Thanks GB. A push to get more retail involved and LD presenting at the 18th Biotech Summit in Freo this weekend...
WA biotechs Argenica Therapeutics, PYC Therapeutics confident of its ability to attract investors
Cheyanne EncisoThe West Australian
Thu, 11 July 2024 6:00PM
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The boss of listed biotech Argenica Therapeutics wants to use the emotive narrative of “changing the lives of patients” to bring more investors on the ride in an industry recently described as facing a tough sell.
Argenica’s share price has surged nearly 170 per cent in the past year to 93¢ but chief executive Liz Dallimore reckons more work is needed to attract new investors, particularly retail shareholders.
It comes after a challenging year for the nascent biotech sector, with only two biotechs listed on the Australian Securities Exchange in 2023.
“To the specialist biotech funds, it’s easier, they understand the process of drug development,” Dr Dallimore said.
“(But) we also have to look at the retail investors so our job is to really change the narrative so they understand what it is that they are buying into and the timeframes.
“There’s an emotive element to biotech, we’re all here to ultimately change the lives of patients so for (Argenica), it’s patients suffering pretty horrendous neurological conditions.”
Argenica — a spin-out from the University of WA and The Perron Institute — is developing a drug aimed at protecting brain cells following a stroke or other acute central nervous system injuries.
It is conducting a phase 2 clinical trial in 10 hospitals across Australia for patients who have suffered an acute ischaemic stroke using its lead drug candidate ARG-007.
Chief executive of fellow listed clinical-stage biotech PYC Therapeutics, Rohan Hockings, has doubled down on its strategy to focus on only curing “the easiest” single-gene disorders, caused by DNA changes in one specific gene.
“What investors don’t like about biotech is that there’s a very low probability of success, if you start a clinical trial you’ve got about a one in 10 shot of getting a drug onto market,” he said.
“We only go after single-gene diseases and immediately that takes you to 50-60 per cent likely of getting a drug to market.”
The company worth about $580 million recently received a so-called orphan drug designation from the US Food and Drug Administration for its first-in-class drug candidate — known as PYC-001 — designed to address the root cause of autosomal dominant optic atrophy, a progressive and irreversible blinding eye disease.
Additionally, PYC is also conducting a clinical trial in retinitis pigmentosa (RP11) — another degenerative eye disease which begins in childhood and leads to legal blindness by middle age — using its drug VP-001, which received a fast track status from the FDA last August.
The company is also aiming to develop a drug aimed at treating polycystic kidney disease, with a clinical trial scheduled in early 2025.
Dr Dallimore and Mr Hockings are among the 30 bosses of listed biotechs presenting at this week’s 18th Bioshares biotech summit on Friday and Saturday. It’s the first time the summit will be held in WA.
Following a “successful” event in Hobart last year, event organiser Mark Pachacz said the move to Fremantle would provide the opportunity for biotechs to access new retail and institutional investors in WA.
“There’s a lot of WA government support here for the sector,” he said.
“WA has got quite a lot of research institutes and they’ve actually had a lot of success in commercialising their technologies.”
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