Cash in, cash out at Peptech

Peptech (ASX:PTD) has declared a fully-franked dividend of AUD$0.08 per share, and announced that its UK-investee Domantis is to join a European Commission cardiovascular research project which will receive Euro 9 million (AUD$15.2 million) in funding over four years.

Peptech paid the dividend out of its $66 million in cash reserves, boosted recently by the settlement of its patent dispute with Abbott and Centocor. It received a knock-back from the Australian Taxation Office in relation to the capital reduction.

"We will be in a tax paying position this year, enabling the dividend to be fully franked," said Peptech director Martin Kriewaldt.

Domantis will use its domain antibody technology -- a successor to monoclonal antibody technology -- to identify genetic markers associated with a high risk of heart disease and to develop domain antibody diagnostics and therapeutics for these targets. Domantis will retain exclusive commercial rights to these domain antibodies, as well as an option to license novel targets. Fourteen research groups are involved in the project, which is known as 'Bloodomics'.