LEIDEN, 29/08/06 - Leiden-based biopharmaceutical company OctoPlus wants a listing on the Euronext bourse in Amsterdam. Investment banks including Cowen & Co., Fortis Bank and Kempen & Co are managing the flotation.

The company declined to specify the amount it plans to raise yesterday. According to a spokeswoman, it is aiming to have a bourse listing by around the end of this year. The funding is needed for the development of its product portfolio.

OctoPlus specialises in improving pharmaceutical products via applications of its own technology. In essence, this is a technology for administering drugs under the skin via polymers that break down slowly. Additionally, OctoPlus earns money from supplying assistance to pharmaceutical and biotechnological companies for product development. OctoPlus was set up in 1995 and has about 130 staff.

The biopharmaceutical company has five products in development, of which one is in phase 2, in which medicines are tested for durability. This involves the improvement of interferon-alpha, an existing drug for treating Hepatitis C. "This drug currently has to be administered every week and has many side-effects. With our applications, administration is only once every two weeks and the side-effects are much reduced," according to a spokeswoman.