Biotech company Meldex International plc, which is based on the Cambridge Science Park , has gone into administration after reporting heavy losses. The administrators are selling the former AIM-listed company's main trading subsidiary BioProgress Technology as a going concern and its business is unaffected. BioProgress Technology is involved in research and development of non-gelatin edible films for the pharmaceutical, healthcare and recreational industries.
Chris McKay of Cambridge business rescue and insolvency specialists McTear Williams & Wood, joint administrator, said: “The company's recent past has not been pretty. Its last reported accounts showed losses of £74million, caused largely by write-offs of bad investments made by the previous directors.”
Meldex International plc (then called BioProgress plc) floated on AIM in 2003 with a market capitalisation of c. £16million and reached a high of £150million. However, after a series of disastrous investments, a new management team was bought in January 2009 to try and turn around the fortunes of the company. Having restructured the business, new funds were introduced from existing shareholders and creditors in September 2009.
