive Andrew Newland said: “The successful capture and identification of cultured lung cancer cells added to blood further substantiates the potential for the Parsortix separation technology to become a market-leading product, which is simple, effective and affordable.”

Parsortix is the jewel in the crown of the ANGLE intellectual business. 

Its devilishly simple separation device that has the potential to capture and characterise cancer cells in the bloodstream. 

This of course has all sorts of ramifications for the way the disease is treated and monitored.

It may be possible using the device to determine which treatments are working, and which are not.  

Now this promises a huge improvement in the way chemotherapy is administered. 

The device also has the potential to monitor patients in remission, and to pick up early signs of the return of the cancer, ahead of the patient experiencing any symptoms.  

The earlier the treatment, the greater the likelihood the patient will survive.

Furthermore, it may be possible to develop a simple blood test to provide routine screening of healthy people to check for early signs of cancer ahead of any symptoms.

As we are seeing the Parsortix technology may ultimately have the ability to identify all the hard tumour types without knowing in advance which cancer is expected.  

This is a step on from the existing means of identifying circulating cancer cells, where the tests are specific to each cancer type and even then are not totally reliable.  

The company is currently in discussions with leading cancer research groups including the Paterson Institute for Cancer Research in Manchester. 

The idea of this and other similar collaborations is to field test the device using blood taken from cancer patients. 

It also allows for development of the separation device and the supporting equipment in a real world setting. 

The potential clinical market is huge and is conservatively estimated by the company to be worth around US$4 billion annually in the United States alone.

However, to be sold for use in hospitals the device requires what’s called 510k approval from the all powerful US Food & Drug Administration and a CE Mark here in Europe. 

That process is likely to take a further 18 months of research, development and testing – and cost around £5 million.

Although the company is talking to potential partners, ANGLE may bankroll the development itself. 

It has options to achieve this, including the sale of one of the businesses in the company’s portfolio.

Alternatively it could fund the work by licensing selective use of the separation device to big pharmaceutical companies developing drugs for cancer as what’s called a companion diagnostic.

ANGLE owns 90 per cent of Parsortix.