Latest news with #MedAdvisor
News.com.au
3 days ago
- Business
- News.com.au
Health Check: Like bloodthirsty sharks, offshore acquirers are circling cheap biotech assets
As today's Medadvisor deal attests, underperforming biotech assets are getting a bite or two Next Science shares continue to rally, but the company is still valued at less than Demant's offer price for most of its assets Neurizon enters a key deal with the supplier of its drug candidate for motor neurone disease Inspired by the 50 th anniversary of the original Jaws movie, local and offshore predators are on the hunt for local biotech prey. Today, medication compliance group MedAdvisor (ASX:MDR) said it had entered a binding agreement to sell its Australian ops to the Canadian owned Jonas Software, for a headline $35 million. As we reported yesterday, Medadvisor was the worst performing ASX-listed biotech last financial year, sinking 82%. Yesterday, struggling wound management company Next Science (ASX:NXS) proposed a US$50 million ($75 million) deal to sell most of its assets. The buyer is the Milan based Demetra Holdings (see below). Mayne Pharma (ASX:MYX) is – or was – subject to a $600 million offer from US dermatology group Cosette, but the suitor spat out the arm after due diligence (allegedly) revealed horrors lurking in depths. As with the makers of the epic Jaws movie, we must apologise to the sea's apex predators for besmirching their reputation. Unlike with the six remarkably careless Jaws 1 victims, biotech's metaphorical equivalent is usually most welcome. Medadvisor prefers US focus Coming back to Medadvisor, the company wants to focus on its bigger US business, which provides prescription drug information services to patients via big pharma and chemists. The terms are like the non-binding ones announced on May 9. One quirk is that the deal includes the Medadvisor moniker, but Medadvisor can continue to use that name under a royalty-free arrangement. Still, the company will seek shareholder approval to change its name. While Medadvisor pockets $35 million now, it has dibs on an 'uncapped contingent consideration' based on the divested arm's performance. On current trends, the company would expect another $7.35 million. Medadvisor intends to use some of the proceeds to discharge a $23.5 million finance facility. The company will use the remainder pending a review of its US operations, which have been hit by a downturn in vaccination rates. This has resulted in the jab makers winding back promotional spend. Next Science investors retain zeal for deal Having pushed up Next Science shares 64% yesterday, investors today added another 9% on the back of the proposal that in effect will see their company disappear. The proposal is subject to the consent of Next Science shareholders at a meeting scheduled on August 14. In framing the friendly deal, Demetra no doubt has chatted to Next Science's 37% shareholder, property tycoon and biotech dabbler Lang Walker. The deal is also subject to an independent expert report. Next Science intends to redistribute to shareholders the estimated US$30 million remaining after winding up costs. With approved products in the US, Next Science operates in wound care and surgical infection control. Demetra supplies bone cement, for fixing orthopaedic implants and the like. Next Science's regally dubbed CEO, Harry Hall IV says that in Demetra's more capacious hands Next Science's products 'will be better positioned to realise their full potential in improving patient care globally'. Next Science listed at $1 in April 2019 in a $35 million IPO and peaked at close to $2 in mid 2021. It's been downhill from there. Meanwhile the ASX circle of life continues, with wound management house Tetratherix (ASX:TTX) listing successfully last Monday. Interestingly, Next Science still bears a market cap of a mere $34 million. Neurizon does 'vet' deal but it's not going to the dogs The developer of a repurposed drug candidate for a form of motor neurone disease, Neurizon Therapeutics (ASX:NUZ) has entered an exclusive global licensing agreement with the New York-listed Elanco Animal Health. The deal doesn't take Neurizon back into veterinary drugs, the company's key remit when it was known as Pharmaust. But Elanco is the exclusive maker of the drug candidate – monepantel – which regulators originally approved as a sheep drench. Monepantel is the active component of NUZ-001, Neurizon's lead therapy for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and other human neurodegenerative diseases. The deal bestows Neurizon with the global rights for Elanco's intellectual property, including extensive non-clinical (animal) and manufacturing data. The agreement also outlines key terms for Elanco's future supply of monepantel, with a formal agreement expected in the current half. Monepantel works by inhibiting the mTOR signalling pathway, which plays a central role in the growth of cancer cells and the degeneration of neurons. mTOR stands for the 'mechanistic Target of Rapamycin', a reference not to a Tolkien novel but a well-known oncology target (rapamycin). Neurizon is participating in Healey ALS, a collaborative MND trial across 70-plus sites in the US. The platform will test several drugs simultaneously, thus increasing patient access and reducing study costs and completion and enrolment times. Neurizon CEO Dr Michael Thurn says the deal should 'dramatically reduce near-term development costs and accelerate development timelines.' The deal involves a nominal up-front payment and back-ended development milestones of US$9.75 million for the initial product. Should sales take off, Neurizon pays sales milestones of up to US$65 million but we'll cross that bridge when we come to it. Emvision's Emu hops to five sites, with one more to come The developer of a portable bedside stroke scanner dubbed Emu, EMvision Medical Devices (ASX:EMV) hopes to sign up its sixth and final site for its pivotal trial pitched at regulatory approval. The company today said five sites – three in the US and two locally – were now 'actively enrolling and scanning patients'. The three US sites are New York's Mt Sinai Hospital, Florida's Mayo Clinic and UT Health Memorial Hermann Texas Medical Centre. The local sites are Royal Melbourne Hospital and Sydney's Liverpool Hospital. The sixth site, at a west coast US clinic, should be announced 'shortly'. Emvision also won assent to start a continuous innovation study for stroke and traumatic brain injury patients, at Newcastle's John Hunter Hospital and Brisbane's Princess Alexandra Hospital. The trial involves enrolling up to 300 suspected stroke victims. Clinicians will assess them in the normal manner along with an Emu scan. The study aims to determine accurately whether a stroke is a blood clot or a bleed. If Emu takes flight, the company plans to seek expedited US approval for an ambulance variant, called First Responder.
News.com.au
03-06-2025
- Business
- News.com.au
Health Check: Don't dis-May! ASX biotechs record strong year-on-year share gains
Medadvisor and Dimerix lead the valuation gains in a choppy month Emvision and Paradigm open more pivotal trial sites Capital raisings click over MedAdvisor (ASX:MDR) is the ASX hero biotech of an otherwise subdued May, stacking on more than 52% in market capitalisation for the month. The medication compliance group said it had found a probable buyer for its Australian operations, thus spurring the rally. This supersized effort eclipsed Dimerix's (ASX:DXB) 24% surge, on the back of its May 1 news of a US distribution deal for its putative kidney disease drug. The numbers are based on Biotech Daily's top 40 index, which records the performance of the biggest stocks. The newsletter also recorded the Big Four – CSL (ASX:CSL), ResMed (ASX:RMD), ProMedicus (ASX:PME) and Cochlear (ASX:COH) – separately. Overall, the top 40 eased 2.6%, with Avita Medical (ASX:AVH) leading the decliners with a 40% tumble and Imugene (ASX:IMU) shedding 37%. shares lost 6%, translating to $555 million of lost value. Don't dis-May But don't dis-May too much: the sector's still up 9.7% year on year, just eclipsing the overall market's 9.5% increment. The Big Four gained 2.6%, thanks to Pro Medicus's 21% rebound from subdued levels. Investors had to go beyond the top 40 for the best return: pot and psychedelic drug play Incannex Healthcare (ASX:IHL) climbed 300 per cent, albeit having plunged 80% in April. We're doing better than our American friends, with the Nasdaq Biotechnology Index shedding 4.2% for the month. The index is also down 7% over the past 12 months. On trial In trial news, EMvision Medical Devices (ASX:EMV) is poised to activate its third US site in its pivotal trial of its bedside stroke detection device, Emu. The site is at The Mount Sinai Hospital in New York, a recognised leader in stroke research and treatment. The company is activating its second Australian site this week, at Sydney's Liverpool Hospital (a large stroke referral centre). These activations will bring the total of sites activated in the pivotal (validation) trial to five. These include Houston's UTHealth and Memorial Hermann-Texas Medical Centre, Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville and the Royal Melbourne Hospital. The study aims for US Food & Drug Administration (FDA) clearance for Emu, under the new device route. Knees up Paradigm Biopharmaceuticals (ASX:PAR) has activated the first of 11 proposed sites, for the local leg of its phase III knee osteoarthritis trial. Melbourne's Sportsmed Biologic is the first site, with the treatment overseen by prominent sports physician Dr Philip Bloom. The other sites are in 'various stages of start-up and activation'. Meanwhile, 48 sites are in advanced preparation stages. The study is pitched at FDA approval for Paradigm's repurposed drug candidate, to treat the common and debilitating condition. Capital-raising corner While finding a dime in the sector remains difficult, companies are managing decent smaller raisings. Shrugging off its US reimbursement setback, Pacific Edge (ASX:PEB) today upsized its NZ$15 million placement to NZ$16 million, with the board accepting oversubscriptions. A NZ$5 million share purchase plan (SPP) is yet to come. The offer is priced at NZ10 cents a share, a healthy 20% premium to the 20-day weighted average price. The raising is partly to grow sales channels for its non-invasive bladder cancer assay Cxbladder, independent of US Medicare reimbursement. Pacific Edge's Medicare coverage ceased in April, after a code pertaining to genetic oncology testing was excised. Not surpisingly, the company wants to re-gain this funding via legal and other means of suasion. Also today, Recce Pharmaceuticals (ASX:RCE) said it had placed a $7.4 million shortfall from its recent entitlement offer. This takes total proceeds from its capital raising to $15.8 million. The funds will support the synthetic anti-infective outfit's phase III trials, in Indonesia and locally. The Indonesian study treats diabetic foot infections, while the local effort is for acute bacterial skin and skin structure infections. Meanwhile heart device play Cardiex (ASX:CDX) has raised $2.4 million in an insto placement at 4 cents a share, with a $4.1 million rights issue opening on Friday. And OncoSil Medical (ASX:OSL) has raised $6.7 million in a placement and hopes an SPP will reap another $2 million. The price is one-third of a cent, a circa 20% discount. The funds will support the Oncosil's eponymous pancreatic cancer targeted radiation device. Thirty geographies have approved the tool, including Europe and the UK. Best of British biotech Data analytics house Global Data reports that venture financing for UK biopharmaceutical companies doubled in the March quarter, to US$1.1 billion. This is the highest quarterly total since 2021. This foreign investment surge also highlights danger for the Brit 'Growing dependence on US capital and policy-driven cost pressures signal an urgent need to strengthen domestic investment for sustainable growth.'
Yahoo
20-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Is It Too Late To Consider Buying MedAdvisor Limited (ASX:MDR)?
While MedAdvisor Limited (ASX:MDR) might not have the largest market cap around , it received a lot of attention from a substantial price movement on the ASX over the last few months, increasing to AU$0.33 at one point, and dropping to the lows of AU$0.16. Some share price movements can give investors a better opportunity to enter into the stock, and potentially buy at a lower price. A question to answer is whether MedAdvisor's current trading price of AU$0.17 reflective of the actual value of the small-cap? Or is it currently undervalued, providing us with the opportunity to buy? Let's take a look at MedAdvisor's outlook and value based on the most recent financial data to see if there are any catalysts for a price change. Check out our latest analysis for MedAdvisor According to our valuation model, MedAdvisor seems to be fairly priced at around 12% below our intrinsic value, which means if you buy MedAdvisor today, you'd be paying a fair price for it. And if you believe that the stock is really worth A$0.19, then there's not much of an upside to gain from mispricing. In addition to this, MedAdvisor has a low beta, which suggests its share price is less volatile than the wider market. Future outlook is an important aspect when you're looking at buying a stock, especially if you are an investor looking for growth in your portfolio. Buying a great company with a robust outlook at a cheap price is always a good investment, so let's also take a look at the company's future expectations. MedAdvisor's earnings over the next few years are expected to double, indicating a very optimistic future ahead. This should lead to stronger cash flows, feeding into a higher share value. Are you a shareholder? It seems like the market has already priced in MDR's positive outlook, with shares trading around its fair value. However, there are also other important factors which we haven't considered today, such as the track record of its management team. Have these factors changed since the last time you looked at the stock? Will you have enough conviction to buy should the price fluctuates below the true value? Are you a potential investor? If you've been keeping an eye on MDR, now may not be the most advantageous time to buy, given it is trading around its fair value. However, the optimistic prospect is encouraging for the company, which means it's worth diving deeper into other factors such as the strength of its balance sheet, in order to take advantage of the next price drop. If you'd like to know more about MedAdvisor as a business, it's important to be aware of any risks it's facing. At Simply Wall St, we found 1 warning sign for MedAdvisor and we think they deserve your attention. If you are no longer interested in MedAdvisor, you can use our free platform to see our list of over 50 other stocks with a high growth potential. Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned. Sign in to access your portfolio
