Ardana, the Scottish biotech which unexpectedly parted company with chief executive Dr Maureen Lindsay two days ago, has "arguably the richest pipeline of any UK biotech", successor Dr Huw Jones said yesterday.

Jones said the publication of data on the effectiveness of key product Teverlix, the testosterone suppressant, had stimulated "requests for information and partner- ship" from new potential partners. One potential licensing partner, meanwhile, was already "at a late stage of negotiations".

On Lindsay's departure, said to be for family reasons, he added: "Maureen has decided to step down. She is available and part of the company as an employee until the end of the year.

"I have been on the board for 15 months so it was not a shock transition, it is a question of getting to understand the more detailed elements of the business."

On the slump in Ardana's share price, much of it during the weeks preceding Lindsay's departure, finance director Graham Lee commented: "The medi-science index has been declining over the last period of this year. That is something where we want to buck the trend."

Concerns over the delay in finding a licensing partner for Teverlix had been cited as a possible reason for Lindsay's departure.

However, Jones insisted that the proving of an eight-week effectiveness period for Teverlix in its phase II results on prostate cancer treatment had followed "an enormous amount of work in Ardana", and paved the way for licensing.

The drug is also being tested on two other conditions, benign prostatic hyperplasia and endometriosis.

Jones said Teverlix acted as a "dimmer switch" for testosterone, enabling it to help men with even mild prostate problems, and it could also help women's reproductive health by reducing female hormones.

Ardana's growth hormone pill, meanwhile, has this year been granted orphan drug status by the US Food & Drug Administration, and a registration study for the diagnosis of growth hormone deficiency has begun.

Jones commented that to produce the first growth hormone tablet of its kind was "a huge advance in medicine".

Emselex, a treatment for overactive bladder syndrome, has been approved for use in NHS Scotland.

"The development programme will be managed and scheduled in line with available funds," the company said, adding that licensing deals and/or financing would be needed to support the programme as currently planned over the next 12 months.

The pre-tax loss for the six months to September 30 widened from £5.5m to £6.9m. Cash fell from £16.6m to £11m.

Lee commented: "It is important for us to fund our future programmes, we also have a very rich pipeline of products and we would like to do collaborative deals on other products. There are all sorts of things we can do to raise cash."

Simon Best, chairman, said: "The last six months have seen us make good progress across all aspects of Ardana's business." Concluding a major licensing deal "remains management's top priority".

The shares were unchanged at 68p.