Russian Ban on Body Parts Exports Hits Drug Testing Firm

The Russian government has cited fears of bioterrorism for a sudden decision to ban the export of body parts and human tissues, a move that has hit the drug testing industry.

Shares in Asterand, which undertakes clinical trials for some of the world's biggest pharmaceutical groups, plummeted 22% yesterday, making it the biggest faller on the main London stock market.

Martyn Coombs, the Asterand chief executive in Britain, said: "Any company sourcing supplies from Russia is vulnerable to this kind of sudden change in regulations. To the extent that these exports affect supply of biological materials to Asterand, we will work on mitigating the impact of these restrictions and on contingency planning as a priority."

The Royston-based company, in Hertfordshire, says it uses a range of human blood samples, tissues and body parts so that it can test drugs for companies such as GlaxoSmithKline but was unwilling to reveal what percentage of its supplies came from Russia, admitting only that it was "significant".

One of the British staff members has been sent to Russia to gain a clearer understanding of the scale of new restrictions announced by the Russian customs service last Thursday. But Mr Coombs admitted there was a certain amount of "chaos" surrounding the issue over there.

The official explanation for the ban is that the exports could fall into the wrong hands and be used by terrorists, but Russian newspapers have speculated that there could be other issues involved.

These apparently range from internal departmental disputes to wider political rows currently raging between Russia and the west in the run-up to the G8 inter-governmental summit in Germany this week. There has even been suggestions the bioterrorism could come from western states against Russia.

Asterand says the extent of the restrictions and how long they will remain in place is unclear, therefore was unable to gauge the financial impact.

"Should these restrictions prevent the supply of biological materials to Asterand, and if these restrictions were to remain in place for the foreseeable future, the impact on the company's finances would be material," it said in a statement.

Asterand shares ended at 5.875p.