pbi & slt

For the holders of SLT & PBI I found this article on Australian Investors web page (updated: 10 March By Ben Reay).

Dr Martin Soust Gears Up for a Big Year


Dr Martin Soust is the MD of both Premier Bionics and Select Vaccines, two ASX listed companies. 2004 will see both companies start receving income from their technologies.

Dr Martin Soust had a lot on his plate as Managing Director of Premier Bionics, an ASX listed Biotech company, but that didn’t stop him taking on the added responsibility of being CEO and Managing director of Select Vaccines when they decided to list in June of last year.

Both companies have prospered under Dr Soust’s control, and 2004 is shaping up as a prosperous year for Premier and Select.

Premier Bionics floated in May 2002. The company raised $3 million, to invest in Australian medical devices companies. In other words, Premier acts as a venture capital company, for the Australian Bio Tech industry.

Upon listing, Premier stated they would not invest for the sake of investing, but would hold onto funds until suitable investment opportunities arose.

They certainly stood true to their word, and today, have still only invested in one business, Pulmosonix, who are developing lung inflation technology.

Premier acquired a 72 per cent interest in Pulmosonix, in return for $1.25 million in guaranteed research and development funding.

Pulmosonix has three technologies at different stages of development, ‘Airclear’, ‘The lung inflation monitor’, and ‘VibroPulse’.

The Airclear device diagnoses sleep apnea, a condition where the airways close during sleep, forcing the sufferer to wake up and open the airways.

Existing technology can not distinguish between the two different types of sleep apnea’s. There is obstructive sleep apnea, where the brain asks for oxygen but the airways are closed, and there is central apnea, where the brain does not ask for oxygen.

Pulmosonix makes the distinction between the different apnea’s easily, and can also be used from home, not in hospital sleep clinics like the current technology.

This product is virtually completed, and Premier expects to find a partner to manufacture, market and distribute the product shortly.

Dr Soust, MD of Premier, said the company is sending out confidential data to six companies this week, and have already organised meetings with two of those companies.

From this group of six, Premier hopes to find a partner for the Airclear technology.

As Pulmosonix is the only investment for Premier, income derived from Airclear will be the first income for Premier, and its shareholders, a welcome relief after 18 months without any substantial income.

Pulmosonix’s second product is a lung inflation monitoring device, for use in premature babies. 90 per cent of babies born at less than 28 weeks develop chronic lung disease, because their lungs are either over inflated or under inflated by ventilators.

At present, doctors must estimate and use their experience to judge the correct level of lung inflation in babies. There is no device that can measure if the lungs of a baby are correctly inflated. It costs $2000 per day to keep a child in an intensive care unit, but having lungs correctly inflated may reduce development times, saving hospitals thousands, if not millions of dollars each year.

It is expected that the lung inflation monitor will begin a hospital trial early this year, and following that Premier will either sell the technology or find a partner for the further development of the product.


So there are exciting times at Premier Bionics, but Select Vaccines is not getting left behind, recently signing a 12 year manufacture, marketing and distribution agreement with Genelabs, for their Hepatitis E Rapid Diagnostic Kit.

Genelabs is currently undertaking an evaluation of the diagnostic kit, and it has taken longer than Select expected, but all feedback to date has been positive.

It is expected that the evaluation will be completed as early as this week, before being taken to the lawyers, and the licence agreement is signed.

“From the day we sign the licence agreement we will be eligible to receive royalty payments,” said Select CEO Dr Martin Soust.

Currently there are no rapid ways of diagnosing hepatitis E. Hepatitis E is not as serious at Hepatitis B and C, which have ongoing and chronic diseases attached to them.

But at the early stages of Hepatitis, all strains of the disease carry the same symptoms. So tests have to be carried out on the full range of Hepatitis strains. This is costly, and if the tests prove that it is Hepatitis E, there is no specific medication.

So a rapid diagnosis of Hepatitis E is very cost effective for hospitals and doctors.

The main markets for this kit are throughout Asia and the Subcontinent.

Dr Martin Soust emphasises though, that the disease is prevalent in more than just third world countries.

“Hepatits E is being found increasingly in Japan, as well as places such as India and Egypt. In China half of the population has been exposed to hepatitis by the age of ten,” he said.

The deal with Genelabs is a worldwide deal, with the exception of the US. America does not have many cases of Hepatits E, and Genelabs did not want to go through the expensive process of registering the kit with the Food and Drug Administration, who have very stringent guidelines, and require clinical trials of all products before they are approved.

So that leaves Select with the ability to find another partner in the US if it so desires in the future.

The royalties from sales of the Hepatitis E kit will be used to accelerate the development of other products by Select.

A Hepatitis C diagnostic kit is top of the priority list, with a Hepatitis A diagnostic well underway as well. Select hopes to have finalised one or more licence agreements for the Hepatitis A kit by the middle of this year.

This gives Dr Martin Soust plenty to smile about, but he recognises that there is a whole lot of hard work ahead. But anyone who knows him acknowledges that it is no coincidence that both Select and Premier have prospered under his leadership, and believe he will lead the companies to even greater success.

(Disclosure I hold SLT)