SHARES in British Biotech, Britain's biggest biotechnology company, soared to a further record level yesterday after it announced progress in clinical trials for a drug that could revolutionise the treatment of many cancers.
The share price, which has risen fivefold over the past year and made millionaires of some of the company's directors, closed up £2.85p at £33.15p. A year ago they could have been bought for less than £5.
In trials of the drug, marimastat, on 232 patients suffering from a range of cancers, more than half showed a strong response. The trials confirmed the drug's potential for treating many "solid tumour cancers" including pancreatic, ovarian, colorectal and prostate.
The share price rise is the latest in the company's short history. Founded in 1986, it was floated in 1992 and still employs only 350 people. Its current market capitalisation of almost £2 billion sterling makes it the fourth most valuable biotechnology company in the world. The City has mixed opinions.
Mr Peter Laing, pharmaceuticals analyst at Salomon Brothers, the stockbroker, said: "This price is ludicrous. You can buy (similar) US biotech stocks for a quarter of the price." On the other hand, Mr Ian Smith, his counterpart at Lehman Brothers, argued that the results of the trials justified a valuation of about £40 a share.
The group's value makes it a contender for inclusion in the FTSE 100 index of Britain's biggest companies. The company will now discuss with medicines regulatory authorities such as the Food and Drug Administration in the US the details of the final phase of drugs testing. These trials would be the first in which marimastat would be fully tested against placebos.
