Co-founder of Alizyme steps down

ONE of the co-founders of biotech group Alizyme, Trevor Jarman, has resigned as a director in order to 'pursue other business interests'.

His resignation follows the group's decision to drop research into a diabetes treatment. It now has four drugs in development, including treatments for obesity and irritable bowel syndrome, with £15.3m in cash to fund research and development until 2003.

The group is still seeking pharmaceuticals partners to help develop its drugs, with a treatment for ulcerative colitis the most likely to gain regulatory approval first.

The potential moneyspinner for Alizyme will be its drug to block fat creation in overweight people. Early trials of its ATL-962 drug have shown it appears to have less unpleasant side effects than those of the drug marketed by Roche of Switzerland.

Alizyme losses were £6.6m in the year to last December against £5.6m the year before.