I am a specialist doctor and been following the UNI story over...

I am a specialist doctor and been following the UNI story over this eventful year. I have invested significantly in UNI however,I have significant doubts about the company. I would like to raise the following points based on the research that I have carried out and invite comments.I have no intention of downramping or upramping this as the story on paper sounds great, its the reality that matters.

An important part of research includes the track record of the company's CEO. I have seen his presentations about the unitract syringe etc.
Regarding Mr shortall's track record:
He has been associated with 3 companies that have gone defunct. The last one Formulab neuronetics was based on the invention by Richter who was at one time was on the BRW top 400 rich list. The company had at one point a market cap of 400 million and Mr shortall was hired to help list it on the nasdaq. mr shortall also got his brother Eugene ( Who is senior vice president of RTFS , i.e one of key management personnel for unilife) to invest in the company. After the product was demonstrated to american investors it was considered a dud and the share price collapsed.
Mr shortall was quoted as saying when asked if it was stupidity ""No. I may have been naive in believing in the technology," he says. His other venture that followed was Sigma Pty Global which also was deregistered by ASIC.

Reference: http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/01/16/1073878029672.html?from=storyrhs&oneclick=true

2. Shareholdings : There are 2 share holders in the top 20 list which include Roger williamson (3.29%) and Merkaba limited (3.95%). There are reports that roger williamson does not exist and merkaba ltd is an entity controlled by Mr shortall . Additional share holders include
Qoute from article : " Ms White's barristers, Kevin Ryan and Paul Castley, suggested that "Roger Williamson", a mysterious British investor who is Unilife's largest shareholder with 10 million shares through a company called Merkaba Ltd, was in fact "an alias or nom de plume" for Mr Shortall, and that the shares were in fact controlled by Mr Shortall." ( jan 17 2004).

I would really like to know who has sold in the past month as in the past 'roger williamson has sold through merkaba' or via a seperate entity called Underline pty whose sole director is Stephen allen , Mr shortall's son. Incidentally the vice president of marketing and communications is Mr Stephen allan but there is no mention of his relationship with Mr shortall ( eugene's relationship is outlined)


3. Other personal issues raised in the media but I do not feel that personal issues need to be brought up.

However the above for me does raise a lot of questions about the current management.

The Product:

I have seen the demonstrations etc. There is no doubt that the product is good and would go a long way in reducing infections , blood borne diseases and reduce sharps injuries for healthcare staff.
The concern I have is the competetion and futurection costs and market penetration.

I do not need to spell out the particular competitors but BD and RVP have a combined 87% of the share . Check out the RTI syringes, They are just as good , I personally as a doctor do not feel I need to change the brand if I was using the RVP . RTI already has contracts in place and is producing syringes of various sizes and has sales agreements. www.vanishpoint.com. Additionally I would recommend one to look at the marketing obstacles in healthcare services.


I agree that Sanofi Aventis has an agreement with unilife for prefilled vaccines but the question is when will it materialise. RTI has a current share price of 1.66 dolars and its market CAP approx 33 million. The overwhelming positive is the contract ( still awaiting) for the list of drugs on prefilled syringes.

I am also worried about the actual production of the actual syringes, I know that the plant is currently being built in pennsylvania but the syringes were meant to be in production sometime in 2004. what happened to the plant in western sydney?

For me the overarching issue is the ability of the CEO to take this to fruition. Based on history (0/3)
he odds are against it. I am also aware about the incentives gven to Mr shortall which have been a pattern throughout the previous years. The one overiding target is the production of the product which has been missed , many a time.
I hope for all the investors that this is the one time that the product does succeed and does not turn out to be just hype. I really do not want to be reading another How much have you lost thread ( see CVI).

There are positives and negatives to every company an UNI is no different , my intention is based on research to provide information so an investor is able to make a balanced view on the company.Looking forward to hearing additional comments.
Good Luck and merry christmas

DYOR