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British Biotech, one of the leading UK biotechnology companies, last week sacked its director of clinical research for allegedly passing confidential information to two of the company's investors.

Andrew Millar was dismissed for allegedly disclosing doubts about the company's commercial strategy and the status of trials of its flagship drugs, zacutex for pancreatitis, and marimastat for cancer.

But the sacking did little to reassure analysts that the troubled company was about to turn the corner. The company's stock market value has plummeted from £1.9 billion (US$3.2 billion) last year to £372 million last week following a series of internal controversies, including a delay in reporting interim results of drugs trials.

British Biotech is also being investigated by the US Securities and Exchange Commission over the accuracy of press statements about marimastat. Optimistic assessments of this drug led to large increases in the company's share price.

It has also emerged that two of the company's senior officials sold shares for a profit of around £1.2 million before the announcement of problems with batimastat, its previous lead cancer drug that was abandoned in 1995.

A senior fund manager at Perpetual, which holds 8 per cent of British Biotech shares, is reported to have said that Millar was concerned that “the status of the trials was completely at odds with the [company's] grand strategy”.