Re:
Post #:71269708Hi
@Pledge,
what a great day to be alive, eh? Wouldn't be dead for quids.
Here's the way I see it through my eyes:
- the current exec. management are going to remain in place as a result of the resolutions overwhelmingly passed at the AGM. There is no takeover offer received or being sought by the Board;
- company officers, as a whole, are very aware of and responsive to the shareholder focus on the FDA's upcoming review of Mesoblast's data. Noone was hiding.
- in response to my question &, if I understood him correctly, the relevant officer indicated that the company doesn't need to wait for any further lot release results to bring existing drug product to account & will bring it all to account immediately on receipt of confirmation of marketing approval by the FDA;
- the Chief Executive Officer gave up almost an hour of his time after the conclusion of the AGM to answer questions from the ordinary retail shareholders present in the room. He made no move to leave. Neither did Ms Jane Bell who was sitting alongside him. Nor Andrew Chaponell. Nor Ms Sivakumar. Nor Paul Hughes. Nor Ms Geraldine Storten, Head of Regulatory Affairs.
- when asked from the floor, the CEO told everyone present that if there were to be another capital raising they would, as ordinary shareholders, have a right to participate.
- when asked from the floor if he also would 'put his own money in', the CEO said that he definitely would do so & would participate in the next capital raising.
- when asked about other biotech in the marketplace, and Athersys, Inc. in particular, the CEO commented strongly on their SP, and asked if his interrogator (that would be me) had seen it i.e. the Athersys SP, lately. I said I hadn't that day and the CEO said it was in the gutter & their IP is at risk. He said the Board was determined that fate would not befall Mesoblast, but didn't see a need to buy any of Athersys tech.
- when asked about Dr Steven Bauer ex-OTAT, the CEO enquired curiously as to where he was now, and when told Bauer was at Wake Froest U supervising research on 'mesenchymal stromal cells' laughed and indicated Bauer isn't part of the challenge facing Mesoblast any more.
- when asked whether Mesoblast took heart from the rash of draft cellular therapy guidances published by the FDA over the last 6 months, the CEO said they did, and that it was significant that they were only being published now.
- when asked about the time to be taken to do the work to produce the additional 'potency data', the CEO said it was being done now, & it is necessarily an iterative validation-like process.
- when asked about the time for the FDA to consider a relodged BLA, the CEO said that a couple of months was all that he saw as necessary for the FDA to consider this new data, and that it's 'only potency data'.
- when asked other things, he said other things, without apparent reservation or 'weasel words' & didn't set himself apart from the retail shareholders present.
All in all, I was impressed. I've been to a few AGMs in my time & I've never seen a CEO stand and deliver with such aplomb, quiet certitude & avoidance of hyperbole.
What a pity you had other commitments, and weren't able to front up and interrrogate the CEO yourself, especially given your bias-driven bathtub full of unsubstantiated conspiracy speculation.
IMO it was a very good thing for retail shareholders - including you who continue to hold - that CEO Itescu, his Board and exec management were on the job.
IMO you need to stop looking in the rear view mirror.
Cheers
GLTAH & DYOR
(20min delay)