On a quiet day, I thought I'd have another look at what PRR disclosed in their SEC files. It is amazingly detailed and definitely 'warts and all'. Even includes the employment agreements of senior personnel.
I tried to find details of how many shares BNYM would initially buy, (and when), but couldn't find it. Not saying it's not there though. Personally, I felt that at least 5% might be needed to begin with. That would be upwards of 45+ million shares, or about 1.5 million ADR’s. I presumed we'd then see a substantial holder statement from BNYM,in the interim until they onsold their holding.
But I did find this: "We are filing this registration statement .... in anticipation of the listing of our American Depositary Shares, or ADSs, on the NASDAQ Global Market under the symbol “PBMD.” The Bank of New York Mellon, acting as depositary, will register and deliver our ADSs, each of which will represent 30 of our ordinary shares".(My understanding is that one 'ADR' contains thirty ADS’s. )
And this: "Our ADS holders are not shareholders and do not have shareholder rights. The Bank of New York Mellon, as depositary, registers and delivers our American Depositary Shares, or ADSs. Our ADS holders will not be treated as shareholders and do not have the rights of shareholders." Confusing?
So if holders of ADS's are "not shareholders" would they be required to notify the company when their holding reached the usual trigger point? .......................................................... If you've got a minute or two, heres a few other items that gave me some food for thought. Several just represent good business practice by PRR in my view.
"Our future success depends to a large extent on the continued services of our senior management and key scientific personnel. We are currently in the process of obtaining key man insurance for our chief executive officer, chief operating officer and chief medical officer. We are not aware that any member of our senior management or key scientific personnel is contemplating ending their relationship with Prima BioMed."
"Our competitors in Australia and elsewhere are numerous and include major pharmaceutical companies, biotechnology firms, and other research institutions..... Many of these competitors have greater financial and technical resources and manufacturing and marketing capabilities than we do, and have more experience in conducting clinical trials and obtaining FDA, Australia's Therapeutic Goods Administration and other regulatory approvals."
"We rely on a number of third party researchers and contractors to produce, collect, and analyse data regarding the safety and efficacy of our product candidates. We have quality control and quality assurance in place to mitigate these risks, as well as professional liability and clinical trial insurance to cover financial damages in the event that human testing is done incorrectly or the data is analyzed incorrectly."
"Australian takeovers laws may discourage takeover offers being made for us or may discourage the acquisition of large numbers of our shares."
"There are several products in clinical development for the treatment of ovarian cancer. These include new chemotherapeutic agents and products targeting the immune system such as vaccines and antibody therapies. Antibodies are forms of passive immunotherapy and offer greatest benefit when they influence tumour growth. Avastin, an antibody already approved for the treatment of colon cancer has recently completed a study in ovarian cancer patients in remission. There was no survival benefit of using the drug and remission was prolonged on average just over three months."
"While we prepare for further clinical studies of CvacTM, selective patient treatment for ovarian cancer patients using CvacTM continues in Australia, through the TGA’s Special Access Scheme."
"Currently we are undertaking a feasibility study to determine when automation of the CvacTM manufacturing process should be implemented. Execution of this aspect of manufacturing will enable approval of the automated process by regulators and allow Prima BioMed to be ready for the potential commercialization and scale up of the CvacTM production in a time and cost effective process.... We are evaluating expansion of the facilities of existing partners and/or engagement of new manufacturing facilities within or outside of the existing territories."
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