Dolly the Sheep died in 2003

The firm had been hoping to delist its shares with ownership switching to its executive directors.

But lack of support from a key shareholder scuppered the plan. The firm said it was "almost certain" to go into voluntary liquidation.

PPL helped to clone Dolly the Sheep - the first successful clone of an adult mammal - in 1997. She died in 2003.

Downward spiral

As well as helping to clone Dolly, in 2002 the firm said it managed to clone pigs capable of providing organs for humans.

But PPL has subsequently sold off or closed the parts of its business that worked on cloning.

The firm suffered a major setback in June last year when German firm Bayer pulled out of plans to develop a new drug to treat lung disease.

PPL put itself up for sale last September after shareholders rejected a plan to restructure the business around the development of a surgical glue.