Alizyme mentioned in the FT as a another possible merger partner for CAT. Can't quite see why, but the company might be worth a look.
Parking recent article (which is slightly inaccurate - they raised £16.1m in February:57.5m shs @ 28p):
Alizyme upbeat on irritable bowel drug
By Richard Woodman
LONDON, April 24 (Reuters) - British biotechnology firm Alizyme Plc (LSE: AZM.L - news) said on Thursday its experimental treatment for irritable bowel sydrome (IBS (Xetra: 622840.DE - news) ) had successfully completed an intermediate clinical trial.
The firm said preliminary results of a Phase IIb trial in 510 patients with constipation-predominant IBS showed the efficacy and safety of its treatment, called renzapride, was similar to that of Swiss drugmaker Novartis AG (Virt-X: NOVZn.VX - news) 's Zelnorm, the only drug currently on sale for this condition.
Sam Fazeli, an industry analyst at Nomura, said he thought renzapride could eventually outperform Zelnorm, but said he would wait for full results to change his current "fair value" for Alizyme shares of 83 pence.
At 0940 GMT, the shares were flat at 37p, valuing the business at around 51 million pounds ($81 million).
Alizyme Chief Executive Richard Palmer told APM-Reuters he expected to recruit a major pharmaceutical partner for renzapride following results of another trial in mixed-symptom IBS were reported in October.
These results would determine the drug's commercial potential and the design of final phase III trials, which should start in mid-2004.
Small biotech firms usually license out their late-stage experimental drugs to bigger rivals who help pay for final stage clinical trials and marketing in exchange for a big chunk of future sales.
Palmer said half a dozen companies had already expressed interest in a licensing deal for renzapride, a product he has previously estimated could have peak annual sales ranging from $500 million to $1.5 billion.
Alizyme is also conducting phase III trials of COLAL-PRED for ulcerative colitis and will report key phase II results of its obesity drug ALT-962 in October.
According to analysts, Alizyme could expect immediate payments of up to 20 million pounds from licensing deals for each of its three drugs.
Palmer said Alizyme, which raised 15.1 million pounds from a share sale in February, had enough money to keep going to the end of 2004, but would need to raise money from licensing deals to finance 2005 and 2006.
Website htp://www.alizyme.com |
