UK biotechnology: the market will not forgive the lag

"A turning point has come for English biotechnologies." So says Sir Chris Evans, co-owner of Neuropharm.

The UK's contribution to the improvement of medical technologies has always been huge. The country can be proud of the discovery of the DNA double helix, penicillin, the invention of ultrasound diagnostics and many other innovations.

At the heart of the coming technological revolution will be biotechnologies – discoveries in the field of genetics that will define the face of the present century, just as the splitting of the atom became the hallmark of the past century. Industrial biotechnology, whose turnover has already reached 350 billion pounds, covers many areas, ranging from the mass production of enzymes, hormones and proteins for use as medicines to help fight arthritis or cancer, to new diagnostic methods that allow determining the risk of disease. She promises to create medicines that correct your personal genetic code, use genetic transplants to correct hereditary diseases and stem cells to heal a damaged heart or brain. The scientific and economic significance of the industry is as follows: Gordon Brown promised that the UK would occupy the first place in the world in the field of genetic research and stem cell research.

But from the point of view of one of the most successful entrepreneurs in the field of biotechnology, this industry faces a serious danger that can undermine its work.

The market does not forgive laggingSir Chris Evans is one of the most colorful characters in commercial biotechnology.

He has such close contacts with the government that he was involved in the Scotland Yard investigation into the case known as "Titles in exchange for donations" (in 2006-2007, several prominent figures of the Labour Party were suspected of promoting people to the House of Lords who transferred large sums to party accounts. After the investigation was completed, no charges were brought against anyone. – "Newspaper"). He managed to amass a fortune estimated at 150 million pounds, and within 10 years to collect and transfer more than $ 1 billion for research on cancer research. Today, he helps to introduce innovative methods to combat heart attacks and autism.

But he is deeply concerned. "This is a turning point for British biotech," says Sir Chris. We're talking to him in his office near the Poll Mall. His office is a real Aladdin's cave, where his rugby awards, metal scientific instruments, iridescent samples of geological rocks are displayed. "The 2008 market will not forgive us for lagging behind," he continues.

In May 1987, the situation was simpler. Then the future Sir Chris, whose real name is Port Talbot, was running all over Cambridge, trying to found his first company. It was one of the first projects in the field of biotechnology. Enzymatix seemed to be able to make a real revolution. Using cabbage enzymes and egg components, its employees put on stream the production of phospholipids capable of moistening the lungs of newborn babies. This invention has saved the lives of hundreds of premature babies, although, being real scientists, Sir Chris and his colleagues first tested this drug on themselves.

However, Evans believes that the chances that a fundamentally new invention that has appeared today will become a panacea in some area have been much reduced. "People working in our industry understand that we are not developing new successful products fast enough and bringing them to market, and this worries us very much," he says. – On the other hand, the shares of biotech companies have been falling steadily over the past two years, as British investors have been leaving this sector. But it got really bad when the credit crisis broke out, because of which the last investors who did not want to take any more risks left."

Although in the end, this process can serve as a kind of weeding, separating weed companies from bona fide enterprises. The problem is that the latter found themselves without the funds needed to conduct research and create new drugs.

There are about 1,400 private biotech companies operating in Europe. All of them lose up to 2.5 billion euros a year in total, and half of them have cash reserves that do not exceed the annual norm.

Investments in biotechnology have halved over the past four years, and, according to Sir Chris, the market lacks entrepreneurs and bankers who are able to distinguish enzymes from their own elbow.

Only 10 years ago, Sir Chris founded Merlin, his first venture capital company, to help the projects being created to occupy their niche in the market. Today, he does not participate in research projects at the initial stage, because newly created British biotech companies need money and are struggling for existence.

Not everyone will cross the "valley of death" Between the laboratory, where research is usually funded by the government, and the first trickles of incoming commercial funding, a "valley of death" has formed, as scientists call it.

The method of raising funds with family, friends and venture entrepreneurs, which used to help university researchers, and then meant entering the stock market, according to the entrepreneur, no longer works. Instead, there is a process of buying up biotech projects in the bud by giant pharmaceutical companies.

For large companies, this approach to medicines already licensed for use on the market has proved to be more effective than conducting their own developments. Up to half of all recently patented products are biotechnology products, and only 12% of patents are issued for products of well–funded, but low-performance research conducted in the laboratories of companies. However, this does not mean that large companies are the white knights of the industry. According to Sir Chris, they are subject to storm winds, like all other ships, but only large companies have more lifeboats than others.

The fate of one invention shows how politics can doom quite promising developments to failure. A few years ago, Sir Chris helped create the UK Stem Cell Foundation, a charitable organization that was supposed to promote innovative methods of treatment, for example, the use of bone marrow stem cells in the treatment of myocardial infarction. "We managed to collect more than 12 million pounds in cash. We found 10 good projects, 4 of which were approved," he recalls. However, the Ministry of Finance insisted that government support be provided only through The Medical Research Council (The Medical Research Council), which clearly violated the Haldane principle, according to which scientists, and not ministers or officials, should determine which area the funds allocated for scientific research should go to.

The implementation of the project stalled, besides, Sir Chris had to resign from his post after his arrest, when the police launched an investigation into the case of "Titles in exchange for donations". In July 2007, the Crown Prosecution Service considered that it did not have sufficient grounds to take the case to court. However, Sir Chris is still under investigation: this time by the department for combating major fraud, which is considering complaints from a former subordinate of Sir Chris that part of the Merlin funds disappeared. He constantly declares his innocence, but the case has dragged on for many years.

Another firm he invested in, Dr. John Sinden's ReNeuron company in Guildford, was also drowned in red tape. In her laboratories, a method was found for mass production of nervous system cells by cloning human embryo stem cells, which actually created an unlimited number of spare nerve fibers to replace damaged ones. For the first time starting the treatment of a serious disease with the help of neurons derived from stem cells, the company hoped in early 2006 to use them to cure 30 patients after a heart attack. However, the company is still waiting for permission from the US Federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

"ReNeuron has done everything in its power, and for 10 years has been the undisputed leader in the treatment of adult neurons derived from embryonic stem cells," says Sir Chris. "But today we are at the stage where our stable neurons are simply being stored, while we are waiting for the FDA's decision."

Concerned about the lack of any solution, ReNeuron appealed to the authorities of Australia and the UK with a request to accelerate the use of stem cells, which can also be used in the treatment of blindness, Huntington's and Parkinson's syndromes.

However, not all the news is bad. Sir Chris is very hopeful for the company Neuropharm in Leatherhead, which researches autism. But autism is a comprehensive term that is applied to a number of diseases, so the creation of a single treatment method is hardly possible.

However, it does not seem that medications known as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, which include, for example, prozac, counteract monotonous, so-called ritual behavior, high anxiety and mood swings. Continuing its development in New York, Neuropharm has created a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor of a new generation, used in small doses. According to Sir Chris, he performed well in autistic children and was quickly registered by the FDA. Now they are preparing to produce drugs for the treatment of brittle X-chromosome syndrome, obsessive-compulsive disorder, Rett syndrome.

Passion for risk If Sir Chris has managed to prove anything, it's the fact that you can make money and help people at the same time.

This is evidenced, for example, by his collection of sports cars, which included Ferrari and Aston Martin. He loves fast cars and risky business, and one does not contradict the other. He talks about how in the early 1990s, when he was driving down Mill Lane in Cambridge, he almost knocked down Stephen Hawking on his red horse, who appeared from nowhere. He shakes his head: "I still have goosebumps running through my body."

Roger Highfield, The Daily Telegraph, 05/16/2008
Translation: Gazeta