On 28 April 2014 (one year ago exactly), OBJ announced that it had signed a major deal with P&G which saw its share price sky-rocket. About 6 months later, the first of the products (SK-II magnetic wand) was launched.
P&G SIGNS MULTI PRODUCT PDA INCORPORATING FIRST PRODUCT LICENCE
OBJ Limited (OBJ or the Company) is pleased to announce that OBJ and Procter and Gamble (P&G), the world’s largest consumer products company, have entered into a suite of agreements including a multi‐product development agreement (PDA) and an initial licensing agreement (Initial Licence) that sets the course to commercialize OBJ’s magnetic micro‐array technology.
The PDA, Initial Licence and associated product development work plans comprise a multi‐product, multi‐category program that grants P&G world‐wide exclusive access to OBJ’s nonpowered micro‐array technology in specific consumer product categories.
The agreement package includes the over‐arching multi‐product and multi‐category PDA, the key terms of the master License that will apply to all new products developed under the PDA and work plans for the development of the first three products to utilize OBJ’s magnetic micro‐array technology, which includes the Initial Licence for the first of these products.
I have been thinking about what some posters have suggested – that the quarterly was released earlier than usual (a week before it’s due) because there is material news brewing that could necessitate its own separate announcement at any time now. As one poster suggested, the company would not want to be criticised for including this in the quarterly statement because the material news ‘co-incidentally’ arose at about the same time. So is that why the OBJ board, for the first time as long as I can remember, released the quarterly a whole week early? It is unprecedented. Reporting obligations have 99% of the time been complied with by the OBJ board on the final day a report is due. I recall that the half-yearly, or it could have been the last quarterly, was released 2 days before it was due (which I thought was very unusual). But a whole week for the current quarterly? What’s going on at OBJ headquarters that has necessitated such early organisation?
Glyn has suggested that the success of the P&G development program has generated more interest, and re-opened doors that had been shut in OBJ's face years ago, from other major international companies. Perhaps we will see today, or in the next week, another P&G-type PDA with another of these international companies? Maybe Coty licensing deal is about to be signed on the dotted line? Or maybe the electric toothbrush talks have resulted in an evaluation agreement.
Putting aside matters that we know are clearly ‘in the works’ and we probably won’t receive any update for a while (e.g., GSK analgesics, P&G Bodyguard), I have come up with a hypothetical list of announcements any one of which could be made any time now:
- “Coty and OBJ (finally) execute licensing deal in relation to dermaportation technology.”
- “Colgate enters into product development and evaluation agreement in relation to electric toothbrush.”
- “Reckitt Benckiser enters into Product Development Agreement to develop a suite of products incorporating OBJ technology to enhance delivery of their surface and hygiene care products.”
- “Pfizer enters into Product Development Agreement to incorporate OBJ technology into animal vaccine patches.”
The stuff of fairy tales? Perhaps. But nobody saw the P&G PDA coming exactly one year ago did they? The P&G PDA was completely out of left field. Maybe today or the next few days we will see something similar. This is, after all, disruptive technology we’re talking about.
Always hopeful in light of the company’s progress to date.
J
(20min delay)