Business consultancy Beaufort has signed a deal with drug discovery play Inpharmatica that is expected to earn it 'ongoing revenues' of up to £500,000 a year. Under the terms of the IT systems development deal, Beaufort's Enterprise Solutions arm is developing the user interface for Inpharmatica's Java and Oracle-based Biopendium product. Biopendium is used by leading pharmaceutical companies to prioritise drug targets. CEO Harry Cowan explains: 'The deal emphasises how far Beaufort is progressing in consultancy to the pharmaceutical sector.' Restructured and re-named Beaufort International, the company late last year reported a move back into profit at the half-year stage to September. Pre-tax profits of £3,000 (£819,000 loss) included £493,000 from the sale of Techniques for Change and Beaufort Sports Consulting to its management. Sales were meanwhile lower at £2.5m (£3m). The company now intends to focus on its core consultancy and advisory activities, having put its Swedish and French businesses into liquidation. In January, Beaufort cheered investors with news of a deal to manage the launch of Copenhagen firm MadWaves's digital interactive music machine. Its still very much a very high risk stock though.

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