Pre-tax losses at gene therapy company Oxford Biomedica grew to 5m last year, from 4.2m the previous year.

But turnover rose from £400,000 to £700,000. On December 31, the Oxford University spin-off company had £11.6m cash in the bank, nearly four times more than a year ago.

Biomedica recently sold the rights to one of its cancer treatments for 16m to drugs group American Home Products, which will develop and market an antibody developed at Oxford Science Park.

Last year, the company reported first clinical results for its anti-cancer product MetXia and won approval for its cancer vaccine TroVax, which encourages the body's immune system to fight tumours.

Biomedica expanded its work in the genomics field through its gene discovery division, established in August, which has found genes linked to diseases such as cancer, heart disease and inflammation.

Chairman Dr Peter Johnson said: "We are pleased with the position we have reached so far. We have ten commercial collaborations, three clinical trials in progress and a pipeline of new opportunities."

The AHP antibody was developed in parallel with the TroVax product and targets the same tumour antigen. But it is unlikely to be a competitor for TroVax because AHP focuses on cancer treatments rather than vaccines.

AHP division Wyeth-Ayerst Laboratories will pay the costs of development, clinical research, marketing and manufacturing any products developed from the research.

The deal could be worth £16m for Biomedica.