CyGenics eyes expansion into lucrative foreign markets 8/09/2006...

CyGenics eyes expansion into lucrative foreign markets


8/09/2006 - Melbourne-based biotechnology company CyGenics Ltd, which stores human umbilical cord blood, is gearing up for an expansion which will take the company's business to the other side of the world.

The company on Thursday revealed plans to expand beyond its present reach of south-east Asia and into markets with significant population bases and higher disposable incomes, such as China, Europe and the United Kingdom.

CyGenics says the global push is part of a long-term plan, with the company having already created a preparatory Shanghai-based subsidiary back in 2003.

Chief executive Steven Fang said CyGenics had enjoyed strong recent growth and was now in a position to explore a range of new opportunities.

"Our technologies are at the stage of offering potential out-licensing value and our primary focus is now on the expansion of our global tissue and cord blood banking businesses into lucrative markets," Fang said.

CyGenics client base now stands at more than 6,000, a rise of 73 per cent during the past financial year.

Fang said the company will no longer make further expenditure on its technologies, which will now be out-licensed to new partners.

"This strategy will ensure CyGenics is on a sure footing towards profitability and maximising shareholder value," he said.

Some of the technologies being licensed out include stem cell expansion and T-cell production.

Last week the company announced it had divested its non-tissue banking subsidiary, Cell Sciences, in exchange for a 20 per cent stake in Malaysian biopharmaceutical manufacturer, DNAPro Sdn Bhd.

http://www.industrysearch.com.au/news/viewrecord.aspx?id=21793