2003 - The Year of BBG

Independant Newspaper article today.........

Consolidation hopes give year-end boost to British Biotech
Market Report
By Michael Jivkov
On the last full session of trading before the new year the focus among the few who made it into the City yesterday was largely on small-cap stocks.

British Biotech was the best performer, soaring 29 per cent, or 0.88p to 3.87p, as an impressive 36 million shares changed hands on what is one of the quietest days of the year. According to dealers, a large forced seller was cleared out of the market at the end of last week. It is believed that the institution had no choice but to dump its holding in British Biotech following the stock's relegation from the FTSE SmallCap index earlier this month.

Those buying into British Biotech yesterday seemed to be convinced that the group will play a role in the much touted consolidation of the sector. Some believe it would make attractive target for a predator given its £43m cash pile, which compares favourably to its £25m market value at the close of business yesterday.

The group is also said to have accumulated around £290m of tax losses over the past decade, which could be worth as much as 12p a share, and boasts a number of products in the early stages of development.

At the start of December it appointed Peter Fellner, currently chief executive of Celltech, as chairman in the hope that he would breath some life into the struggling biotech company.