uk.biz.yahoo.com
Wednesday December 6, 4:56 PM
CeNeS Pharmaceuticals Plc FD speaks about the impending acquisition of Cambridge Neuroscience in The Wall Street Transcript
NEIL CLARK is Finance Director of CeNeS Pharmaceuticals Plc
TWST: Could you give a brief introduction to the company's activities and core markets?
Mr. Clark: The company in the UK, CeNeS Pharmaceuticals Plc (LSE: CEN.L - news) as the name suggests, is focusing on central nervous systems. So, it is research and development of diseases at the central nervous system. That's the central strategy. Around that, though, we also have revenue generating activities, we have expertise in ion channels, cognitive testing, which is a brain function, and also through the acquisition of Core Group Plc, drug delivery technologies. Core Group develops Moraxen, which is a morphine slow release delivery which will be launched in Q4 2000 in the UK and Ireland.
TWST: Now, will Moraxen be the company's first product?
Mr. Clark: It will be our first pharmaceutical product that has been developed from concept to launch.
TWST: Is the vision for that to stay inside England and Ireland or is there a broader view?
Mr. Clark: No, we are looking for partners. We have a partner for the rest of Europe, a marketing partner, that is Bioglan Pharma Plc, a UK company. And we are looking for partners for USA and Japan.
TWST: Now, you mentioned an acquisition earlier. What is the company's situation with cash right now? Does it appear to be a limitation to any of your activities?
Mr. Clark: No. We have sufficient cash for the next 18 months, 24 months, so one and a half to two years. With our current activities, of course we'll be looking where possible to raise money to continue the growth of the company, using the financial markets in the UK, Europe and possibly America, though we are obviously a UK listed company. And you're aware of the impending acquisition of Cambridge Neuroscience in Boston?
TWST: Yes. Could you tell us a little bit about that?
Mr. Clark: Yes. Obviously there's a great fit between the two companies both being focused on diseases of the central nervous system. Both companies have been aware of each other since 1997, when CeNeS was formed. Cambridge Neuroscience was formed, I think 10 years earlier. And there are great synergies in the research and development portfolios, and obviously from the UK point of view it's great for us to have a foothold in North America, especially in the Boston area where there are such a high concentration of Biotech pharmaceutical companies and we can continue to expand both on our revenue generating operations and collaborations.
TWST: Now, if you take a look at the company overall right now and perhaps even after this merge is completed, is the focus right now more heavily on research and development or is it on marketing and making Moraxen successful?
Mr. Clark: I think the business model is that there is a central core of the company, and the group going forward to be focused on central nervous system research and development. Having said that, the model is to at the same time support the funding for those projects by having revenue-generating activities. So we have drug delivery, the cognition division and also the ion channel contract research. And we also have a stated strategy of acquiring central nervous system pharmaceutical products. So actually we have CNS-rated products feeding in cash flows again back into the R & D pipeline and the idea being that we develop our own products to fit into that pharmaceutical product pipeline in the next few years. So going forward we have a CNS-focused company, which are indeed being supported by revenue-generating activities focused on CNS-related services as well as CeNes pharmaceutical products, initially sales in the UK of products, and we are actively looking to buy products or companies with products to start that off. And we are confident that that will be launched in the near future. |
