The week that was, the AGM Presentation, and another missed opportunity
The recent month has been one of extreme excitement for many IMU holders, with Vaxinia coming to the fore. Managements decision to prioritise the Vaxinia (MAST) Trial has been a good one. Clearly investors recognised this and other management decisions in voting to maintain the status quo for another year at the company’s AGM this week. However personally speaking I must admit to being most disappoInted with the AGM Presentation. Given it was presented for the digestion of existing IMU holders, as opposed to those on the outside looking in, I was less than interested when there appeared to be yet another “on repeat” style format to the content provided.
There were definitely some high points from a scientific perspective, as there always is with Imugene. Some points of note for me were:
1. The fact there are 35+ sites in the US trialling Azer Cel. Phase 1b trial currently conducted at Moffit, COH, Karmanos, U Minnesota, Rhode Island, Cornell, Columbia
2. The results in the current Vaxinia Trial in which 7 patients with gastrointestinal cancers who received CF33 alone including 3 colorectal cancer, 2 bile duct, 1 pancreatic and 1 liver cancer showed disease control (CR, PR and SD) of 86%
3. The opportunity for Imugene to take advantage of the many CD19 approved drugs which could become preferred partners to combine with onCARlytics (~90% of cancer), and finally
4. The reality that Azer-cel in combination with onCARlytics demonstrated sustained, robust activity against multiple tumour types. Remembering 100% impressive killing of Triple Negative Breast Cancer and Gastric Cancer lines was observed compared to controls
Though for long term holders who not only burnt a candle for, but threw their hard into, the company’s B cell platform slides left little if anything new or revealing to chew on. It would appear Her Vaxx has all but been delineated from proceedings, with little if anything to show for Professor Kaumaya’s great white hope PD1 Vaxx, since 2021. It’s all coming soon, I’m excited and exuberant about it, I hear myself whispering, to myself.
More importantly given it was an AGM end of the year presentation to the owners of the company, ie., the shareholders, surely one would have thought commercial if not financial slides would have garnered similar status to the company’s product range. Admittedly everyone loves the latest I Phone, and what it can and cannot do, but at an Apple AGM investors are more interested in market penetration, prospective markets and future revenue streams, than product information. A generic slide on how Biotech Firms either sell or out license their drug candidates is on its own quite pathetic. Investors have recently sat through Pfizers $43BN USD takeover of Seagen, and more recently AbbVie’s takeover offer of $10BN USD for Immunogen. AbbVie Chief Executive Richard A. Gonzalez said in the news release “Together, AbbVie and ImmunoGen have the potential to transform the standard of care for people living with cancer.” Imugene’s shareholders want to hear from their board their immunotherapies are every bit as valuable as the ADC’s currently being sold for multiples. They want to ascertain where Imugene sits in the current market. They want to find some comfort in numbers, as opposed to rhetoric.
Many investors were dismayed at Imugene’s lack of traction in the overseas media and their subsequent lack of share price appreciation, following the brilliant news Vaxinia was afforded priority review status from the FDA. There is a definite disconnect between Imugene’s innovative science, and their underlying share price. Shareholders clearly voted for much of the same, in a bid to stave off instability, but a sense of disquiet is bubbling beneath the surface. The failure of US investors including Baker Brothers, or players of similar ilk to come on board, is of concern. Why are these large funds consistently placing OV’s such as Replimune ahead of Imugene when it comes to making investment choices? Why is Imugene being overlooked by an international investment community, otherwise keen to participate in cutting edge immunotherapies? Whilst JP Morgan has had several discussions with Imugene there still appears to be a lack of significant JP Morgan presence on the register outside of nominee holdings. These issues are going to require addressing, if indeed Imugene is not only to survive a takeover bid, but morph into the Genentech style vehicle many long term holders have been banking on.
Most Car T’s resemble flawed treatment in that they are re-engineered from used if not depleted in human cells. ADC’s, whilst the flavour of the month in providing a delivery mechanism for treatment such as chemotherapy, are ostensibly just that, a delivery mechanism. Scientifically speaking ADCs are composed of an antibody targeting an antigen associated with malignancy, combined through a linker with a cytotoxic moiety, allowing for a more specific delivery of chemotherapy. The ADC binds a receptor on the target cell and is then internalised into the cell through receptor-mediated endocytosis. Surely Imugene’s oncolytic viral therapy, not to mention Oncarlytics and B Cell platforms, are every bit as promising as the ADC’s being bought for many multiples of the current IMU share price. Imugene has been saying for years now Big Pharma is watching, they have multiple dance partners, they are in constant discussions with all the right people. But are they? At 10 cents it would appear the market has all such chatter on mute. For a company with so many shots on goal not many have been kicked, from a commercial perspective. From the outside it would appear they’ve simply hired a lot more players. And no-one appears to be putting their hand up for Monil Shah’s transfer fee.
Paul Hopper created Imugene’s magnificent immunotherapy platforms, through his introduction of incredible scientists and vaccines. But is he the best person to run a multi billion dollar company? The majority of IMU shareholders clearly think so. Support for Hopper and existing management together with their remuneration packages, was supported by shareholders via a clear majority vote. As the AGM vote reiterated, shareholders wish to see Imugene’s management paid handsomely in options and other remunerative benefits, to capitalise on the science at hand. Lets’s wait and see if they are up to the task.
One of the hardest moves in business is to grow from a relatively small company, to a multi billion dollar corporation. Does Hopper and the existing management structure have the experience to guide and steer Imugene through to commercialisation? Few if any have sat on a multi million dollar board before. Is the market perturbed by the absence of experienced Nasdaq Biotech Directors on the board of IMU? Would Imugene have been better served on the NASDAQ platform, as opposed to the much smaller ASX domain? Was the time to strike with Imugene’s B CELL platform in late 2021, when the Her Vaxx and PD1 Vaxx irons are hot? Or was it prudent to wait until late 2023? These are all hypothetical questions for which we may never find the answer. That said, Professors Fong, Kaumaya, Ursula Wiedermann and more recently Saul Priceman have all brought substantial gifts to the IMU table. Now its simply up to the Imugene board and management to ‘bring home the bacon” for this esteemed group of individuals.
My post is penned with a view to continuing the debate and encouraging an informed discussion on the company many hear follow, Imugene. As with a large number of my posts, most readers shall read only what they wish to read, either the so called positive or negative comments herein. If you choose to castigate me for expressing a diverse analysis of company sentiment, that is your prerogative. Though as many here understand, irrespective of the balanced view portrayed in the aforementioned post, I like most of us on this thread do have complete faith in Imugene’s safe, cost effective and transformative medicine to deliver life changing cancer treatment to cancer patients for years to come. As outlined in previous posts, It’s simply a matter of time.
DYOR Seek investment advice as and when required Opinions Only
Best of luck to LC and all Team Imugene
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