• 26th February 2001
• 2nd September 2000

FT: Shares in PTH, the Co. that cloned Dolly the sheep, have been rising since it signed a partnership deal for its most advanced products with Bayer, the German Pharm. group. Under the agreement, announced a fortnight ago, Bayer will buy $15m of PPL shares @ £2.15. and fund the development of the product - a protein derived from ewe's milk that can be used against cystic fibrosis and genetic lung disease.

Some analysts think that progress in clinical trials is needed before the shares can rise faster. However in a note published on Monday Jemima Thorpe at Seymour Pierce argues that, given PPL's existing products and the potential for its pig cloning technology, the shares' fair value is £4.23 to £5.20. Ms Thorpe believes PPL might need to raise £10m in 2001 but adds that this dilution would not affect her fair value range.

©2001 citywire.co.uk:Fri 23 Feb 2001

PPL jumps on stem cell breakthrough

PPL Therapeutics, the company that cloned Dolly the Sheep, claims it has reprogrammed cattle skin cells to become heart cells. The market likes the news and the shares are up 10.5p to 169p. This exciting development means PPL (PTH) may be able to produce human stem cells without using embryos. Stem cells are the building blocks of all tissues and organs in the body. The adult body carries some stem cells for repair purposes, but it’s thought that extra stem cells could be a cure for many diseases including Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and diabetes. However, the area is fraught with ethical concerns as stem cells are often derived from embryos that were originally created for fertility treatment, or aborted foetuses. But PPL has taken cattle skin cells, turned them into stem cells, and then converted them into beating heart cells. The company says evidence of its breakthrough came when it added a marker gene to the skin cells, which showed up in the converted stem cells and heart cells. This result also suggests PPL will be able to produce genetically modified stem cells, which may reduce the risk of rejection. The next step will be to repeat the process in humans and the company's initial target for stem cell research is the treatment of diabetes. Dr Ron James, PPL’s managing director, said: ‘The results of this experiment give us confidence that the method we are developing as a source of stem cells is working, and I believe it will be equally applicable to humans.’ Some pundits have argued that stem cell research could be a very important source of new medical treatments, but it’s still early days. There’s more information about stem cells in a Citywire research report on ReNeuron (REN) (Is ReNeuron right for you?), published on February 4. ©2001 citywire.co.uk