Silence Therapeutics executive chairman Iain Ross is fired up, and possibly has good reason to be so with a big deal in the offing. "We’re talking to five big pharma companies at the moment," Dr Ross told Investors Chronicle.
But he reacts angrily when we ask whether there will be a deal announced soon."I’m not in the business of putting timelines on deals with big pharma," he says. Later he adds: "What I can tell you is that we have been in discussions with a number [of pharmaceuticals] for some months and I’m very confident of announcing a deal over the next few months."
The gene therapy specialist has announced that it was granted a patent in the US for its lead gene silencing 'siRNA' technology. Mr Ross says this is another step in showing that it is one of the two 'big' players in the field. But his statements are belied by Silence Therapeutics' current market capitalisation of a little more than £17m.
Another announcement he is confident of making sooner, rather than later, is that its lead product is moving into the clinic, to be tested on humans, this being "another validation of our product" for big pharma.
The company has enough cash for another 12 months, Mr Ross says, and when I raise the question of the previous chief executive, Jeff Vick, who left for "personal reasons" in the summer, he tells me: "All you need to know is that prior to Jeffrey, I was running the company, and now that situation remains."
