UK biotech firm Aptamer to float valued at £80.7m

York-based company makes synthetic antibodies for pharmaceutical firms including AstraZeneca

A British biotechnology firm that supplies big pharmaceutical firms with synthetic antibodies for targeted delivery of drugs will float in London this week valued at 80.7m - giving its two founders a combined paper fortune of more than 33m.

Aptamer Group was founded in 2008 by Dr Arron Tolley, 44, an early school leaver who later completed a doctorate in biophysics and molecular biology, and Dr David Bunka, a geneticist. Today, the York-based company has partnerships with the vast majority of the world's top 20 pharmaceutical firms, including Britain's biggest drugmaker, AstraZeneca, and Japan's Takeda.