Sunday, May 1st 2005

Oxitec has been selected as one of only eleven small businesses to share more than 2.2 million pounds in funding through the BBSRC’s Small Business Research Initiative. The Oxitec grant will enable the Company to investigate methods of increasing the stability of genetically modified organisms. This is Oxitec’s second award under this scheme.

The initiative, now in its fourth year, is designed to boost the research and development capabilities of small to medium businesses in the UK’s highly competitive biotechnology sector.

Dr Doug Yarrow, BBSRC Director of Corporate Science, said, “The UK biotechnology sector is second in the world to only the USA. Schemes such as the Small Business Research Initiative help small and medium size companies to enhance their research capacity and hence international competitiveness”.