Marc Van Montagu, Europe's founding father of genetically modified crops and a powerful advocate for their acceptance in Europe, speaks to Science|Business News Editor Thomas Lau.

Micromet AG, a spin-off from the Institute for Immunology at Munich University, said it has agreed to grant four licenses of its single chain antibody technology to Abbott Laboratories, Alligator Bioscience AB, Haptogen Ltd. and an unnamed biopharmaceutical company, for the development of cancer treatments.

Lipoxen Plc, a drug spin-out company from the University of London's School of Pharmacy, said it has raised £3.78 million from a placing of 28 million shares for hiring news staff for preclinical trials to treat diabetes, Pneumococcal infections, and hepatitis C.