Biotech cash crunch threatens new medicines: UK expert

LONDON (Reuters) - The global credit crunch, which has already pushed some small biotechnology companies to the wall, could seriously delay the discovery of new life-saving medicines, a British expert warned on Monday.

David Wield, director of the Economic and Social Research Council's Edinburgh-based Innogen Center, said the cash crisis now looming for many firms had wider implications for society.

"Drug discovery depends on long-term finance with high risk of failure -- and lots of it," he said in remarks prepared for a conference in London.

"What will happen to investment in biotech research if finance cannot even be found for relatively everyday expenses, which are increasingly becoming more of a struggle?"

Many biotech companies are desperate to find new funds as investors shun the notoriously risky sector, leading to severe financial problems on both sides of the Atlantic.

In addition to the impact on the basic research performed at biotech companies, development of drugs by large pharmaceutical firms has also been hit by the credit crunch, with several having laid off staff or closed research units, Wield said.

(Reporting by Ben Hirschler; Editing by Victoria Main)