Levrett PLC (LON:LVRT) Chief Executive Officer Pascal Hughes caught up with DirectorsTalk for an exclusive interview to discuss the appointment of Whitman Howard a broker, insights from the San Francisco biotech conference and a potential acquisition target
Q1: You announced the appointment of Whitman Howard as broker this morning, can you give us some background on that?
A1: Yes, well we were impressed with their fundraising work particularly on Faron Pharmaceuticals in late 2015 in what were pretty challenging market conditions generally so clearly they have shown their ability in this space. Secondly they’re showing us a number of opportunities in the biotech sector which we’re taking a closer look at the moment.
Q2: Now I know we talked at the time of listing about what areas you are interested in focusing on, has that changed at all in light of developments in the market this year and the insights you and the team gained at the San Francisco biotech conference?
A2: Well I think if anything we came away from the conference, which is essentially the ‘Davos’ of the biotech world in January every year in San Francisco and we came away from that conference, and indeed since then in the process of our continuing due diligence, we’re even more enthusiastic about the potential opportunities in front of us. Firstly because we actually focus on what is probably one of the most exciting areas to invest in right now and will be for some time to come regardless of the day to day gyrations of the broader markets which obviously have been pretty volatile since the start of the year. It’s clear that biotech innovation is still at the very early stages and people are saying that just as last century was the tech age this century will be the age of biotech. More specifically, in terms of the areas we have outlined at the previous interview we did, our focus is continuing to be on the areas of oncology, diabetes, obesity and mental health, these remain some of the major areas of innovation and ongoing patient need which continue to require step changes in the therapies and diagnostics currently available.
Q3: Good news. When can we expect to hear more from Levrett PLC on an acquisition announcement?
A3: Good question Giles, as I’m sure you’re aware we’re relatively limited in the specifics that I’m able to give you right now in terms of an announcement but I can say that we’re working very hard looking at several strong potential opportunities and hopefully our acquisition target will emerge from one of those in the near future.
