Alltracel, a Dublin-based pharmaceutical company that plans to float on the Nasdaq this year, said yesterday it had secured the patent for a new cancer stabilisation treatment. The company said it intended to negotiate revenues with at least one major pharmaceutical company currently working in the field of ovarian, bladder, small-cell lung carcinoma, head and neck cancers.

The company's chief executive, Mr Gerard Brandon, said last night Alltracel had recently carried out a private placement, raising £600,000 (€762,000) that valued the firm at just below £20 million (€25.4 million). The company plans a Nasdaq flotation by the end of the year, he added, and was also considering a subsequent listing on the Irish Stock Exchange. Currently, 60 per cent of Alltracel is owned by its management team.