Two Oxford bioscience experts, who clashed over the prospects for a possible new cancer drug, will appear on the BBC2 television series Blood on the Carpet tonight at 9.50pm, writes Maggie Hartford.
Dr Andy Millar, 45, was sacked from his top job at British Biotech after he went to one of its leading shareholders, Perpetual, to raise concerns about drugs trials. He accused British Biotech of misleading the market about the prospects of its drugs research.
He claims he was ostracised by the biotech industry and only found work by acting as a consultant.
The man who sacked him, British Biotech's chief executive Keith McCullagh, saw his company's share price plummet. The company paid Dr Millar an undisclosed sum believed to be about 200,000 to settle his counter-claim for unfair dismissal and libel.
The anti-pancreatitis drug Zacutex, which Dr Millar had asked to be reviewed, was dropped, most of the directors have been replaced including Mr McCullagh. The company axed more than 100 jobs.
Dr Millar is now chief executive of Oxford University spin-off company Oxford Gene Technology. He believes biotech companies should tell the truth about the prospects of their discoveries and concentrate on producing worthwhile results rather than placating investors.
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