British Biotech Builds On Marimastat

The news on May 22 could hardly have been better from British Biotech. At the American Society of Clinical Oncology the firm reported that cancer patients treated with its matrix metalloproteinase inhibitor, marimastat, showed strong responses (see page 18), confirming the product's potential as a treatment for a variety of solid tumor cancers. The firm's R&D director, Peter Lewis, said: "these are the best possible results we could have expected at this stage in the drug's development."

Both the medical and the financial communities welcomed the results. The firm's share price, which could have soared or plummeted depending on the tone of the news, reached an intra-day high of L37.88 ($57.35) from L30.30 on May 21 before retreating to L33.15 by the close.

In the run-up to the results there has been much debate about the biotechnology sector in general and BB in particular. It was only just over a year ago that BB's shares could have been acquired for under L5.00. The company has no sales or earnings and yet the level of the share price is seen as a a solid vote of confidence in the company's future and takes it to the edge of joining the ranks of the blue chip companies in the FT-SE 100 index.