Silence's 40% price fall "due to low newsflow"

In an effort to alleviate concerns over a 40% drop in share price over the last six months, Iain Ross, the chairman of UK-based biotechnology firm Silence Therapeutics, has issued a 1,500-word letter restating the company's goals for the coming year. Mr Ross attributed the decline to misconcenptions arising from inaccurate reports circulating in the market, and admitted that such damaging speculation may be due to the company's relatively low level of newsflow last year.

Attempts to reaffirm patent position

Mr Ross also used the letter to address worries about Silence's intellectual property position. He explained that the firm has "freedom to operate" in this regard, and asserted that the scope of the German Kreutzer-Limmer patent, number 10080167, granted to US competitor Alnylam Pharmaceuticals last summer (Marketletter July 30, 2007), would be restricted by the European Patent Office.