Cat allergy flop torpedoes high-profile UK biotech Circassia

Circassia Pharmaceuticals lost nearly two-thirds of its value on Monday as its experimental cat allergy treatment failed in a late-stage trial, dealing a major blow to the high-profile British biotech company. Circassia listed on the London stock market in March 2014 in Britain's largest biotech flotation for decades and last year it expanded by buying two companies focused on asthma. Its two biggest shareholders are Invesco and Neil Woodford, both longstanding backers of UK life science.