Become a Member

“This Tiny, Unknown Biotech is About to Unleash Its ‘Holy Grail’ Drug”

Biotech Supertrader teases that "This May be the Most Radical Advance in Medicine in the Last 100 Years"

By Travis Johnson, Stock Gumshoe, January 8, 2014

Robert Morris is helming a biotech-focused stock newsletter that’s called Biotech Supertrader (modesty has no place in the world of newsletter promotions, of course), and I’ve never covered this letter before so I thought I ought to have a look at the latest teaser we’ve been asked about.

Morris, incidentally, has been featured in our pages before — but that was back when he was editor of China Stock Insider at the same publisher. That letter, like almost all China-focused investment newsletters, seems to have disappeared quietly into that good night … which probably tells you that it’s time to invest in China again, since the newsletter publishers are ignoring the Middle Kingdom and rushing out their pitches about biotech and tech stocks. At the time, Morris was teasing NQ Mobile (NQ), which has turned out to be pretty good if you bought it down there in the $6-8 neighborhood (though it’s been a wild ride).

So now what’s he pitching for his Biotech Supertrader?

Well, the destruction of “Man’s deadliest disease”, of course. Here’s how the teaser gets our attention:

“This Tiny, Unknown Biotech is About to Unleash Its ‘Holy Grail’ Drug on Man’s Deadliest Disease

“Their ‘Guided Missile Approach’ Could Save Thousands of Lives Each Year

“It’s about to become the most talked about advancement in cancer treatment in our lifetimes and you can lock in a life-transforming fortune if you act quickly….

“I’m urging my subscribers to load up on this stock NOW….

“I’ve just uncovered a tiny, unknown biotechnology company with a new cancer drug in phase 3 clinical trials which is showing remarkable success at treating several types of cancer.

“Their scientists have found an innovative approach to cancer care which involves a breakthrough in treatment. It goes deep inside the inner workings of our cells.

“Plus, this medicine looks to be many times more effective and with fewer side effects than the chemo, radiation, and drug therapies currently available.”

If there’s one thing that investors know can make them rich and make them feel good about themselves and the world, it’s a cure for cancer — we’ve seen that effective cancer treatments can and do (occasionally) turn little biotech stocks into gigantic successes, so the dream lives on that you’re going to catch one of these lottery tickets and own the next Genentech. Will we be so lucky? Well, let’s see which one he’s pitching:

“When this drug wins FDA approval – which I believe it will – this small company’s $4.16 stock price will go straight to the moon.

“And the market for this drug is absolutely huge!

“You see, this small biotech is targeting its new drug, let’s call it ‘drug S’, at cancers of the blood and bone marrow. And it is already in very promising phase 3 trials for these two types of cancer.

“But here’s where it gets really interesting. It looks like the drug this company is developing will also work on other types of cancer!

“There are positive signs it works on Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC) too. There are 1.1 million people with this type of malignancy. Just in the United States alone there are over 300,000 patients with this disease according to The American Cancer Society. Each desperate for a cure.

“Plus it looks like ‘drug S’ may turn out to be an effective treatment for ovarian Cancer. There are more than 204,000 new cases of ovarian cancer diagnosed worldwide each year with 22,280 of these in the United States according to the National Cancer Institute estimates.”

So … who is it? Thinkolator sez this is Cyclacel Pharmaceuticals (CYCC)

Cyclacel is indeed a little biotech around $4 (it closed at $4.35 yesterday), with a market capitalization of only about $80 million — so be careful, we’re a big enough group here that if just a small percentage of Stock Gumshoe readers got enthused about this stock it could drive the shares up, less than a million dollars worth of shares trade each day (Biotech Supertrader says they limited their readership to 750 people — I don’t know if that’s still their cap or if they’ve hit it, but we’ll have more folks than that reading this free article).

And like many biotech stocks, it’s got some impressive scientists and it’s been losing money for a long time as they’ve been searching for a viable drug (their current lead drug also was a big focus of theirs back when it was in Phase 1 trials five or more years ago, so that’s a good reminder of the time these things take, it’s just starting Phase 3 trials now). It looks like they must have gone public in 2004, when they were about eight years old, and a quick scan of ten years of their financials over at Morningstar indicates that they’ve never generated more than a token amount of revenue (meaning, they’ve probably had some research collaboration payments or partnership funding, but never got a product to market), and have accumulated more than $250 million in losses to date. And had two reverse splits to keep the price from sinking far into penny territory.

So that’s not unusual, but it means that — as with all developmental-stage biotechs — it’s not about the financials or the fundamentals, it’s about what’s going to happen in their clinical trials and whether things are going well enough that they can continue to finance the trials … which get much more expensive as you progress through Phase 2 and Phase 3.

All I know about them so far is that they say they’ve got enough cash to get through enrollment in their key Phase 3 study for “drug S” (which is sapacitabine) as of September when they last updated their investor presentation, but I know nothing about the science or the competing cancer drugs that are out there or how fabulous this particular one might be, so I asked our favorite medical writer, Doc Gumshoe (who, yes, is not a doctor) to check them out quickly and chime in. Here’s what he could share after looking into them for a few minutes (he’s just looking at the medical stuff, not so much the “investor presentations”):

    Cyclacel’s Prospects

    Cyclacel has three drugs in development at this time, and is involved in eight clinical trials with these drugs, not including two clinical trials that have been terminated. Their top contender is sapacitabine which targets the division of cancer cells. If you can prevent cancer cells from dividing and reproducing, you have the cancer whipped, so targeting cancer cell division (or mitosis, which is the technical term) is a highly promising avenue for treating cancer. However, we need to take note of the fact that sapacitabine is one of a large number of drugs that propose to fight cancer by this method.

    At present, all eight of Cyclacel’s clinical trials involve sapacitabine. Of these, at least one has been completed – a Phase 1 study of the safety and pharmacology of the drug. Four others are current, with no information about results. These are likely Phase 1 or small Phase 2 studies, to assess safety, determine what a correct dose might be, and evaluate whether the drug does what it’s supposed to do in human subjects with the target diseases, which in this case include acute myeloid leukemia (AML), cutaneous T-cell lymphoma, and some advanced solid tumors. Prior to the clinical trials, sapacitabine has demonstrated impressive results in delaying the spread of metastatic liver cancers in mice.

    From what I can gather from public sources (i.e., the NIH Clinical Trials Registry), there is one Phase 3 trial, which started recruiting patients in February of 2013 and is expected to be completed in late 2015. The trial is in elderly patients with AML, and compares alternating cycles of sapacitabine and decitabine with decitabine alone. Decitabine (Dacogen) is FDA-approved for treating AML and also targets cancer cells’ replication by attacking their DNA.

    It is possible that the Phase 3 trial by itself could lead to FDA approval for sapacitabine, depending on the strength of the results. However, that trial would not get the drug approved for use as monotherapy, since it is not being investigated as monotherapy. My guess is that Cyclacel is planning more trials of sapacitabine as monotherapy, perhaps in younger patients. And my further guess is that FDA approval is still quite a long way off.

    Sapacitabine is also in a Phase 3 trial with cyclophosphamide and rituximab for the treatment of relapsed chronic lymphocytic leukemia. Cyclophosphamide (marketed under several trade names) is a well-established chemotherapy agent used in a number of cancers, and has led to remission in many cases; however, it is associated with truly harrowing adverse effects. Rituximab (Rituxan, Genentech) is used not only in cancers but in some autoimmune diseases. And sapacitabine is also being studied in patients with previously-treated non-small-cell lung cancers.

    Although the piece from Biotech Supertrader said that the drug – identified as “drug S” –is also a promising treatment for ovarian cancer, I find no clue that it is being studied in such patients. [ed note: that’s because that “promise” is in the lab still, not in people — they had a press release about this in the Fall, “75% of Ovarian Cancer Patient Samples Highly Sensitive to Sapacitabine”, not studied in patients but on patient samples]

    Cyclacel has two other drugs in development: selicilib and a drug designated as CYC116. One selicilib study has been terminated, and in a second Phase 1 study, selicilib is used with sapacitabine in patients with advanced solid tumors. Remember, however, that Phase 1 studies are many rungs of the ladder below what’s needed to gain FDA approval.

    CYC116 is an aurora kinase inhibitor, meaning that it blocks the action of an intracellular enzyme that facilitates cancer cell mitosis. This is a promising avenue of cancer treatment, however, the traffic on this avenue is fairly heavy, and includes several other classes of drugs including tyrosine kinase inhibitors, and taxol based agents such as paclitaxel (Taxol, Bristol Myers Squibb); docetaxel (Taxotere, Sanofi-Aventis), Abraxane (a newer formulation of paclitaxel from Celgene) and others.

    CYC116 supposedly also inhibits vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), which induces the growth of blood vessels that nourish cancer cells. Inhibiting VEGF is a well-established means of combating cancer, and CYC116 could hardly be characterized as a radically new departure in cancer treatment.

    The one trial involving this agent has been terminated. That, of course, does not mean that development of CYC116 stops dead in its tracks – there are many reasons why a trial can be terminated, and ours is not to speculate without more information.

    Beyond those three drugs, it’s hard to guess what Cyclacel may have up its corporate sleeve. It is certainly true that a successful cancer drug – even if only moderately successful– can be transformational for the biotech that develops the drug. But the drugs that Cyclacel has under development do not appear to this skeptical observer to be radically new departures in cancer treatment.

    It’s important to remember, when trying to estimate the likelihood of a single drug demonstrating sufficient efficacy and safety to gain FDA approval and market share, that the competitive field is vast. As I mentioned earlier, Cyclacel has a total of 8 clinical trials in process at this time.

    For the sake of perspective, it’s worth knowing that at present there are 41,445 cancer trials being conducted. So those are the odds.

So there you have it — it’s almost impossible to find a development-stage biotech whose financials look great or that makes your heart go pit-a-pat over their valuation, especially in a biotech bull market like we’ve seen over the past year or so, and Cyclacel doesn’t jump out as spectacular on that front either, not unless you’re a big believer in the promise of their specific drug. They’re a small stock and they don’t get much attention, other than from the analysts who probably helped them sell shares in secondary offerings in recent years, and there aren’t any major “skin in the game” insiders as far as I can tell (the CEO owns $1 million worth of shares, but he gets paid more than that every year), and there’s only one really focused owner on the institutional side that seems to have any kind of biotech focus (Eastern Capital owns about 7% of the shares, roughly $5 million worth … don’t know much about them).

So I don’t see a lot to make them stand out other than Robert Morris’ apparent enthusiasm for the shares (which certainly goes over the top, he calls his special report “The End of Cancer Worries Forever“), and I don’t know enough about the science to be a believer (though, to be fair, I almost never speculate on developmental biotechs because they’re so hit-driven and I’m not smart enough to be a hit-picker in the sector). It is at least encouraging that they are enrolling patients for Phase 3, and that they probably won’t have to raise more money before they have some indication of how the trial is going, but sometime in the next year or two they’re probably going to have to either get good results from this trial that let them raise cash at a good price, or have promising enough results that some big pharma company wants to jump in and help fund development of “drug S” (or just buy up the whole company, as happens with some regularity when a little biotech gets promising results).

Oh, and they are presenting at an investor conference next week, so maybe they’ll have something interesting to share then. As you can tell, this one doesn’t jump into my cup of tea … but these kinds of stocks almost never do. Sound interesting to you? Interested in the science or the lottery-ticket possibilities of $80-million developmental biotechs? Have any experience with Robert Morris or know whether or not we should consider him a biotech savant? Let us know with a comment below.

Irregulars Quick Take

Paid members get a quick summary of the stocks teased and our thoughts here. Join as a Stock Gumshoe Irregular today (already a member? Log in)
guest

12345

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

2.7K Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
karmaswimswami
February 23, 2014 5:43 pm

About BMSN and Regen: I began tracking Regen last year when Benitec licensed ddRNAi tech to it for work in tumor immunotherapy. This is what Peter French of Benitec was alluding to in his recent presentation. With a license from Benitec, Regen is seeking to enhance the anti-tumor activity of dendritic cells by silencing expression of IDO, indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase. IDO is an enzyme that degrades the amino acid tryptophan, When it is active, it is associated with an immunopermissive/tolerant quasi-Th2 phenotype, one that favors tumor growth. When it is silenced in mice, dendritic cells exposed to tumor antigens in the presence of GM-CSF are more avid, as a recent study showed: http://www.unboundmedicine.com/evidence/ub/citation/22870862/Silencing_IDO_in_dendritic_cells:_a_novel_approach_to_enhance_cancer_immunotherapy_in_a_murine_breast_cancer_model_ Other studies have suggested that anti-IDO siRNA improves tumor responses against skin cancer and ovarian cancer. But it is not ready for human trials at all.

David Suhy of Benitec recently became an advisor to BMSN. I think that can be taken as a sign that the company is getting serious. That said, however, it still has some explaining to do. Its HemaXellerate program for aplastic anemia has not exactly gone off well, and I have found considerable difficulty identifying just precisely what sort of cellular therapy this agent is. There is not one single paper in Pubmed on this and certainly no trial on it in the clinicaltrials.gov registry. This is speculative and preclinical.

I am discomfited that when I go to the Regen site, it dazzles with twaddle about the doing of phase I and phase II studies, but does not mention a single one it is doing. This is misleading. I cannot find, by several database searches, that Regen is doing any clinical trials at all. I am rather deeply concerned that this is just a way to attract capital for a lab at University of Western Ontario, because with biotech capital as it now is, it is way easier to get money this way than it is to get grants funded. The 1;140 offering, coming as it does from a company whose stock is not even a penny stock, may be just a way to get pounds from the pockets of the unwary. If BMSN is serious, let’s see some serious moves. Starting with a 100:1 reverse stock split. Its share price is 0.0012! I feel about this one just like a felt about Chelsea: enormous downside, limited upside. CHTP is only up to $6, definitely definitely not worth the trouble and worry and fretting.

The money this company hopes to raise is going right to Weiping Min at UWO. Min has not gotten a grant funded since at least 5 years ago. C’mon guys, this is not a serious therapy development effort. This guy, on the sci adv board of the company, is trying to get YOU to pay for his research so HE can get tenure. That is all this is. http://publish.uwo.ca/~mweiping/index.html
I gave a seminar at this place years ago. Sleepy place.

Add a Topic
5187
Add a Topic
3397
Add a Topic
5610
karmaswimswami
February 23, 2014 5:56 pm

A few minutes ago (open of business day 24 Feb in Sydney), Benitec announced private placement plans for 29.4 million ordinary shares at A$1.07 per share. This will raise A$31.6 million and is all slated for TT-034 development. The privately placed shares will also carry exercisable options as a price of $1.26.

A$1.07 implies a US$0.96 share price. Those of you who have doubted Benitec or who have belayed getting in, you are about to get a big dilutional opportunity to get in.

I had some highly interesting conversations this weekend with all of the brass at Benitec about how things are going. I have been asked specifically not to repeat what I was told, so I won’t. I will, however, be buying more shares when the market opens. Things are looking good! Rosy jack world.

Add a Topic
570
Joseph Rotondi
Guest
Joseph Rotondi
February 23, 2014 5:59 pm

Ouch. We are going to tank hard! That is a lot of dilution. It is good long term but bad short term. I am going to be ready to buy a ton more though!

Add a Topic
899
karmaswimswami
February 23, 2014 6:00 pm

To Alan Harris: Can you email me over at Seeking Alpha? I would like to speak with you about a couple of things, but do not know how to message here and do not want to put up my email address here. Thanks.

Add a Topic
3551
Alan Harris
Guest
Alan Harris
February 23, 2014 6:19 pm
Reply to  karmaswimswami

I dunno SA. But you can e me on runningrep@btinternet.com. I dont care who has my email but you can be sure I WONT reveal urs
A

Subramania Kaushik
Subramania Kaushik
February 23, 2014 6:02 pm

I agree with Dr. KSS. I would love to load more on dips! my second opportunity to add Benitec 🙂

Add a Topic
3932
👍 673
Subramania Kaushik
Subramania Kaushik
February 23, 2014 6:17 pm

Dr. KSS if i read between your words, it seems like exciting times are ahead for Benitec. I really dont care about this dilution as it will only help the company leap forward!

Add a Topic
3932
Add a Topic
571
👍 673
Alan Harris
Guest
Alan Harris
February 23, 2014 6:22 pm

KSS: I dunno SA. But you can e me on runningrep@btinternet.com. I dont care who has my email but you can be sure I WONT reveal urs
A

Ron Richardson
Ron Richardson
February 23, 2014 6:24 pm

Re: # 734 [Frenchy] & # 739 [Jim T.]
I believe the great Dr KSS is most assuridly a guy. Back @ 294 on 2-1, His post mentioned males with Migraine Headaches…….Ck it out???
For right now, we just got a triple green light for Monday morn in the U.S.A.
Get someone to lend you some $$$$$$$.
GLTA
RR

Add a Topic
3932
Add a Topic
3867
KennyG
Guest
KennyG
February 23, 2014 6:25 pm
Reply to  Ron Richardson

AUX opened and down 9%

Alan Harris
Guest
Alan Harris
February 23, 2014 6:28 pm

Sold at $AU 1.45. Glad I stayed up

KennyG
Guest
KennyG
February 23, 2014 6:29 pm
Reply to  Alan Harris

I hope you sold with intention of buying back!!

Alan Harris
Guest
Alan Harris
February 23, 2014 6:31 pm
Reply to  KennyG

Times 2….or praps 5

Alan Harris
Guest
Alan Harris
February 23, 2014 6:36 pm
Reply to  KennyG

Not not not trying to be smug, but thats another reason to buy on the Oz market…..it opens before US. GLA

Joseph Rotondi
Guest
Joseph Rotondi
February 23, 2014 6:49 pm
Reply to  Alan Harris

Seems to be recovering. Back up to the 1.50’s.

Alan Harris
Guest
Alan Harris
February 23, 2014 6:54 pm
Reply to  Joseph Rotondi

Dammit ive lost 0.06 A$ x 17k ! Still closed 1.475 so I wont weep if 1.07 buy back.

Nick Semuta
Guest
Nick Semuta
February 23, 2014 6:28 pm

Doc…Thank you for everything!

karmaswimswami
February 23, 2014 6:31 pm

To the insuperable Subra:
You probably know this but in case:
http://www.nasdaq.com/quotes/institutional-portfolio/sabby-management-llc-871441
Wish we could manage our own fund. These guys have some winners, but also some real dogs. Aveo???? Achillion???? My word! By the time Achillion gets a drug for HCV approved, if they ever do, everybody in the US will be cured! When the HCV train left the station, Achillion said, no thanks, we’ll take the next one! How many more times and in how many more ways does Aveo have to screw up before people punish that company??? Dendreon?

Add a Topic
146
Subramania Kaushik
Subramania Kaushik
February 23, 2014 6:39 pm
Reply to  karmaswimswami

I agree Dr. KSS. But these folks time their exit most of the time on bad stocks from what i have seen. Sabby Management has been pretty successful in investing in biotech sector. I would have loved Baker Brothers as well 🙂

LOL btw i like your quote “My word! By the time Achillion gets a drug for HCV approved, if they ever do, everybody in the US will be cured!”

Add a Topic
3932
👍 673
KennyG
Guest
KennyG
February 23, 2014 6:44 pm

And they have recently increased their positions in A
VEO and DNDN

biocqr
biocqr
February 23, 2014 6:54 pm

KSS, I posted on HRTX in post #708. It’s off the radar of most investors and Baker Bros own 9.99%

The post was delayed for 4 hrs “awaiting moderation” because it had some links and might have been passed over. Did you get a chance to look at it? Curious what you think.

👍 2
karmaswimswami
February 23, 2014 6:54 pm

Alchemia trades in the US as AEMAF. It has not opened yet in Sydney because of news this am that the CEO has walked out. I am still trying to figure out why. This company trades in either country for about 60 cents a share and has a small market cap despite having a great heparinoid drug, fondaparinux, on the market. Its hyaluronate-modified irinotecan for metastatic colorectal cancer is deep in phase III but said to be looking good, though it is not being studied in the US; trial sites are UK, Australia, Russia, and former USSR client states, If this company stumbles badly, it may be a buying opportunity, as it’s just one more underpriced issue Down Under ignored there and literally covered by no one in the US. Considering its pipeline and that it has one good product out, this company is just sitting there with inert shares and a market cap of 180 million, Makes no sense. One more to watch.

Add a Topic
3397
Add a Topic
1270
Add a Topic
424
Subramania Kaushik
Subramania Kaushik
February 23, 2014 6:55 pm

Seems like it is hovering in the A$1.40s to A$1.50s. If is is down to $1.25 here in US like what Siva mentioned earlier i will double my position! Opportunities don’t come often!

👍 673
karmaswimswami
February 23, 2014 7:02 pm

Early yet but Benny-Tech is well off session lows in Sydney. Sure do hope we get a “sale price” here in the am. Heavy volume there.

karmaswimswami
February 23, 2014 7:07 pm

biocqr: let me grab a quick sandwich and I will have a look at HRTX,

Dan
Dan
February 23, 2014 7:13 pm

Where are you guys tracking the Aus. real time market?

Subramania Kaushik
Subramania Kaushik
February 23, 2014 7:15 pm
Reply to  Dan

I track real time in Fidelity. BTL:AU. 1.34m shares traded so far and current price is A$1.48

Add a Topic
3600
👍 673
Jeff MC
February 23, 2014 7:24 pm

Thanks Subramania…I was going to ask the same question!

Leo S
Leo S
February 23, 2014 9:57 pm

Thanks for the info Subra! I guess Fidelity does have some advantages. Their commissions and exchange rates still suck. thanks again.

Add a Topic
3600
Alan Harris
Guest
Alan Harris
February 23, 2014 7:19 pm
Reply to  Dan

Yahoo gives you 30 mins delay but broker is realtime.

Subramania Kaushik
Subramania Kaushik
February 23, 2014 7:25 pm

I would expect Benitec uplisting in the US Markets. No point in trading in OTC pink anymore. Hope it happens soon!

👍 673
biocqr
biocqr
February 23, 2014 7:32 pm

PRAN investors might find this post of interest from a neuroscientist…

I can name about 500 KOL neurologists across the globe. am neuroscientist myself and know many many others.

Its doesn’t matter what other therapies have shown. The FDA is not going to approve this unless there is a primary endpoint that is clinically meaningful in phase 3 and it hits.

all but one of the clinical endpoints in this study were negative, and we dont know the statistical method used for that one. I will wait on see the real data on Hippocampal atrophy. call me skeptical there as well.

By the way, in the AD world, there have been quite a few compounds that hit on one posthoc analysis of a subset of clinical endpoint and on a biomarker. most of those have died.
Saying they hit on executive function is misleading. There were several tests of executive function in the trial and they hit only 1.

I have no idea if the drug will be effective at removing amyloid, but I bet they find a way to explain it as a positive anyway, even though it is the primary endpoint.

I’ll give you a simple answer to your broader question that applies across the board.

For AD.

Assume best case scenario.

Pbt2 effectively removes amyloid and does well on some exec function test.

1) 1st Prana will have to do a phase 3. No question. It would not be an accelerated approval candidate because the specific clinical test was not prespecified as a primary

2) they will need to pick a primary endpoint and a specific test to measure it. Exec function as a primary is not ok if you have 5 tests of it and only hit 1. Otherwise they need to use a full composite score. NTB was developed as a composite of multiple tests. Pbt2 failed on NTB but succeeded on 1/8 of the tests that make up NTB . It was designed so that a little improvement in each area could be combined to create more statistical power for overrall test.

3) they will need to convince FDA and KOLs that the specific test they pick ( e.g trail B) is meaningful to patients and the disease and will have to prespecify what clinically meaningful is, whether it’s a 30% improvement over PBO or 50% for example. Too many .

4) they will need to convince FDA that one phase 3 is enough for approval if they hit on endpoint. The guidance is for 2 and most companies do 2. Sola did 2. Bapi did 4.

4) then they need to find $250M+ to conduct a phase 3 trial, or $500M if they need to do 2.

5) then it will take 12 months to prepare and start and 3 years to recruit ( look at gantenerumab , bapineuzumab as examples). Will need at least 1000 Pts

6) the trial will need to be 2 yrs in duration to truly show disease modification.

7) then 1.5 yrs for submission and approval

8) then they need to actually hit on at least the one or two endpoints that they prespecified as primary. ( this is what I think they could never do)

Best case is approval 7.5 yrs from now, end of 2021.

Should also mention that 7 other drugs have already shown some level of amyloid removal, and honestly do not think they will have enough data from IMAGINE trial to go to ph 3. So if they need to do a true phase 2(200-400 Pts) before phase 3, you can add 3 more years to above timeline.
Too many hurdles unless drug is really really good. So far it doesn’t look that way.

My family has been devastated by AD. This is a major reason I went into neuroscience. I really hope that one of the current therapies in development will show some benefit in phase 3 and gain approval. However I highly doubt it will be this one.

And like Dew I am not a strong believer in efficient market hypothesis. But this has a $300M valuation in a highly bubblicious biotech market and they solely own a drug. If people thought it had even a 40% chance in AD or HD, it would have a $5-10B valuation or 15-30x current value. See intercept NASH story. The market is not that inefficient

Add a Topic
3022
Add a Topic
3022
Add a Topic
3022
👍 2
Alan Harris
Guest
Alan Harris
February 23, 2014 7:39 pm
Reply to  biocqr

Brilliant summary. Thank you. Sorry for your personal tradegy…..still it got another great mind on the case. What goes around, comes around.

Subramania Kaushik
Subramania Kaushik
February 23, 2014 7:34 pm

One thing which is exciting with this whole private placement and raising $31.5m is that it gives Benitec a total of A$42m including last july 2013 raise of A$10m. So I would say Benitec will have atleast $38m in cash enough to run multiple trials and not raise any cash until 2016. Man i see an exciting future for Benitec & shareholders!

Add a Topic
1340
👍 673

We use cookies on this site to enhance your user experience. By clicking any link on this page you are giving your consent for us to set cookies.

More Info  
450
0
Would love your thoughts, please comment.x
()
x