Genesis 2013: Astex Pharma's journey from biotech start-up to $886m success story
A biotech company’s dream 14-year journey from small start-up to an $886 million takeover bid provided inspiration to UK life science companies at the Genesis 2013 conference in London on Thursday. Delegates heard about the process which saw UK biotech firm Astex Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq: ASTX) bought by Japanese drugmaker Otsuka (TYO: 4768) in September.
Merger with SuperGen
Chief executive Harren Jhoti co-founded Astex Pharma, formerly Astex Therapeutics, in 1999. However, it wasn’t always an easy ride and at one point the company had just three months’ worth of money in the bank. In 2007 the company needed money desperately and looked at completing an Initial Public Offering (IPO) in the stock market in London. After several meetings with bankers, and the timing with the global financial crisis in 2008, they realized the appetite wasn’t there and they needed to take the company into the next stage of development.
This article is accessible to registered users, to continue reading please register for free. A free trial will give you access to exclusive features, interviews, round-ups and commentary from the sharpest minds in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology space for a week. If you are already a registered user please login. If your trial has come to an end, you can subscribe here.
Login to your accountTry before you buy
Free
7 day trial access
- All the news that moves the needle in pharma and biotech
- Exclusive features, podcasts, interviews, data analyses and commentary from our global network of life sciences reporters.
- Receive The Pharma Letter daily news bulletin, free forever.
Become a subscriber
£820
Or £77 per month
- Unfettered access to industry-leading news, commentary and analysis in pharma and biotech.
- Updates from clinical trials, conferences, M&A, licensing, financing, regulation, patents & legal, executive appointments, commercial strategy and financial results.
- Daily roundup of key events in pharma and biotech.
- Monthly in-depth briefings on Boardroom appointments and M&A news.
- Choose from a cost-effective annual package or a flexible monthly subscription
The Pharma Letter is an extremely useful and valuable Life Sciences service that brings together a daily update on performance people and products. It’s part of the key information for keeping me informed
Chairman, Sanofi Aventis UK
More on this story...
Today's issue
Company Spotlight
More Features in Biotechnology
Copyright © The Pharma Letter 2024 | Headless Content Management with Blaze