Abingworth, the UK biotechnology venture investor, has led the £13.2m (€21.4m) second round of investment in Phoqus, the UK drug delivery company.

Other new investors include Abbey National Treasury Services, the investment banking arm of Abbey National and the Wellcome Trust, the charitable trust. Previous investors Advent Venture Partners, the technology venture capital firm who led the first investment round, and 3i,the global venture capital company, also committed to the second round. Phoqus is developing an oral drug delivery technology for the coating and loading of active drug compounds onto the surface of tablets. David Leathers of Abingworth said: &quotWith 90% of the $350 billion per year of sales in pharmaceuticals coming from oral products, the market opportunity for Phoqus' technology is significant.&quot