Biotech company Oxford Biomedica wants to raise £37m to fund the development of its genetic treatments for cancer and other diseases.

The company is also moving from the Alternative Investment Market to London's main stock market.

Most of the share issue has been underwritten by bankers - a boost for the biotechnology sector, which has been hit by the recent downturn in high-technology stocks.

Oxford Biomedica, based at Oxford Science Park, has had a good response from investors and is raising £10m of the money through an open share issue which is not being underwritten.

Its shares have more doubled since floating five years ago, with the company valued at about £122m.

The company says £12m will go into research, £6m will be used for clinical trials and £9m to fund the opening of a US office.

Founded in 1995, the company was a spin-off of the laboratory of Professor Alan and Sue Kingsman at Oxford University. Prof Kingsman is still the company's chief executive while his wife is research director.

He said: "Biomedica's move to the main market has been a long-held ambition for us and we are pleased to have achieved this goal.

"Simultaneously, we have raised a substantial sum for the development of the company with respect to its product pipeline, intellectual property and international presence. We believe that we have had a very positive endorsement from investors, reflecting Bio- medica's's growing standing in the biotech sector and its long-term potential."