Angel shares soar by 13% as firm unveils deals worth £4.5m

SHARES in Angel Biotechnology jumped yesterday after the Edinburgh-based contract manufacturer unveiled a string of contracts worth £4.5 million.

Aim-quoted Angel, which is based at the Pentlands Science Park, makes biological products used by drug companies conducting trials.

Materia Medica, Russia's sixth-largest pharmaceutical company, signalled its intention to sign at least three deals with Angel over the next five years worth at least 4.5m.

The two companies also signed a pricing agreement for the next five years, which the Scottish firm said would give it the security to plan its growth accurately.

Last month Angel raised 1.9m through a share placing to fund the re-opening of a manufacturing facility in Newcastle and the expansion of its Edinburgh headquarters, which currently employs 28 staff. The company expects to create about ten jobs initially through the expansion.

Chief operating officer Gordon Sherriff said: "This deal is good for the client because managing your costs is obviously very important when you're in commercial production.

"But it's good for us too because we know Materia Medica will be working with us for at least the next five years."

Sherriff added: "We've been working with the company since about 2008 and they're a very important client for us. Working with them has allowed us to get accreditation from the UK government's Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) for producing products for commercial sale.

"Not many companies of our size have MHRA accreditation for commercial sale - as opposed to clinical trials or scientific research - so that allows us to compete for more business."

Angel was formed in 2000 and has been quoted on Aim since 2005. Shares closed up 0.06p or 13 per cent at 0.5p last night, valuing the company at about 13m.