Shares in Abcam were healthier on Wednesday after an industry research group talked up its prospects and a director bought shares in the biotechnology firm worth about £50,000.

The stock had risen 22.5p or 6.4% to 373p by 15:00 in London as independent antibody search engine CiteAb said latest data showed that weaker-than-expected earnings unveiled by Abcam at the start of March were a temporary blip.

Shares in Cambridge-based Abcam, which supplies antibodies and re-agents, have dropped about 27% since it said last month that it remained cautious about US medical research funding and had faced some business disruption due to a re-organisation in China.

But CiteAb said its data showed that Abcam's share of the research antibody market had grown steadily and significantly in the last five years.

It added that China was a key research antibody growth market and Abcam was making good progress in improving its Chinese market share.

CiteAb's Dr Andrew Chalmers said: "Overall, it would certainly seem too soon to write off Abcam. This is a company going through significant change and making large investments, but all in areas where experts predict growth."

Meanwhile, Abcam said non-executive director Louise Patten had bought 13,617 shares at 367p per share, giving her a stake of about 0.01%.

On Monday, broker Canaccord Genuity downgraded its earnings estimates for Abcam in 2014 and 2015, citing the group's increased investment. But it upgraded the company to 'hold', adding: "The long-term outlook for Abcam remains intact."

PW

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