We've paid the price, now let us work: Amrad boss

Gently suggesting that analysts and investors should back off and let Amrad focus on its product development, managing director Sandra Webb presented Amrad as a case study on maturing public biotechnology companies at the AusBiotech 2002 conference.

"Amrad went public when it had some research, some products in development and a very different business model to what it has now," said Webb, who has been with the company for less than a year.

"It has paid a big price for going public at an immature stage, it has been punished for its product failures."

This year, for example, Webb said that the product failures were highlighted by the press, but virtually no notice was taken of the surprisingly good results for its chronic pain drug AM336.

She also noted that the two projects handed back by collaborators DevCo and GlaxoSmithKline were healthy, value-added and going strong.

Webb noted that in the biotechnology industry in Australia share prices are driven by newsflow rather than by profits, and public companies were being forced by the system to make announcements on trivial matters. This was coupled with lack of knowledge among investors and analysts, she said.

According to Webb, the company is in a strong position, with enough cash for the next two to three years. "It is important that we are conservative with what we do with our cash. We are commercially focused and are trying our damnedest to extract value," she said.

Webb said that the company preferred to take development of its products as far as possible before partnering or co-developing with other companies. Current collaborators include Serono and Cambridge Antibody Technology.

Amrad currently has three drugs in clinical development, and a number of products in pre-clinical and discovery stages.

"We live in the expectation that a flow of royalties is not too far into the future," Webb said. "I'm absolutely committed to making Amrad a success."