MEDICAL science firm Midatech is transferring its laboratory facilities in Begbroke Science Park in Kidlington to its main headquarters in Milton Park near Abingdon next year.

Midatech, which commenced trading on the London Stock Exchange’s AIM index for growth companies on Monday, also plans to hire more scientists.

Chief executive officer Jim Phillips said the Begbroke lab would be consolidated into Milton Park, where the company moved to in July 2014.

“We will be expanding our presence and hiring more scientists,” he said.

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Midatech plans to employ another six to 10 scientists, to add to its existing 32 scientists. The company currently has a total of 49 staff, 14 of whom are in Oxfordshire.

Midatech debuted on AIM this week with a market capitalisation of £78m. The associated capital raised generated gross proceeds of £32m.

The company’s largest single shareholder is fund manager Neil Woodford’s fund with 20 per cent of shares on issue, although the stock’s free float is a relatively tight 24 per cent of total shares.

Midatech is a nanomedicine company that develops and commercialises therapeutic products to enhance the delivery of medicines for major diseases, such as cancer (liver, ovarian and brain) and diabetes. Its core technology is based on a patented form of gold nanoparticles, which control the release and targeting of existing drugs, acting as a kind of scaffolding.

Midatech’s diabetes product involves a postage-sized strip containing insulin that is placed on the inside of the check, and which dissolves as the insulin is absorbed into the bloodstream.

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  • Jim Phillips

Mr Phillips said Q Chip’s technology, which is based on polymer microspheres that also release drugs in a controlled manner over a period of time, was complementary to Midatech’s gold nanoparticles.

Founded in 2000, Midatech is still some years away from profitability. The company posted unaudited revenues of £230,000 in the six months to June 30, 2014, and recorded an after-tax loss of £3.83m over the same period.

However, the CEO said he anticipated Midatech would break even in 2019, following the commercialisation of new medical technologies.

“2016 is a very heavy investment year for us,” he said. “We’re building our revenue base and investing in our product development.”

The company will use the proceeds of its capital raising to fund trials or studies for its cancer and insulin treatments, as well as the development of other products. Midatech is also pursuing partnerships with other companies.


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