Huge loss for Vastox
Oxford and Sheffield universities were at the forefront of commercial science yesterday as two of their spin-out companies reported on their trading performance.
Vastox, the company founded by a team of Oxford University scientists led by Professor Steve Davies, reported its maiden first half results since floating on AIM last October.
The company has developed a method that makes sure that problems with drugs under development, including side effects, are detected early on, rather than when the drug is in commercial use, in order to avoid Vioxx-type disasters. Vastox also runs drug discovery programmes.
The company reported a 177 per cent increase in first half pre-tax losses to £122,000 on sales of £201,000 compared to £42,000 last year.
The losses were put down to the move from the university to a centre in Milton Park.
Vastox has signed six deals with five customers since January, and already has three drug discovery programmes, with a fourth starting soon.
Meanwhile, Biofusion, which commercialises university intellectual property, has announced its first spin-out firm from its agreement with Sheffield University.
Lifestyle Choices, which will offer products in the fertility and menopause markets, expects to launch its first product next January.
