Health Check: Today's flood of last-minute quarterly ‘homework' scores a solid pass
Telehealth group looks to post-pandemic recovery
Botanix, Amplia and Vitrafy pass muster with the brokers
Some students hand in their homework with days to spare, while others lob their hastily scrawled efforts at the eleventh hour.
Plenty of biotechs also prefer the latter 'just in time' approach, judging from today's clump of quarterly reports lobbing in just ahead of today's end-of-month deadline.
But in most cases, we won't mark down their quality.
In the drug development domain, the 'students' are look well cashed up and well prepared. They've remembered to bring their excursion money and their sports uniforms.
For instance, popular student Amplia (ASX:ATX) ended the quarter with cash of almost $6.7 million. This since has been bolstered by last week's $27.5 million capital raising.
The company reported operating cash outflows of $3.8 million. This reflects spending on its 55-patient phase II pancreatic cancer trial, dubbed Accent.
The study attracted wide interest by reporting 17 partial responses and two 'complete responses' – a.k.a. a cure.
Given pancreatic cancer is such a deadly disease, this was most unexpected.
Recovering from its failed Duchenne muscular dystrophy trial, Percheron Therapeutics (ASX:PER) spent just under $2.75 million, ending with cash of $10.16 million.
This dosh is a lifeline for the company, which has acquired an immune-oncology drug asset.
The developer of an ovarian cancer diagnostic and breast and lung cancer therapies, Inoviq (ASX:IIQ) expended a modest $1.44 million and ended up with cash of $6.5 million.
Inoviq's chairman, the ubiquitous David Williams, attributes the company's sagging share price to a fund selling out.
'We anticipate share price recovery as the selling ends and we continue to advance our diagnostic programs,' he says.
Medadvisor tempers expectations
Following a weak June quarter related partly to cancelled US programs, medication compliance and drug education provider MedAdvisor (ASX:MDR) has tweaked its full-year guidance.
Medadvisor now expects revenue for the year to June 2026 of $88 million, compared with the previously envisaged $93-99 million.
Management expects an underlying loss of $6.5 to $7.3 million, compared with the previously guided $2.6 to $5.5 million.
Medadvisor's June quarter revenue declined 16% to $18.6 million, with full year turnover declining 28%.
The company cites several delayed US drug launch programs, which has deferred revenue into the current quarter.
Medadvisor is aligned to the drug companies' rollout of new vaccines. But these have been stymied by sluggish demand amid the ongoing political controversy over these prophylactics.
Meanwhile, the company has sold its non-core Australian ops to Jonas Software, for $35 million plus $7.5 million of earnouts.
After extinguishing all its debt, Medadvisor has a healthy cash balance of $16.5 million.
What's up DOC? A profit turnaround
Doctor Care Anywhere Group PLC (ASX:DOC) slips under the radar because the telehealth provider operates solely in the UK.
But we'll rectify this dearth of coverage by reporting that the company managed cash inflow of £2.17 million ($4.4 million) in the June (second) quarter.
This is a turnaround from the March quarter deficit of £1.46 million and an 'historic milestone' for the company
Receipts surged 32% to £10.93 million, despite consultations declining 7% year on year to 176,000.
DOC ended the stanza with cash of £4.8 million ($10) million, 'enough to see the company through to long term profitability and continued net cash generation.'
DOC works with insurers, healthcare providers and corporate customers to connect patients to digitally enabled telehealth services on its proprietary platform.
The company listed here in December 2020, amid the pandemic-inspired telehealth craze, raising a chunky $101 million at 80c cents apiece.
The shares have been in the sick ward ever since but achieving profitability would be the right prescription.
Trio goes to the well
Shares in Imagion Biosystems (ASX:IBX), Nyrada (ASX:NYR) and HeraMED (ASX:HMD) are on trading halt pending capital raising, with announcements expected on Monday.
With $883,000 in the bank as of June-end, Imagion eyes more funds to further its innovative Magsense imaging system.
The company is preparing a submission to the US Food & Drug Administration, for a trial enrolling HER-2 breast cancer patients.
With cash of $2.93 million, Nyrada is seeking a top-up to support development of its drug candidate, Xolatryp, for traumatic brain injury and strokes.
The company is undertaking a phase I TBI safety and efficacy trial.
The developer of a foetal monitoring device, Heramed hasn't yet lodged its June quarterly. At the end of March, the company had cash of $1.88 million.
Meanwhile oncology drug developer Prescient Therapeutics (ASX:PTX) said it had raised $3 million from a placement. This follows a share purchase plan that bought in $6.9 million.
These readies should be enough to fund the company's phase II trial of its T cell lymphoma dug candidate towards 'potential regulatory approval'.
What the brokers say
Canaccord has initiated coverage on Botanix Pharmaceuticals (ASX:BOT) with a 'buy' call.
This is despite taking a sterner stance on drug pricing, yields and script refill rates than the company's assumptions.
Botanix in January launched the US rollout of its drug Sofdra, to treat the excessive underarm sweating condition primary auxiliary hyperhidrosis.
Canaccord scribes a 'price target' of 27 cents per share, compared with Thursday' close of 17 cents.
The firm assumes current year revenue of $67.8 million and a $41.8 million loss. Next year, turnover rises to $145 million, with a $14.3 million profit.
Bell Potter reckons the aforementioned Amplia Therapeutics is worth almost twice as much as its current valuation, despite the drug developer's stellar run.
The firm values Amplia shares at 42 cents, compared with 24 cents currently.
Bel Potter also has a 'speculative buy' call on cryopreservation play Vitrafy Life Sciences (ASX:VFY).
Vitrafy is developing its yet-to-be approved novel deep-freezing device, iiitally for the for research market.
Vitrafy listed last November at $1.84 apiece, having raised $35 million.
The firm values Vitrafy shares at $2, implying 22% of upside.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
AU Financial Review
35 minutes ago
- AU Financial Review
ASX to open lower as weak US jobs data sparks jitters; $A rallies
The Australian sharemarket is set for a weak start to the week, with investors rattled by fresh signs of a slowdown in the US economy. A softer-than-expected July non-farm payrolls report spurred concerns about the health of the world's largest economy. Just 73,000 jobs were added in the month – well short of the 100,000 forecast by economists. Adding to the gloom, previous months' figures were revised sharply lower, with a combined 258,000 jobs stripped from the May and June tallies. That dragged the three-month average to 35,000 – the slowest pace of hiring outside the pandemic since 2010. ASX futures slipped 32 points, or 0.4 per cent, to 8710, tracking a steep decline on Wall Street, where the S&P 500 shed 1.6 per cent on Friday. The Australian dollar jumped 0.8 per cent to US64.7¢ as the weak data sent the greenback tumbling. Perpetual head of investment strategy Matthew Sherwood said the report confirmed that earlier signs of cooling demand were now showing up in the labour market. 'Domestic demand had already been slowing through the first half of the year, and now we're seeing that reflected in jobs,' Sherwood said. 'The revisions were the key story – they suggest the market's been overestimating the strength of the economy.' He warned that investors were beginning to question whether valuations could hold up as the cycle turns. 'We're sitting at valuation levels close to the highest in two decades,' he said. 'With the economy looking like it's approaching stall speed, that's bound to affect earnings expectations.' The US dollar slumped on the jobs report, fuelling gains in the Aussie, which was last up 0.6 per cent to US64.62¢ ahead of Monday's open. Locally, attention shifts to August earnings season, with a heavy slate of results due this week from names including REA Group, AMP, News Corp, Nick Scali, QBE Insurance and Block. Markets are also eyeing the Bank of England's upcoming interest rate decision, with economists tipping a 25 basis point cut that would lower the UK cash rate to 4 per cent.
ABC News
35 minutes ago
- ABC News
Renewed calls to subsidise insulin pumps and glucose monitors for diabetics
Sammy Haigh's day starts with a series of complex calculations. "I get out of bed and work out how many grams of carbs I'm going to be eating for breakfast, then I put those carbs into my insulin pump, which will deliver my insulin to me," she said. The 26-year-old Newcastle woman is one of 2 million Australians living with diabetes. Over the course of a year, the minimum spend on diabetes supplies sets her back almost $5,000, and that's minus the subsidies she receives from Medicare and Australia's National Diabetes Services Scheme (NDSS). Last year, a parliamentary inquiry into diabetes recommended the federal government make insulin pumps available at a low cost for all people with type 1 diabetes. The report was released 12 months ago, and the government has yet to respond to the recommendations. It has left people, like Ms Haigh, to deal with the financial burden of the lifelong, incurable autoimmune condition. Ms Haigh is an early childhood educator and says diabetes costs her roughly $103 per week. "It totals, at the moment, between $400 to $500 a month." This includes costs for private health insurance, which she needs in order to access an insulin pump, other diabetes technologies, and various doctors' appointments. "These expenses are not just one-offs, but for critical equipment necessary to stay alive," she said. "It's on top of an already tight young-person budget, having to juggle increasingly higher rent costs, groceries, and fuel. Ms Haigh has just started using an insulin pump, a small digital device that delivers insulin continuously to manage blood glucose levels. Insulin pumps are only subsidised for type 1 patients under the age of 21. "The cost of a pump is absolutely unaffordable for some people," she said. Ms Haigh's insulin pump works in tandem with her continuous glucose monitor (CGM), which is government subsidised. It connects to her phone and is able to show her blood glucose levels in real time. Diabetes Australia said the diabetes epidemic was at a crisis point, estimating the disease cost the health system $9.1 billion each year. Professor David Simmons, an endocrinologist and Diabetes Australia's chief medical officer, said increasing access to insulin pumps could reduce costs for the health system, as keeping blood glucose levels stable reduces the risk of long-term health complications. "It does reduce the cost [for the health system] by reducing people who end up in intensive care units or on dialysis, for example," he said. He said Australia was lagging behind the rest of the world. Multiple countries, including the United Kingdom and Canada, subsidise insulin pumps for people with type 1 diabetes. One recommendation of the 2023 inquiry was that continuous glucose monitor (CGM) access be expanded to type 2 diabetes patients, who are not covered by the government subsidies. Hunter Valley man Pete Holland was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes 10 years ago. After seeing the benefits of a CGM for his daughter with type 1 diabetes, he tried it himself. Despite describing the device as a "game-changer" for managing his condition, he stopped using it due to the cost. "They're a massive expense, they're over $200 a month to be able to use these things," he said. "With the cost of living these days, I can't afford to be paying that sort of stuff." Mr Holland said he was desperately waiting for CGM subsidies to increase. In a statement, a spokesperson for Federal Health Minister Mark Butler said the government was carefully considering the report of the diabetes inquiry. "The report shines a light on a serious public health issue affecting every community in Australia," the statement said.
News.com.au
35 minutes ago
- News.com.au
Kyle Sandilands plans $2.5m ‘kid-proof' hideaway
Kyle and Tegan Sandilands are renovating their newly-acquired NSW Central Coast weekender. The Copacabana retreat was bought for $1.8m through Ryley Davie at George Brand Real Estate, with the unrenovated three-bedroom home, with water views from its upper level, having had an initial $1,995,000 asking price. Radio announcer Kyle and Tegan recently secured a complying development certificate for $670,000 renovations proposed by Craig Farrugia Building Design. More recently, the couple have also decided to seek permission for a pool and an adjoining tiled patio from The Central Coast Council. The pool is proposed for the rear of the 590sq m block. The irregular-shaped 10m pool will feature a stepped entry in one corner, according to the plans by Terrigal-based SiteDesign + Studios. It advised the 'proposed swimming pool and surrounds design was influenced by current site conditions and lifestyles of the owners'. 'The pool has been located in a position to make it safe to access and to be visual from the house balcony to watch over children swimming,' it said. Six trees will be removed to make way for the pool, with 22 new trees set to be planted. Council requires a rainwater tank of at least 2275 litres and a tap within 10m of the pool. The Copacabana property was bought to be close to Tegan's family, after the couple and sold their Port Douglas holiday home late last year for $2.55m. Having been bought before they had their son, Otto, in 2022, the Far North Queensland location was not that child-friendly. The tropical bush retreat had been bought for $1.3m in 2020. 'When it was just Tegan and I, the place was absolutely perfect for us because of its private and tropical location overlooking the water,' Kyle said last year. 'Our two-year-old son Otto loves the beach, which can be difficult to go to up around Port Douglas due to the crocodiles. 'We're going to relocate somewhere a bit closer to Sydney where we don't have to worry about hungry reptiles.' The couple had also considered the Copacabana house that Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and his fiancee Jodie Haydon bought, but decided the clifftop backyard would not be appropriate for their young son. The Sandilands are based in Vaucluse.
