I attended last nights Melbourne investor session along with about 25-30 others. It was great to re-acquaint with & meet other like-minded investors, many who grace these pages with their wisdom, will leave it to them to out themselves if they wish.
Like many here, I have been apprehensive of the new strategy, especially the timelines and approach of not releasing data until published in journal or at conferences.
However I came away from the presso having now understood DCB's approach and the rational behind the strategy, and most importantly fully convinced that the Damian, Michelle and the rest of the RAC team are the right team, at the right time, to bring about a transaction with big pharma.
In this presso, Damian did not spend much time going through the slides, only flipping to ones occassionally to make a point or answer a question. He spoke confidently and knowledgeably, he presents far better in person than on camera. (By the way, the session was videoed, inlcuding Q&A. I think it was mentoined it was going to released, so I urge everyone to watch, you will catch more ot the nuances & body language).
During the presso it became clearer to to me that the new strategy is more than just getting the AML & breast cancer trials up & running (and RC220 developed). It's about presenting a program & data that partners & potential acquirers will be attracted to. Damian spoke at length about how BP works, partners and looks at acquiring drugs/firms like bisantrene/RAC. It is obvious that his experience at BP (and Michelle's as well), has guided the new strategy. I think we should all appreciate & understand that this management team is now laser focused on partnerships &/or acquisition ('under the radar' is sooo 2022
) and they have the contacts & experience to position RAC for exactly that. I think of it like this - if RAC was a 4x100 sprint , the Tillett/Lynch team have done an outstanding job getting us to a winning position at the top of the bend, but we now need the sprinters DCB/Michelle to get us first across the line.
It's clear there are conversations happening with pharma now, Damian even mentoined a couple times the chat he had with one the previous night. They are reaching out to their global networks, and it seems the engagement is real as the bisantrene sorry is getting out there. Michelle mentoined a few times that doctors are 'snapping at their fingers' to get bisantrene, and that orginisations like MD Anderson & Childrens Oncology Group
https://childrensoncologygroup.org/ are notoriously difficult to engage with, but they finding incredible enthusiasm & involvement with them. The doctors want bisantrene.
DCB also explained in detail the rational for not releasing research findings to the market as they occur, but rather in journals & conferences first. This has been a particular bug-bear of mine... He reasoned that the impact will be far greater, albeit later, if these findings are in a journal first, where they have been peer-reviewed, or in conferences in front of an expert audience. The trade-off is a short-term sugar hit, versus a greater long term benefit. ( I know this approach benefits long term holders over traders/short-term holders).
After the session I had good one-on-one conversations with both DCB & Mary. There is no doubt in my mind that Damian is extremely passionate about making RAC a success. He knows what he is doing, yes its a slightly different approach from what out expectations were, but I can see it's derived from a deep understanding of the needs of big pharma in partnering/acquiring, and so he's making RAC attractive in their eyes. IMO we are fortunate to have someone with this understanding as CEO and its now time for us to let him get on with the job rather than dealing with the bullsh*t on social media.
There were a lot of other things covered as well, but I've rabbled on enough for now. So have a look at the video when it comes out to make up your own mind, but me, I'm on the bus !
All the best in your investing !
(20min delay)