Johnson Matthey will own 40% of the new company, Anormed Inc ("Anormed"), which will be based in British Columbia, Canada. In return for this shareholding, Johnson Matthey will contribute a series of medium to longer term research projects currently under way at its own research facilities, including its anti-viral compound. The rest of the shares in Anormed will be owned by a number of institutional and private investors (55%) and management (5%) who will together be investing some US$14m in the joint venture.

Johnson Matthey will retain ownership of all its existing products including its rights to carboplatin, cisplatin, and JM216 - the oral anti-cancer drug currently well advanced in clinical trials. It will also retain all its bulk manufacturing activities which make a range of generic drugs such as fentanyl, methylphenidate and other controlled substances.

Drs Mike Cleare and Forrest Sheffy of Johnson Matthey will join the board of Anormed. Commenting on the transaction Mike Cleare, Johnson Matthey's main board director with responsibility for this business said:

"This is an important strategic move for Johnson Matthey's biomedical activities. It will increase the resources available for research into a number of promising areas whilst allowing JM to focus on the continuing development of its existing portfolio of biomedical products.