Astex again ranked top UK biotech company
Astex Technology, the UK-based fragment-based drug discovery company has been ranked as the fastest growing biotechnology company for the second year running in The Sunday Times Microsoft Tech Track 100.
Astex Technology, the UK-based fragment-based drug discovery company has been ranked as the fastest growing biotechnology company for the second year running in The Sunday Times Microsoft Tech Track 100.
It is one of only a small group of biotechnology companies to have made it onto the annual Tech Track 100 since the list was first compiled in 2001.
Astex expects the first of its in-house developed oncology drugs to enter the clinic early in 2005. In addition, the company signed a major new discovery deal in March with Boehringer Ingelheim and extended its collaboration with Aventis in June. Astex also achieved a second milestone in its US$40m drug discovery collaboration with AstraZeneca to develop drug candidates for Alzheimer's disease.
The company also has drug discovery deals with Schering, Mitsubishi Pharma Corporation and Fujisawa Pharmaceutical Co., and has continued to achieve annual sales growth of approximately 170% since 2000.
'We are really pleased to appear once again in this prestigious listing of Britain's fast growing technology companies as Britain's top biotech company,' said Timothy Haines, ceo of Astex. 'This achievement is a measure of the professionalism and dedication of Astex's people and is a tribute shared by everyone in the company.'