TechMARK movers: ProStrakan cuts loss

Pharmaceutical company ProStrakan reported a 41% increase in revenues to £79m and a reduced loss in 2009. The pre-tax loss fell from £25.2m to £15m. Net debt was £17.5m at the end of 2009. There are two US approvals pending in the first half of 2010. They are pain relief treatments for cancer patients (Abstral) and chronic anal fissures (Rectogesic)Fellow pharma company Vectura has fallen on the back of its agreement to take full control of the US development of asthma treatment VR315. Vectura says that this drug will form the cornerstone of its new US operations. Sandoz will continue to be responsible for development, manufacture and commercialisation of the product in Europe. Sandz has paid $8m in milestones and is due to pay a further $9.5m in the second quarter of 2010. There could be further payments. Sandoz will also provide a loan facility of up to $25m to help finance commercialisation of VR315 in the US. FTSE TechMARK - RisersCML Microsystems (CML) 56.50p +7.62%Morse (MOR) 40.00p +3.23%ProStrakan (PSK) 105.25p +2.68%Xaar (XAR) 84.50p +2.42%Dialight (DIA) 255.00p +2.00%Oxford Instruments (OXIG) 258.00p +1.98%Psion (PON) 89.00p +1.71%Renovo Group (RNVO) 27.00p +0.93%Corin Group (CRG) 63.00p +0.80%Vernalis (VER) 75.50p +0.67%FTSE TechMARK - FallersVectura Group (VEC) 52.75p -16.93%Gresham Computing (GHT) 18.25p -6.41%Ark Therapeutics (AKT) 12.00p -5.88%Skyepharma (SKP) 56.00p -4.27%Biocompatibles International (BII) 235.00p -3.29%Oxford Biomedica (OXB) 10.00p -2.44%Phytopharm (PYM) 11.00p -2.22%Kofax (KFX) 219.00p -2.12%Emblaze (BLZ) 46.50p -1.06%NCC Group (NCC) 380.00p -0.91%