The "godfather" of the UK's biotech industry has a dose of bitter news for his colleagues in drug development. Investors have suffered a "collapse of confidence" in the country's biotech companies brought on by high risk and fast cash burn, said Peter Fellner, a key figure behind Celltech and Acambis [1]. And to win them back the drug developers have to do a better job managing their cash and advancing new therapies that have a solid chance of winning approval in the U.S. But don't look for any quick turnarounds in sentiment.
"I don't subscribe to the view that the sector is dead but I envisage a number of years of lag, maybe even five years or more," he told the Financial Times. "There has been a collapse of confidence."
- read the article [2] from the Financial Times
Related Articles:
Investor says biotech is languishing in the UK
[3]British biotech execs sour on industry's 'dire' shape [4]
UK blueprints $400M biotech lab of the future [5]
UK out to make itself more attractive to drug developers [6]
Links:
[1] http://www.fiercebiotech.com/story/acambis-shares-soar-548m-buyout-deal/2008-07-28
[2] http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/075db2ac-67d7-11dd-8d3b-0000779fd18c.html?nclick_check=1
[3] http://www.fiercebiotech.com/story/investor-says-biotech-is-languishing-in-the-uk/2007-03-12
[4] http://www.fiercebiotech.com/story/british-biotech-execs-sour-industry-s-dire-shape/2008-06-23
[5] http://www.fiercebioresearcher.com/story/uk-blueprints-400m-biotech-lab-future/2008-06-24
[6] http://www.fiercebiotech.com/story/uk-out-make-itself-more-attractive-drug-developers/2008-06-24