Antisense springboard

Creating a successful biotech company in Australia is more difficult than in the U.S. or Europe, given its small population and investor base, and its distance from major markets. One solution may be building upon assets from larger industry players in North America and Europe. That's the course being followed by Antisense Therapeutics Ltd., which last week entered a compound licensing and technology transfer deal with Isis Pharmaceuticals Inc.

ISIP (Carlsbad, Calif.) and incubator company Circadian Technologies Ltd. (ASX:CIR, Melbourne, Australia) last week announced the formation of Antisense Therapeutics (ASX:ANP) and its listing on the Australian Stock Exchange via an AUS$13 million ($6.8 million) IPO (see B20). ISIP and CIR own 14% and 36% of the company, respectively. ...