Biotech Leader Wants More Mergers

Sydney Morning Herald

Thursday July 27, 2006

Rebecca Urban

ONE of Australia's leading biotechnology executives has urged his peers to aggressively push for consolidation to drive growth and deliver more value to shareholders.

John Chiplin, chief executive of Peptech, told the Australian Biotechnology Summit in Sydney yesterday that the premier biotechs needed to adopt merger and acquisition strategies to move towards critical mass, expand their product portfolios and reduce the risk for investors.

Dr Chiplin said mergers and acquisitions should be a focus of the 10 largest biotechnology companies. "A carefully plotted M&A strategy can be an excellent catalyst and represent an ideal opportunity to progress the sophistication of the Australian biotech industry," Mr Chiplin said.

"It's certainly a feasible and potentially rewarding alternative to a draining IPO or several rounds of negotiations with alternative funding sources."

Dr Chiplin's comments come a day after Alchemia announced the completion of its takeover bid for Meditech Research - the first merger between two listed biotechs in Australia.

© 2006 Sydney Morning Herald

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