WITH one of the sector's lead-
ing lights still under threat, Scotland's biotechnology community gathered last night to celebrate accomplishments in other areas.
One year on from the launch of the Biotechnology Framework for Action - an initiative driven by Scottish Enterprise (SE) to double the number of Scottish biotech companies to 100 within four years - the sector for the first time elected its ''best new biotechnology company'' for 2000.
The winner was Aberdeen-based Remedios, which uses
naturally occurring ''biosensors'' to detect pollutants in contaminated land.
Formed in August 1999, Remedios is one of 20 Scottish biotech companies that SE says have been formed in the last 20 months. Together with the inclusion of 92 medical device companies that were previously not counted as part of the biotech sector, this brought the total to 382.
However, the future still remains unclear for Scotia, one of the leading businesses among this group. The Stirling-based company has taken a beating on the markets since its Foscan treatment for head and neck cancers was rejected by US
regulators in September.
It remains unclear whether
Foscan was rejected because of the number of patients it was
tested on - an issue the Scottish company can deal with - or because it was just not an effective enough treatment.
Scotia is scheduled to meet with the US Food & Drug Administration at the end of this month, but either way, its diminishing cash pile leaves it in a precarious
position.
According to figures compiled by SE from its network of local enterprise companies, there are now 74 ''pure'' biotech companies in Scotland, plus a further 163 supply organisations. This is augmented by 53 academic and research institutions, plus 92
medical device companies.
The number of people in biotech-related employment is said to now be 18,430, compared to 12,729 in March of 1999.
The Framework for Action has identified a number of key objectives for the coming 12 months. These include the construction of a ''bio-manufacturing campus'' at Gowkley Moss in Midlothian, the extension of biotech mentoring initiatives, and the launch of a
life sciences magazine to be called Your World, which will be aimed at making biotechnology more accessible to schoolchildren.
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