a cure for hep c, aids, the flu and dengue..., page-65

G'day chewy,

The market cap reflects a complete lack of interest, which, in my mind, is somewhat understandable. It has been nearly 4 years since BIT225 entered the time and capital intensive trial phases. Investor interest and patience has waned even as the company has moved from success to success. This has not been helped by a global financial crisis and a significant lack of PR.

Biotron have gotten to this stage with only 120m shares (and 120m options) thanks to smart spending and low administration costs, with the latter attributable to low salary costs and low PR costs. Their bloody webpage hasn't been updated since 2005 and doesn't even have a description of BIT225!!! What you're looking at is a company without much information floating about in the public domain, and with practically nil spent on PR.

As I shareholder, I am very happy with these circumstances.

BIT225 will either demonstrate increased efficacy when used in combination with the standard inteferon/ribavirin therapy, or it won't. No amount of PR will affect that, and, realistically, no amount of PR is appropriate until the outcome is known. Our funds are being preserved and our equity heading into the final weeks of the phase II trial is maximised.

Anyway, it's easy to see how this company has been overlooked by the wider investment community.

The dates are a bit sketchy at the moment, but assuming the dosing stage of the Thai trial started about 2 weeks ago, there should be 2 weeks remaining, at which point investors can infer no major toxicity has been encountered. From there, allow about 6 weeks or so for the data to be analysed and presented. There is also a second cache of patients who have not commenced due to import delays in Argentina. If the delays continue the company can expedite the process by treating the second cache at the Thai site.

They have enough cash to see them through the trials, then the company should progress just as you've outlined, with the addition of securing a partner after the capital raising but before progressing with further trials. Additionally, further pre-clinical work is scheduled to commence on Dengue, influenza and HBV.

A great bust or boom play, all the data points towards good outcomes for efficacy, toxicity and tolerability, but the risk profile is still at the higher end of the ASX.

Cheers