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Biotech / Medical : HuMAB companies -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Icebrg who wrote (395)	7/29/2002 1:51:18 AM
From: Icebrg	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1022

Genmab to delist from Frankfurt By David Firn in London Published: July 28 2002 18:44 \| Last Updated: July 28 2002 18:44 Genmab, the Danish biotechnology company, is to delist its shares from the Frankfurt stock exchange following a sharp drop in their liquidity. Genmab, which is developing medicines based on antibodies, is one of Europe's best funded biotech companies after raising DKr1.4bn ($186m) in a heavily oversubscribed flotation in October 2000. Lisa Drakeman, chief executive, said more than 95 per cent of trading in its shares was taking place on the Copenhagen Stock Exchange. "By eliminating the duplication in financial reporting that comes with a double listing, Genmab will gain cost savings." Genmab's delisting is a double blow for Deutsche Börse, which has been trying to attract more biotech and foreign companies on to the Neuer Markt in an attempt to reduce its dependence on technology and media stocks. "This is more bad news for the Germans," said Sally Bennett, biotech analyst at ING Barings. "Genmab is a well-funded, product-oriented company that is seen as one of the better quality stocks in Europe. This is a bad reflection on the state of the German biotech market." For a brief period in 2000, the Neuer Markt became the most dynamic market for European biotechnology companies. But the Nemax biotech index has fallen 60 per cent this year. With the Neuer Markt trading more than 90 per cent per cent off its March 2000 high, small technology companies, public and private, have seen their sources of funding dry up, raising concern about Germany's position as the technology hub of Europe. Genmab's retreat to Copenhagen is also bad news for around a dozen German biotechnology companies, including Wilex, Morphochem, Eppendorf and Epigenomix, that would like to float on the Neuer Markt, as well as venture capital funds that are unable to exit their investments. Genmab shares, which have fallen 45 per cent this year, closed up 1.3 per cent at €28.17 on Friday, but the news triggered a sell-off among Germany's leading biotech companies. Shares in Morphosys, which is also developing antibody-based medicines, fell 4.3 per cent to €22.15, 93 per cent below its record high. Evotech shares fell 5.4 per cent to €3.80. MVG was off 4.3 per cent at €1.10. Only Medigene shrugged off the bad news, rising 15 per cent after its partner Atrix received approval in the US for a prostate cancer drug.