THE Binding Site, a bioscience firm based in King’s Heath, has seen its turnover increase 26 per cent in the past year as the demand for its cancer diagnosis technology grows.
Revenues are expected to have risen to £38.9 million when the company publishes its full annual report in December.
The business has been buoyed by strong demand for Freelite, which is used for assessment and monitoring of multiple myeloma, a cancer of cells in the bone marrow.
Sales of Freelite alone are up by 52 per cent in the year ending September 2008, and chief executive Paul Duncan believes that this positive growth will continue.
“This has been an excellent year for The Binding Site,” he said.
“Freelite continues to gain market recognition, with more than 100 scientific publications appearing in the last 12 months. With current sales of Freelite at over £12 million a year and an anticipated continued annual growth rate of more than 50 per cent for the next few years, the prospects for this novel product are now firmly established.
“In addition, we are investing heavily in our pipeline to further drive future performance and deliver long-term growth,” Mr Duncan said. “We expect the company’s current strong performance to continue into 2009 and are confident that the product portfolio will continue to deliver exceptional results.”
The medical research company was founded in 1983 by researchers at Birmingham University to develop innovative ways of producing antibodies. It has more than 430 employees in the UK - 320 of them in Birmingham - and offices throughout Europe and in the States.
In October last year the company won the Queen’s Award for Enterprise, and a month later was named winner of The Birmingham Post Business Award.
