3i takes stake in vampire bat drug

VENTURE capitalists at 3i have gone quite batty. The firm is among a number of investors that have put £6.5m into Paion, a company developing a drug based on vampire bat saliva.

The German outfit is working on a drug, Desmoteplase, a genetically engineered version of an enzyme in bat spit.

The enzyme prevents the blood of the bat's victims - normally horses and cows rather than defenceless maidens - from clotting when the vampire tucks in.

The hope is that the drug can dissolve blood clots that lead to strokes or heart attacks.

Desmoteplase will not be available for patients before at least 2007.

The company, which is considering a stock market float, is also developing drugs based on the blood-sucking assassin bug's saliva.

3i, whose Erich Schlick sits on Paion's board, has the largest stake after the founders.