Bioglan Pharma said yesterday it had cut a deal with SkyePharma, US firm Quintiles and its banks that would give it short-term funding and resolve the marketing of a contested skin product.

Analysts, however, remained sceptical on the firm's long-term prospects. The debt-laden British biotech firm said it was still in talks with prospective buyers, but that an offer for the whole firm was unlikely to cover its existing debts. "This suggests there isn't much value left in the business," said Ms Emma Palmer, analyst at West LB Panmure. Bioglan's debts soared during a failed attempt to buy the skincare products of US drugs giant Bristol-Myers Squibb as it bolstered its business in an attempt to market drugs that, in the end, it never managed to acquire.