Briefs: CAT to double in size; Alizyme’s 1H08 loss narrows but sees delay in progress of key treatment
Cambridge Antibody Technology (CAT), specialising in the discovery and development of human therapeutic antibodies, said it would broaden its area of activities to reflect parent-company AstraZeneca's disease objectives.
AstraZeneca bought CAT in 2006 for £702m. It said it was doubling the size of its UK biotechnology business, now consolidated within CAT.
CAT will be working in different forms of cancer, other respiratory diseases and then moving into diseases of the nervous system, cardiovascular disorders of the heart and arteries and gastrointestinal diseases, it said.
* * * *
ixPressia has achieved official status as a Xaar partner, following a number of joint projects integrating the ixPressia Print Engine software into printers utilising Xaar heads, for applications ranging from graphics to colour label printing.
* * * *
Autonomy Corporation plc, a global leader in infrastructure software for the enterprise, said it has entered into an agreement with leisure travel group Thomas Cook to license Autonomy's Intelligent Data Operating Layer software.
* * * *
Alizyme plc released 1H 2008 results in which it said it had "further progressed" the development of its product portfolio and that it remained focused on the commercialisation of those products.
Net loss after tax for the six months to end June narrowed to £8.9m, compared to £12.3m in 1H07.
However, Alizyme said timing of the Marketing Authorisation Application for its ulcerative colitis treatment Colal-Pred was now uncertain. It had expected an MAA for the novel treatment would be submitted in the EU in the 4Q 2008.
The Group's share price shed almost 5% on the news to 6.85p, close to its 12-month low of 6.50p. It has recovered a smidgen this morning. Alizyme's market capitalisation is now around £14.5m
CEO Tim McCarthy said Alizyme was looking to build on the commercial and clinical progress discussions with potential partners in relation to all products in its portfolio continue. He said that further license opportunities are being pursued with the objective of building multiple revenue streams and leveraging off the virtual business model.
* * * *
CRFS (Cambridge Radio Frequency Services), a developer and maker of real-time spectral analysis tools, has selected the XJTAG boundary scan development system to speed the development of its RFeye real-time spectrum monitoring system.
CRFS has recently been selected by Ofcom, the UK communications regulator, to undertake a detailed spectrum mapping project in the UK and is using the RFeye system to gather the radio spectrum data.
