Euro biotech lacks dynamism, says MPM

MPM Capital, the US venture capital group, says it is "desperately"seeking a European biotechnology company to invest in, but is having difficulty finding one. One of the associates of the company, Morana Borer, claimed in Paris, France, that it had to be assumed that European biotechnology research scientists did not want money, something she could not understand.

MPM has substantial funds available for placement, as a total of $230 million was assembled in 1997. Then, $600 million was put into a second fund, BioVentures II, in early 2000 and the firm envisages putting a further $800 million into a third funding vehicle by the end of 2001. However, BioVentures II has only achieved 15% of its investment program in Europe, while the first fund managed 20%.

Ms Borer said MPM wants to develop its presence because the initial investments such as Atugen and, more recently GPC Biotech, have been "very interesting." However, it has been suggested by some observers that the reason for the limited success of the investment group at present, apart from the frequently-repeated complaint about the lack of enterprising spirit in Europe, is that only limited resources have been allocated to the task, with a single office based in Munich.