CAT Announces Plans to Move
Cambridge Antibody Tech Group PLC
2 October 2000
For Further Information Contact:
Cambridge Antibody Technology
Tel: +44 (0) 1763 263233
John Aston, Finance Director
Rowena Gardner, Communications Manager
HCC De Facto (Europe)
Tel: +44 (0) 20 7496 3300
Nikul Odedra (trade)
Sue Charles (city/financial)
Granta Park Limited
Tel: +44 (0) 1223 893710
Roger Quince, Managing Director
BMC Communications/The Trout Group (USA)
Tel: 001 212 477 9007
Brad Miles, ext 17 (media)
Jonathan Fassberg, ext.16 (investors)
CAMBRIDGE ANTIBODY TECHNOLOGY ANNOUNCES PLANS TO MOVE TO GRANTA PARK
Melbourn UK Cambridge Antibody Technology (LSE: CAT) announces plans to move
its operations to Granta Park, South Cambridgeshire and has signed an
agreement with Granta Park Limited, a subsidiary of MEPC, to lease new
purpose-built laboratories and offices totalling approximately 85,000 sq. ft.,
with an option for further space.
The move will be phased over approximately two years, with the first of CAT's
180 employees relocating to Granta Park in the first part of 2001. Granta Park
Limited is making a financial contribution to CAT towards the cost of fitting
out its buildings.
CAT currently occupies 46,000 sq. ft. of laboratory and office space in
Melbourn, South Cambridgeshire, having moved to Melbourn in May 1992.
Granta Park lies seven miles south of Cambridge city centre. It is a
purpose-built research park occupying an area of over 80 acres with outline
planning consent for 550,000 sq.ft. of buildings.
Dr. David Chiswell, CAT's CEO, comments: ' In our discussions with Granta Park
Limited, we have been impressed with their flexibility and the facility they
are developing. We are particularly pleased that the planned move to Granta
Park will allow us to consolidate our expanding operations on one site.'
Roger Quince, MD of Granta Park, comments: 'We are delighted that CAT is
moving to Granta Park. CAT has been outstandingly successful and we are proud
to be assisting in the next stage of its development.'
Notes to Editors:
Cambridge Antibody Technology (LSE:CAT)
CAT is a UK biotechnology company using its proprietary technologies in fully
human monoclonal antibodies for drug discovery and drug development. Based in
Melbourn, 10 miles south of Cambridge, England, CAT currently employs around
180 people.
CAT is listed on the London Stock Exchange, having raised £41m in its IPO in
March 1997. A secondary offering in March 2000 raised £93m.
CAT has a world-leading platform technology for rapidly isolating fully human
monoclonal antibodies using phage display systems. CAT has an extensive phage
display antibody library, currently incorporating around 100 billion distinct
antibodies. This library forms the basis for the company's strategy to develop
a portfolio of clinical development programmes and for discovering new drug
leads using functional genomics. Four fully human therapeutic antibodies
developed by CAT are at various stages of clinical trials.
CAT has a number of license and collaborative agreements in place with
pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies including: AstraZeneca, BASF
Pharma, Eli Lilly, Genentech, Genetics Institute, Genzyme, Human Genome
Sciences, ICOS Corporation, Oxford GlycoSciences, Pharmacia, Pfizer,
Wyeth-Ayerst.
Granta Park Limited
Granta Park Limited is a joint venture between TWI and MEPC plc, one of the
UK's largest and most experienced investors and developers of commercial
property.
Companies already based on Granta Park include Chiroscience, Ribotargets,
Cambridge Drug Discovery and TWI.