Jan. 26 (Bloomberg) -- Antisoma Plc, the U.K. company developing tumor-fighting drugs with Novartis AG, will announce a distribution deal for its Fludarabine leukemia treatment by the end of June, Chief Executive Officer Glyn Edwards said.

Income from selling the U.S. rights to the oral leukemia medicine, as well as cash of 66.9 million pounds ($91 million) at the end of June, will allow Antisoma to be “completely independent of the capital markets” through 2011, the CEO said in an interview in London.

Antisoma chose to boost cash reserves rather than attempting to market Fludarabine alone as the global financial crisis limits access to new capital, Edwards said. The pill allows doctors to avoid treating the disease with intravenous infusions and is already used in France and the U.K.

“The biotech industry is separating into ‘haves’ and ‘have nots,’” he said. “There is a lot of value being destroyed.”

The company may have a third drug in phase III clinical trials by the end of the year, Edwards added. Early phase II trials of AS1411 showed the acute myeloid leukemia treatment has led to the complete disappearance of the disease in 16 percent of patients, he said. Antisoma currently has two drugs in phase II trials and two in phase III.

Antisoma fell 0.9 percent to 26.75 pence in London, giving the company a market value of 164.2 million pounds. The shares had gained 15 percent this month before today.

To contact the reporter on this story: Kari Lundgren in London at klundgren2@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: January 26, 2009 12:02 EST