Eden Biopharma Group raises £5million in investment

Biotech drug development and manufacturing service provider Eden Biopharma Group has successfully raised £5m in investment. This will provide the working capital to launch and operate the UK National Biomanufacturing Centre in Liverpool, and further expand the already successful international consultancy business. The private placement capital investment was led by Stephens Inc, one of the largest US investment banking firms outside of Wall Street.

Eden Biodesign, the group’s lab-based manufacturing service provider, will operate the National Biomanufacturing Centre, a £30 million publicly funded initiative which is due to be operational by 2006. Working from the Centre the company will provide biotech product development and manufacturing services worldwide. An access fund of about £3m is also available to help small and medium-sized UK biotech firms purchase services.

The group has appointed a new chairman, Mr Tony Allen, whose previous roles include managing Fisons world wide pharmaceutical business. The previous Chairman, Mr Iain Ross, along with existing Non Executive Director Dr Peter Cozens, will now switch focus to develop Eden’s international businesses.

Eden Biopharma Group board has also appointed new non-executive directors Andrew Stafford-Deitsch, an investor representative from family owned Stephens, and Professor Tony Atkinson, recently Chief Scientific Officer of Protherics plc.

Dr Crawford Brown, chief executive of the group, said: “This investment will allow us to expand our businesses internationally and provide the working capital required to make the National Biomanufacturing Centre a success.”

He added that the scale of the investment in current market conditions is a testament to Eden’s proven expertise in biopharmaceutical development and its high demand in the biotech marketplace.

“Biotech companies are increasingly realising that having fantastic intellectual property is not enough without access to the skills and experience to transform this potential into the reality of clinically and commercially successful medicines,” said Brown.

For more information please contact Alex Upham or Sara Tye at redheadPR on 0870 240 5536 or 07734 906957 or email on alex@redheadpr.co.uk

Notes to editors:

Eden Biopharma group comprises Eden Biopharm Ltd, a successful biopharmaceutical development consultancy which has rapidly grown since inception in 2000 with a client base of over 50 UK and international businesses, and Eden Biodesign which was incorporated in 2002 to provide laboratory-based product development and manufacturing services to biotech clients.

In everything it does, Eden is committed to providing the knowledge and expertise to guide clients through process development, manufacturing, regulatory and technology transfer challenges.

The company’s commitment is threefold:

§        To design best practice at every step of biopharmaceutical development programmes and processes

§        To develop ideas, potential and research products into valuable biopharmaceutical medicines

§        To deliver products and processes through commercial experience, facilities and commitment

Eden Biopharma Group Directors

Tony Allen - Chairman

Mr Tony Allen was previously head of Fisons operations in the USA. He was subsequently appointed Managing Director of Fisons world-wide pharmaceutical division, based in Loughborough, and also appointed to the Fisons Main board.  In 1980 He set up a consultancy business providing expert advice in all aspects of pharmaceutical operations and in this role has provided critical support to several international pharma businesses.

Crawford Brown - Chief Executive Officer

Dr Crawford Brown co-founded the Eden Biopharm consultancy business in September 2000 with Dr Derek Ellison. Previously he was Director of Product Development for Celltech-Medeva, responsible for managing the chemistry development and manufacturing aspects of the Medeva Group biotech product pipeline, from early phase acquisition through to in-market supply. Among his achievements Dr Brown managed and led a successful pan-European submission for a complex recombinant vaccine which included an EMEA-sponsored pre-approval inspection. Prior to this, he held development positions at British Biotech and Wellcome Biotech.

Iain Ross

Mr Iain Ross is a biochemist and seasoned international executive with a broad experience in the pharma/biotech sector. He held senior commercial positions in Sandoz (Novartis), Fisons and Roche before joining the board of Celltech in 1991. As CEO he was responsible for building Celltech Biologics into a profitable international contract manufacturing business before it was sold to Lonza in 1996. From 1995 he was CEO of Quadrant Healthcare PLC, which was sold to Elan in 2000. Mr Ross currently holds board positions with several successful biotech businesses and was recently appointed Chairman of SR Pharma plc. Mr Ross also provides specialist advice to biotech investor groups.

Peter Cozens

Dr Peter Cozens is a scientifically qualified Commercial Development professional with broad international experience in both the biotechnology and conventional pharmaceutical sectors of the industry. He is experienced in all facets of identifying partners and negotiating and managing third party agreements in all major territories to facilitate strategic business expansion. Dr Cozens is the founder of the European arm of an established San Francisco Bay Area consultancy, ProPharma Partners Inc, which offers a range of commercial and clinical support services to the Biotech and Pharma Industry. He previously held senior roles in International Business Development (Medeva PLC, 1991-2000) and Wellcome (1981-1991).

Tony Atkinson  - Non Executive Director

Dr Tony Atkinson was formerly Director of Biotechnology at CAMR and responsible for the microbial bio-manufacturing capability of that institute which produced therapeutic proteins for sale in major markets around the globe. More recently he was Chief Scientific Officer of Protherics plc and is now Non-Exec Director of that company and Chairman of a number of biotechnology start-up companies. He is also a visiting Professor in Biotechnology at the Universities of Bath and Bristol.