Autonomy $30m, Vectura $46m: Cambridge sees real deals as stock markets tumble
All will find themselves down for the week, but today did begin to see some rallying, including Aveva, CSR, Vectura (more in a bit) and Pursuit Dynamics.
Pursuit Dynamics, was due an increase as despite these universal price drops in the week, it experienced a larger fall than most and felt forced to make an announcement to the London Stock Exchange that it knew of no reason for a 25 per cent drop in its share price.
The company with a fluid atomisation technique confirmed that performance remained in line with management expectations, adding that it knew of no reason for the recent fall in the share price, down by as much as 26.2 per cent before finishing the day at 203p, a fall of 51p, or 20.1 per cent.
Commentators are raising parallels between what it is happening now and the events of both 2007 and 2008, a credit crisis which led to a global recession.
Autonomy was one company that the last recession affected, but in reverse, it thrived as the need for greater market transparency led top financial institutions to the Cambridge company whose software makes sense of pretty much all the data a company has including emails and phone calls.
Since then there's been a tendency to ask questions about the company's ability to grow, but it still manages to land major deals and despite its share price falling by over 10 per cent this week, Tuesday it announced a $30m plus contract with an unnamed European bank.
Vectura managed a significant share rise Friday - up 2.9% to 99.25p a share - as it sealed a deal for its combination therapy for asthma and COPD, VR315, which means it is now licensed across the globe.
Targeting a market which it says at over $11bn is the biggest and fastest growing sector of the respiratory market, Vectura signed two license agreements for VR315 this week with a potential dollar value of over $46m, one in the US, the other for the rest of the world; it already had Europe covered.
The first development and license agreement is with the US arm of an undisclosed pharmaceutical and includes a $10m upfront payment, $35m on meeting several milestones plus royalties from any future sales.
The second deal is with Sandoz, the generics division of Novartis, and excludes the USA and those countries included in the existing VR315 European license with Sandoz. Vectura will receive royalty on net sales and a margin on the commercial manufacture and supply of the dry powder inhaler device used to deliver VR315 and is also eligible for milestones and advance pre-launch royalties worth up to €8m, €2.5m of which are expected to be received by October this year.
The other news, as already reported in Cabume, was CSR's multi-year deal to license its audio technology to Nokia and LSE newbie, Ubisense, gaining certification for its goods to be used in China.
So is this a 'real' problem or just a crisis of confidence.
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