Market Report: e-Therapeutics under the weather

AIM companies, e-Therapeutics fell 4.5p oe 17%

e-Therapeutics was under the weather on Monday (AFP/Getty)

Backing early-stage drug developers can be a slow and painful process – just ask star fund manager Neil Woodford, who is more exposed to riskier biotech stocks than most institutional investors.

One of his favourite AIM companies, e-Therapeutics – in which his fund has an 18 per cent stake, was under the weather on Monday. The shares fell 4.5p or 17 per cent to 21.5p after a phase 2b trial of its antidepressant was not as effective as previous testing rounds.

The company’s ETS6103 product, the more advanced of its two drugs in clinical trials (the other being a cancer treatment), was found to be inferior to amitriptyline, an existing treatment, in a study of 383 patients. The data will now be analysed further.

The FTSE 100 managed to build on Friday’s 3 per cent rally, climbing 116.68 points – a 2 per cent rise – to 5,824.28, Investors took their lead from Asia, where Japan’s Nikkei 225 shot up 7 per cent on hopes of more economic stimulus. (Wall Street was closed for Presidents’ Day.)

Hargreaves Lansdown was 46p firmer at 1,176p after Shore Capital delivered a glowing review of the fund supermarket, which it upgraded to buy. It said the recent sell-off “offers a rare opportunity to invest in ... one of the highest quality business models anywhere in the UK market”.

Aerospace and defence giant BAE Systems has hired Charles Woodburn as chief operating officer and heir apparent to chief executive Ian King, but it was a broker upgrade which got investors going. Shares in the group hovered 14.6p higher at 481.7p as Exane BNP Paribas boosted its rating to outperform, saying BAE’s “good defensive qualities” make it a safe bet in a turbulent market.

Finding fans was Fidessa, 214p or 12 per cent better off at 1,985p, as the trading software group confirmed its full-year dividend and said it planned to keep on rewarding shareholders with payouts even after flat annual profits.

Elsewhere, All Leisure Group plummeted 3.75p to 1.75p, losing two-thirds of its value as the cruise operator revealed little improvement in its financial performance last year and said it was considering scrapping its AIM listing.