Dear WMHB,
I am one off the many IMU investors who appreciate yourvery considerable efforts to drive communication and understanding of the gamutof issues relating to our investment.I particularly appreciated your post of 9th July “ The eleventh hour”, where you have become much more definitive in your disappointment in the commercial progress of the company to date.You, like me, are a substantial shareholder who has much to gain if IMU delivers on it’s commercial and financial promise. We differ in 1 respect; I believe your faith in Paul Hopper is misplaced, even if it has diminished somewhat in the last 6 to 12 months.I think you have been mislead in regard to Paul’s ASX Executive Chair track record.I am very reliably informed that the Viralytics/Merck deal belonged to the CEODr Malcolm McColl and the Chief Scientist Dr Darren Shaften, not Paul.The deal was their baby.Hopper simply represented the Board as non-executive Chair.
When you put this deal toone side, in the 10 years that he has held the Executive Chair role at IMU on avery hefty remuneration package for a micro-cap biotech, he hasn’t delivered adeal.I referred to the IMU situation previously (4th July) and the reason I bang on about it is that we could find ourselves in a really dire situation if the following happens…1. True to form, the management team do not produce a deal in the near future, say 4-6 weeks and 2. The science continues to be pushed out i.e. to the end of this year/early 2024.In this scenario, the market will punish the stock brutally, and we could see it trade down to 3 to 4 cents. If that happens, a smart acquirer might be able to pick up the company for say 15 to 20 cents in a hostile takeover. The current disgracefully weak share price makes this scenario a real risk, where previously most of us would not have dreamt of it.
Paul is a successful entrepreneurwho has made a lot of money by securing the rights to, or ownership of promisingbiotech IP, then listing/selling that IP into ASX vehicles and lining up “annuity”style income streams via well remunerated executive chair roles. It iscertainly the case that the micro micro cap space more or less wouldn’t existwithout the Paul Hoppers of the world, however it should always be understoodthat the entrepreneur’s primary motivation is their own financial advancement.They are not trained or cultured in the fine art of company leadership on midto large cap ASX boards. The Chairs of such company Boards, in order to execute their role to to best affect, need to be dedicated to theirrole as the champion of the companies’ shareholders.
I hope and pray that theshare price doesn’t fall below 8 cents, and that the atrocious situation wefind ourselves as shareholders is soon alleviated by the outcomes that we havebeen waiting for, and expecting, for so long. However, if we do find ourselves,and our company in a truly diabolical scenario as I have described above, wewould need to be very clear headed as to why it happened, and who were ourallies, and who were not. My average entry price is slightly above 1 cent per share, so in all probability, I will enjoy a satisfactory financial outcome. I hope that the likes of Pravin Kaumaya, Ursula Wiedermann, the boys from the City of Hope and all the other scientists and Oncologists that have made serious contributions to our science get to see it well served, and for the sake of all the cancer sufferers, very quickly!
These are my opinions only, and should not be regarded as investment advice.
(20min delay)