I’m back from my self-imposed exile to provide information regarding yesterday’s presentation. I’m not a journalist nor having any medical background. English is my second language, so pardon me for any grammatical / medical term / business term errors.
I attended the Imugene Small Caps presentation and finally met Leslie for the first time. She was very enthusiastic about the trial progress without overselling. I truly believe she’s honest and the most credible source of information about Imugene.
There were about 35 people, mostly stock brokers and a bit of existing & potential investors. In total there were 2 presentations – 15 min by Acrux, another 15 min by Imugene. I will not write about Acrux presentation.
Nicholas Ede & Leslie Chong were there, but only Leslie was presenting. Note Leslie is currently both Managing Director & CEO of Imugene.
She started off the presentation by connecting Imugene to Yervoy – Axel Hoos, & Viralytic – Paul Hopper. Then the usual Imugene introduction (brochure attached at the end). At the end of the session, there was a short QA session & after that I managed to grab Leslie to ask additional questions. Below is the summary of the QA session & my conversation with her:
ASX v NASDAQ Listing
The company was setup in Australia instead of US / UK which have bigger market because it is cheaper to list here & because R&D tax incentive, plus Paul Hopper – Axel Hoos connection. Axel wants us to list in the US (dual listing) once the company grows bigger in the future.
Share Price (SP) & Market Cap (MC)
Yes, Imugene somewhat monitors & cares about this. Leslie said she nearly screamed when it reached 4.0c, although she doesn’t think of the dollar value as she focuses on the science. However according to her, Axel said we’re still undervalued even at $100m MC.
HER-Vaxx Trial Progress
We are almost 2/3 way from the end of Phase 1b. This most likely means that the 2nd cohort has been filled & we’re just waiting for the interim results. Note it took 6 months from 1st patient enrolled to announcement of EPD due to the following reasons:
Preparation - logistical & approval issues which took 4 months
The actual 1st cohort recruitment only took 2 months
So the 2nd cohort recruitment is expected to be 2 months, ditto 3rd cohort, or even faster as news spread regarding the positive results.
After the RP2D data comes out, which is on 2H 2018, there will be Ph1b combination studies (HER-Vaxx + Herceptin, HER-Vaxx + Chemo). The studies are being discussed with Prof Peter Schmid. These will be independent of the Ph2 study, which will still continue right after RP2D data. She again stated the Ph2 is fully funded.
The EPD result was only a short summary without raw data provided because Ursula Wiederman is meticulously scientific & would not allow incomplete release of information. When the data is complete, I assume at the end of Ph1b, then we will finally see a clear picture of the results.
Leslie is confident that her very experienced team can deliver a successful Ph1b results.
Side Effect & Long Term Immune Response
So far no safety & toxicity issues. There is no long term immune response issue as they will just peter out like vitamins.
IP
Imugene puts IP on every single thing they have.
Potential Deal & Phase 3 Trial
At the moment the focus is fully on the science & to deliver the trials successfully, but there will be a time when the directors decide to step up a gear & look for a deal – say Axel may tell GSK, hey look we’re now ready.
But anytime between now to the end of Ph2, there’s always a chance that a big pharma might offer a deal.
She said she’s not even worried about Ph3 as they will probably get a deal before then. Once a deal is done, Ph3 can be expedited by the big pharma.
JIMHO
I think the market underestimated the importance of Leslie’s appointment as MD. One should see from Leslie’s point of view. For her to accept the position without pay rise means unnecessary burden & responsibilities, she’s now not only managing the company, but also accountable to the shareholders. But most importantly, and what I feel the market underestimated, this shows her confidence of the technology. And being the person who knows the most of the trial & research progress so far, she wouldn’t accept the position unless they are heading in the right direction.
The appointment was a hint that good news is waiting for those who are patient enough to let the science do the work, much like the appointment of Prof Peter Schmid to IMU scientific board back in Dec last year.
Also don’t forget Leslie’s interview with Rachel Jones at FNN in March: Rachel Jones: Last question. What can investors expect over the next six months and what can you expect for news flow?
Leslie Chong: We’ve had a really rich news flow of significant findings in the HER-Vaxx program, as well as the mimotopes. With HER-Vaxx, I’d like to put that into the Phase 2, so we’re working towards within the Phase 1b to get that into the Phase 2 clinical study. And then with the mimotopes, we will be working with the Medical University of Vienna to get that expedited, so that we can put that also into the clinic. And then with arginine, we are as I said earlier, we’re working very closely with Baker IDI and hopefully we’ll have some news flow around that bit, as well.
If these findings are well received by the market, we are potentially looking at significantly higher SP & market cap in 5 months, excluding last month when the interview was conducted. This reminded me of Switzer interview back in November when he said “You’ve gone from 2c stock to 19c stock”, maybe Switzer has a crystal ball LOL!!!
JIMHO this company is indeed very undervalued. We are onto something really big here.
Good luck to all holders!
Cheers,
IMU Price at posting:
3.4¢ Sentiment: Buy Disclosure: Held
(20min delay)