LONDON - The recent downturn in the market forced Cambridge Antibody Technology Group plc (CAT) to scale back its current fund raising, from #100 million (US$159.4 million) to #90 million before expenses.

The price for the open offer and international offering was set on Monday at #18.50. The shares closed at #20.37 on Friday.

The company, based in Melbourn, Cambridgeshire, said it had taken into account "current market conditions, the demand for new ordinary shares in the offers, and the desire to create a strong after market," in deciding to reduce the amount to be raised.

CAT announced the fund raising March 7, the week after it unveiled a 10-year agreement with Human Genome Sciences Inc. (HGS), of Rockville, Md., to develop and sell antibody therapeutics based on genomics targets discovered by HGS. In the week the deal was announced CAT shares soared 112 percent, closing at #38.75 on March 3. The price rose by a further 21 percent when the fund-raising was announced, to #50.57, but has been falling steadily since then.