Protherics confirms talks with potential buyers

Shares of the UK's Protherics surged more than 30 percent after the biotech announced that "a number of parties" have expressed an interest in buying the company. Rumors about a possible buyout had already triggered a rise in share value, which prompted the statement. But Protherics is playing it coy, saying that there's no guarantee any deal will be made.

Protherics recently launched a Phase IIa trial for its Angiotensin vaccine therapy for hypertension. CEO Andrew Heath has already remarked that Angiotensin offers a major out-licensing opportunity. Data from that trial is expected in about a year. CytoFab is in mid-stage development for serious infections, but data from that trial won't be available until 2010. That leads at least one analyst to doubt that any of the bidding is coming from a blue chip pharma company.

- read the story from EasyBourse
- here's the release (.pdf)

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