U.K. technology firm goes private

The British government has submitted legislation to Parliamentthat would privatize the British Technology Group. No significantchanges are expected in the firm's patent licensing business,said Derek Schafer, president and CEO of BTG (USA) of Gulph Mills,PA. But BTG should have improved access to capital sources asa private company, he said.

BTG began licensing basic magnetic resonance imaging technologydeveloped and patented by British inventors four years ago (SCAN7/22/87). It has signed MRI licensing deals with Johnson &Johnson, GE Medical Systems, Toshiba, Hitachi, Siemens and Shimadzu.

The technology transfer specialist has a worldwide portfolioof about 8000 patents in a range of technological fields. BTGpurchased exclusive rights to all of Johnson & Johnson's non-MRImedical imaging patents in 1988 and signed its first licensesof this technology last year. The licensees are ADAC Laboratoriesin nuclear medicine and Universal Sonics in ultrasound (SCAN 10/4/90).

"We have been running an international commercial businessfor a long time. The (British) government has introduced legislationthat will move us to the next logical step. Privatization willallow us to grow the business and give us access to capital marketsin a conventional way," Schafer said.

Although many of its patents come from British universities,BTG has not had special access to patents as a government company.Privatization, therefore, should not turn off the tap for anyinventions, he said.

"We offer a service, and they (patent holders) come tous if they believe the service we offers justifies it," Schafersaid.

BRIEFLY NOTED:

• Cytocare, the holding company for lithotripter manufacturerMedstone, plans to form a new health-care subsidiary targetingproprietary (and undisclosed) cardiology products. The Irvine,CA, company hired Howard Cooper to head up the still unnamedventure. Cooper is former president and CEO of laser angioplastyfirm Trimedyne.

Cytocare is diversifying out of the sluggish lithotripsy market.The firm signed an agreement last month with the San Diego RegionalCancer Center for the joint development of human monoclonal antibodiesfor use in diagnosis and treatment of urologic disease. Initialapplications of the agents will target prostate carcinoma andbenign prostatic hypertrophy.

• Kodak's Japanese medical joint venture, Kodak Japan, absorbedthe entire sales force of its Kodak Medical subsidiary in January,according to Kristine S. Kappel, coordinator of internationalnews for Eastman Kodak in Rochester, NY. The move was taken inorder to reduce administrative costs and improve sales flexibilityand customer service, she said.

Kodak Japan, formerly Kodak Nagase K.K., was formed by theU.S. film vendor and Nagase & Co., its Japanese distributor,in 1986. Kodak holds a 51% stake in the joint venture. The nameof this venture was changed last year. Kodak Medical was originallyToyo Roentgen, a medical film sales unit of Nagase formed in 1965,Kappel said.