Twenty-two leaders from the British biotech sector pleaded for a government bailout yesterday (Dec. 4) to save the industry's "survival and future viability" in the face of the global financial crisis.

The dossier sent to the UK government called for two funds, each worth over £500 ($730) million. One would help smaller companies consolidate, with grants between £10 ($14.6) to £40 ($58) million; the other would give biotechs up to £100 ($146) million to fund acquisitions and clinical trials. Under the proposal, the private sector would pony up half the money, with the public picking up the rest of the tab.

"If the government does not do something soon a host of companies will fail," said Christopher Evans, the founder of the medical sciences investment house Excalibur who led the petition, according to the Times.


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