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Evans warning to biotech cluster

Written by Alice Walker

Thursday, 01 May 2008

Cam Biotech needs a major show of strength Professor Sir Christopher Evans, chairman of the specialist medical science investment house, Excalibur, is to tell Cambridge’s biotech community that they face a ‘Herculean’ task to prove they can weather the economic downturn that has led to doom-laden assessments of the sector. Sir Christopher is to give a keynote address at next week’s  ERBI conference to celebrate the 10th  anniversary of the BioPartnering Exchange in Cambridge. Sir Chris said: “We have to conduct a wholly honest assessment of the sector if we are to move forward with confidence. “It would be absurd to suggest that biotech has not suffered in the UK and Europe but we should be in no rush to administer the last rites to such an exciting and revolutionary industry and one which Cambridge has been at the heart of for over 20 years. “Of course, investor sentiment has moved away from loss-making biotech firms, particularly  in the current climate. But without these companies pioneering scientific advances there cannot be  the breakthroughs needed.  More mature companies in the broader medical sciences sector more often than not have their roots or significant links in biotech. “There are excellent revenue generating, profitable companies that are rarely referred to as biotech companies but are selling  sophisticated reagents and kits based on complex bioscience. That said, the biotech community needs to prove that it is tough enough to see out those doomsayers who seem to relish predicting the complete demise of the sector. “I think I bear as many scars as anyone. I have been through the mill time and again. This is not a game for faint hearts – but neither is it a game for fools. The thing that we would never be forgiven for is losing hope, confidence and passion in what we do. “There will continue to be specialist bioscience seed investors and venture capital funds and there will always be an institutional interest in the best companies who achieve a critical mass with a balanced pipeline of products. “We welcome this continued funding and there is room for plenty more investors, especially in the UK. However, bioscience research  is but one part of the larger, more diverse medical sciences sector and it is the latter where we believe investors can reap consistent returns with far more liquidity and lower risk exposure. Research-driven bioscience companies will always be part of this sector but need not over-burden investment portfolios.” Set as favorite Bookmark Email This Hits: 316 Trackback(0) TrackBack URI for this entry Comments (0) Subscribe to this comment's feed Write comment This content has been locked. You can no longer post any comment.

 

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