Octopus Asset Management launches BioScience VCT

28 January 2002

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BioScience VCT plc was launched at the end of 2001. 20m shares were issued, at a price of 100p per share (shares were priced at 98p per share until 31 December 2001). The minimum subscription per application is 3,000 shares with a minimum net asset value per share of 95p. Investors can choose to subscribe in the 2001/2002 tax year or the 2002/2003 tax year; offers for the former have to be received by 5 April 2002 and for the latter by 12 April 2002. Octopus Asset Management, the appointed investment manager to the fund, will receive an annual fee of 1.25% of net assets plus VAT, a fixed administration fee, to cover administrative expenses, of Â£20,000 per annum plus VAT and a performance fee. Medical Marketing International (MMI), the appointed technology adviser to the fund, will receive an annual fee of 1.25% of net assets plus VAT and a performance fee. Total running costs are expected to be no more than 3.35% of net assets. The performance fee is a 20% carry (10% each to Octopus and MMI) of the interest earned, payable after a hurdle of 7% per annum compound averaged over at least the first five accounting periods after admission. The offer is sponsored by Brewin Dolphin Securities.

Investments

BioScience VCT will be invested in a diversified portfolio of up to 20-30 quoted and unquoted companies with a breakdown as follows: 45% listed companies (20% quoted investments in the UK and overseas, 25% companies traded on AIM or Ofex); 55% unlisted companies (30% late-stage unquoted companies in the UK, 25% unquoted emerging companies in the UK). Four identified areas of investment are: areas of unmet medical need, drug delivery technology, biopharmaceuticals and enabling technologies.

People

Ultimate responsibility for investment decisions rests with the board of BioScience VCT, which is chaired by Dr Paul Nicholson, ex senior vice president of world-wide development at SmithKline Beecham. The four other members of the board are: Mark Andrews, head of the Cambridge Corporate Centre for the RBS, Charles Breese, a director of Octopus Asset Management, John Hustler, a director of MMI, and professor Alex Markham, professor of medicine at the University of Leeds.