Sir Christopher Evans

Crisis: A UK bailout for the biotech industry?

John Carroll — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 11:05:07 -0400

The UK's Chris Evans is continuing to try and drum up support for a billion-pound investment fund to support the country's ailing biotech and medical device industry, with half of that money coming from the government. Evans is emphatic that the country's biotech industry is in danger of falling far behind other countries' drug development industries. And that calls for a swift injection of funds--just like the banks are getting.

"You cannot dream up billion-pound successes," says Evans. "They need cash and Gordon Brown needs to support the sector, as is happening with banking, by getting the check book out."

- check out the report from Business in Wales

ALSO: The long drought of IPOs in the U.S., meanwhile, shows no signs of letting up anytime soon. And Aldagen bowed to the inevitable, pulling its registration for an $80.5 million offering. Report

Sir Chris prescribes £500M for UK biotech industry

John Carroll — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 11:44:59 -0400

Noted UK biotech investor Sir Christopher Evans has analyzed what ails the country's development business and has come up with a cure. Comparing Great Britain's recent success in the Olympics with past failure, he says that a major investment made all the difference. And he's suggesting that the government join with private investors to inject £500 million pounds into biotech companies in the UK.

"People always ask why haven't we got an Amgen or a Genentech when we have brilliant science," says the investor. "There's a lot of reasons for this. There isn't enough world-class management, or enough ability to commercialize drugs. You have a lot of good scientists and academics who can't run a company. Also, if you're any good, you tend to get bought quickly. With these funds, industry experts would be able to direct cash to the right places. This would also encourage underperforming small companies to consolidate. The government has to underpin the consolidation fund because it was responsible for lots of start-ups and it's many of these start-ups that now have to consolidate."

- read the article from The Times

European investors sour on biotech market

Tue, 13 May 2008 06:59:56 -0400

There's a loud drumbeat of warnings coming from Europe over the sour state of biotech investing. Zhining Xu, an analyst at Seymour Pierce, tells the Financial Times that 2007 was a "disaster for biotechnology in the U.K." Andrew Baker, chairman of the International Biotech Trust, calls the first half of 2008 "appalling." And in FierceBioResearcher, we feature the voice of Sir Chris Evans, one of Britain's pioneering biotech entrepreneurs, talking about the "perfect storm" that has smashed into the field, threatening the amount of research work that's being done on the continent.

The viral skepticism isn't restricted to Europe. Investors are noting an increasingly tough regulatory approach to approvals at the FDA, a string of late-stage drug failures and nervousness over the lengthy amount of time it will take to get new genetic therapies on the market.

Interestingly, biotech stocks have been beaten down so far that some of the pessimists are saying that there are grounds for optimism. In the investing world, what goes down must go up. Right?

- read the article in the Financial Times

ALSO: One bullish Danish expert says that Denmark's biotech companies have matured to the point where they are ripe for acquisition by Big Pharma. Report

Finding no magic for 'Merlin,' Sir Evans shifts focus

Thu, 10 Apr 2008 06:59:56 -0400

Sir Christopher Evans' is scrapping Merlin Biosciences and transferring the early-stage venture funds to the newly-formed Excalibur, which will shift focus to late-stage therapies. That's bitter news to start-ups in the UK, which have long been able to tap into the seed funds offered by Merlin. Evans plans to raise a new fund with £100 million to invest in a range of companies spanning everything from specialty pharma to surgical equipment makers.

Many early-stage biotechs are "fraught with difficulty" and may have to consolidate, Evans told the Financial Times. Merlin's three funds are worth more than £450 million.

- read the article in the Financial Times

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