French biotechnology firms make their mark

Biotechnology companies now account for 2.40 billion euros ($3.20 billion) in capital value on the Paris Bourse, according to EuroLand Finance. A report by its analyst Gerard Pontonnier notes that the sector hardly existed a few years back but the entry of new companies has speeded up in the past 18 months with some 10 enterprises listed. The leader among them is currently the French group NicOx, with a market capitalization over 900.0 million euros. The company's share price increased more than six-fold through 2006 following agreements with US firms Pfizer and Merck & Co (Marketletters passim) and the reported success of a Phase III treatment for arthritis of the knee.

NicOx is followed by fellow French company Transgene, with a market value of some 313.0 million euros. Both have benefited from recent improvements in the value of the biotechnology sector with Transgene's share price, for example, rising by 52% since the start of 2007. Cellectis and ExonHit Therapeutics have also improved over 40% in the same period. Transgene's finance director, Philippe Poncet, said the company had been quoted in both Paris and New York in 1998 but had left the Nasdaq in 2005 because of the lack of liquidity in the USA and "regulatory constraints." He added, however, that currently most of the biotechnology companies in Europe are under-capitalized and this has a negative effect when they are involved in negotiations with the drug majors. Meanwhile, the next company to be listed in Paris is expected to be Vivalis, a vaccines developer, due to arrive shortly.