Finland's FIT Biotech acquires holding in Estonia's OU Quattromed

September 23 2002, Estonian Investment agency

TALLINN, Sep 23, BNS - The Finnish biotechnology firm FIT Biotech Plc acquired on Monday a 22.4 percent holding in the Estonian biotechnology firm OU Quattromed; in the next few years FIT Biotech may raise its holding to 100 percent. Quattromed said the firms will launch wide-based cooperation with the aim of strengthening the firms' market positions in the medical biotechnology sphere.

FIT Biotech Plc acquired on Monday 22.4 percent of Quattromed's equity, and by the same deal gained the pre-emptive right of financing projects launched by Quattromed until the end of 2006 and would thus increase its holding to 100 percent. FIT Biotech has been operating its product development partly from Tartu already since last January and FIT Biotech President Pekka Sillanaukee said the deal the public was informed about on Monday was part of FIT Biotech's long-term strategy aimed at creating a gene technology, molecular biology, immunology and virology expert center that would be able to serve FIT Biotech in the development of technologically complicated vaccines and gene therapy products as well as to carry out subcontracting work in that sphere.

Quattromed managing director Erki Molder said this was the first case where a strategic partner had acquired a holding in an Estonian biotechnology firm.

FIT Biotech Plc is a world-wide medical biotechnology firm specializing in the development and sale of DNA vaccines and diagnostics products.

OU Quattromed is a so-called spinoff company established in Tartu in 1999 and separated from Tartu University. The company with 22 employees was set up by four persons connected with Tartu University and Eesti Biokeskus (Estonian Biocenter).

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