Liquidity is a holy grail for the companies that make up the long tail of Aim. Among the more exotic newcomers is Phynova, which is endeavouring to build a business by using the traditions of Chinese medicine as a jumping-off point to develop prescription drugs.

When Phynova came to the junior market a little over two years ago, it raised about £2m through a placing at 60p a share. Initial enthusiasm took the shares above 120p. Market capitalisation was about £13m but the board was optimistic that the shares could be worth 10 times that in a few years.