QLT-T NR today 91m at 8.97
Post says UBC tries to keep the QLTs coming
2006-04-03 07:26 ET - In the News
Also In the News (C-ANP) Angiotech Pharmaceuticals Inc
Also In the News (C-COM) Cardiome Pharma Corp (2)
The Financial Post in its Saturday edition calls the University of British Columbia a spinoff machine. The Post's Jason Kirby writes scores of companies trace their roots to its labs. These include QLT, Angiotech Pharmaceuticals and Cardiome Pharma. At last count, in 2005, the total market cap of the seven largest UBC spinoffs was nearly $6-billion. For the school, which holds patents on technology developed in its labs, that also meant royalty riches. Licensing payments from QLT alone have topped $50-million. But UBC's company spinoff success is at risk of drying up. A combination of skittish venture capitalists and some company flameouts after the tech bubble burst in 2000 is making it difficult for enterprising researchers to raise money and go it alone. Last year, just one new biotech was spun out of UBC. Between 1991 and 2001 there were more than 60. Rather than push companies out the door before they are ready, UBC is in the early stages of developing the quasi-corporate Centre for Drug Research and Development to bridge the gap between academic and business worlds. Companies with promising drugs will get help. Those unlikely to produce marketable drugs will be mercilessly killed off.
