COVID19 - competitive landscape

Long term, I really hope BIT’s pre-clinical antiviral portfolio proves valuable.

However, in my view, it is unlikely that BIT will have a big (or any) role to play in the current pandemic.

Even if they get a positive hit for SARS-CoV-2 in a lab, this is likely a very long way off (especially if the hits only involve compounds other than BIT225) from having a commercialised product able to treat COCID-19 patients in the clinic. If BIT announces a positive hit in the lab for SARS-CoC-2, no doubt some people will rush in and reflexively buy and there will be a spike in the share price.

Unless the results are beyond spectacular, it is likely the share price will drift downwards after this spike (as it has done countless times in the past) as:
- traders exit
- people realise the competition in the COVID-19 treatment space is enormous; and
- it becomes clear the probability of BIT commercialising a product for the current pandemic is low at best.

For long-term value investors, it is always critically important to understand the competitive landscape before making an investment decision. Below is a small fraction of the many treatments under development for COVID-19 that current and prospective long-term BIT investors should make themselves familiar with.

No doubt if you went to the local stock market message boards (i.e. hotcopper equivalents) in the various countries where these companies are based, posters/traders/rampers would be writing just as confidently about how “company X” is a sure thing as posters on hotcopper do about BIT.


1. https://ir.moleculin.com/press-releases/detail/162/moleculin-announces-active-compound-in-wp1122-reduces

2. https://www.abcellera.com/news/2020-03-abcellera-and-lilly-codevelopment

3. https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/fda-clears-the-way-for-ridgeback-biotherapeutics-to-begin-human-testing-of-a-promising-potential-treatment-for-covid-19-301036307.html

4. https://investor.regeneron.com/news-releases/news-release-details/regeneron-announces-important-advances-novel-covid-19-antibody

5. http://www.oyageninc.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/OyaGen-Press-for-03102020.pdf

6. https://investors.vir.bio/news-releases/news-release-details/samsung-biologics-and-vir-biotechnology-enter-agreement-large

7. https://investors.alnylam.com/press-release?id=24656

8. https://www.wsj.com/articles/supercomputers-help-researchers-speed-drug-discovery-for-covid-19-11586888735

9. https://www.immunic-therapeutics.com/2020/04/21/immunic-inc-reports-that-imu-838-a-selective-oral-dhodh-inhibitor-has-demonstrated-preclinical-activity-against-sars-cov-2-and-explores-plans-for-a-phase-2-clinical-trial-in-covid-19-patients/

10. https://www.beronigroup.com/2020/03/13/beroni-group-advances-research-and-development-of-medical-solution-for-coronavirus-covid-19/

11. https://www.beyondspringpharma.com/pressreleases/info.aspx?itemid=2212

12. https://www.cocrystalpharma.com/news/press-releases/detail/91/cocrystal-pharma-expands-exclusive-license-agreement-with

13. https://www.distributedbio.com/covid19

14. https://www.enanta.com/investors/news-releases/press-release/2020/Enanta-Pharmaceuticals-Announces-Efforts-to-Discover-a-Treatment-for-the-Novel-Coronavirus-Disease-COVID-19/default.aspx

15. http://www.ipharminc.com/press-release/2020/4/20/screening-of-11552-compounds-identifies-innovation-pharmaceuticals-brilacidin-as-one-of-the-most-promising-potential-inhibitors-of-the-novel-coronavirus

16. https://finance.yahoo.com/news/nanoviricides-president-dr-anil-diwan-101500773.html

17. https://www.redhillbio.com/RedHill/Templates/showpage.asp?DBID=1&LNGID=1&TMID=178&FID=2432&PID=0&IID=15261

18. https://www.bold-therapeutics.com/news-post?Bold+Therapeutics+and+the+University+of+Ottawa+Initiate+Research+Partnership+to+Study+BOLD-100+in+the+Treatment+of+COVID-19

19. https://www.apeiron-biologics.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/20200402_APEIRON_Phase-2-EU-trial_APN01_ENG.pdf

20.