PPL collapse has 'dented confidence'

Published on Monday 8 January 2007 11:54

A LEADING life sciences expert said the collapse of PPL Therapeutics, creator of Dolly the cloned sheep, "severely dented" Scotland's biotech industry.

But Dr Alexander Lewis, principal consultant with leading industry researchers, Wood MacKenzie, said PPL should be seen as an example of what can be achieved, but also of the need for firms to be commercially viable.

PPL collapsed in 2004 after losses of almost 40million during its final two years on revenues of just 300,000.

Dr Lewis, said: "PPL's collapse had both negative and positive effects for Scotland's biotech sector, the big negative being that it severely dented confidence."

But he said the upside was a current wealth of savvy biotech managers who are now steering new indigenous companies.

PPL was accused of being too focused on niche research and not paying enough attention to producing sellable products to deliver sufficient cashflow.

Graham Lee, chief financial officer of Ardana Biosciences - which is geared towards human reproductive health products - said: "You do want to have a number of products in your portfolio but you don't want to be so thinly spread that you can never get a product to market."