$5.08 sounds good to me...
https://www.nabtrade.com.au/investor/insights/latest-news/news/2019/09/four_biotech_stocks3. Mesoblast (MSBLASX)Market capitalisation: $1 billionOne-year total return: 13.5%Analysts’ consensus price target: $5.08We looked at Mesoblast in October 2016 as a promising stem-cell stock when it was trading at $1.16, and again in January 2018 as one of four promising biotechs (can we link to SSR 8 Jan 2018), when it was priced at $1.475: the stock has moved to $2.02, and looks to be only getting started.
Mesoblast specialises in regenerative medicine, using its proprietary stem-cell technology platform, which is based on specialised cells known as mesenchymal lineage adult stem cells. From this platform it is developing treatments for inflammatory ailments, acute graft-versus-host disease, cardiovascular disease and chronic back pain – and it is the latter application that has pricked investors’ ears lately.
Earlier this month, Mesoblast struck a strategic partnership to develop and commercialise a stem cell treatment for chronic lower back pain. The partnership, with Grünenthal, a German company that specialises in pain management treatment, will see the companies work together to commercialise the MPC-06-ID treatment, a Phase 3 stem cell therapy used to treat chronic low back pain caused by degenerative disc disease. Mesoblast says the therapy would be applied to patients who have “exhausted conservative treatment options.” The company is currently completing a phase 3 trial of MPC-06-ID in the US, the results of which are expected in 2020.
Under the Grünenthal deal, the German company will have exclusive commercialisation rights to MPC-06-ID for Europe and Latin America. Mesoblast says it will receive up to $US150 million in upfront payments prior to product launch: the company expects to receive about US$45 million of that in the next 12 months, including a US$20 million payment upon receiving regulatory approval to begin a confirmatory phase III trial in Europe.
Further out, MSB told the stock market that cumulative milestone payments could exceed US$1 billion depending on the final outcome of Phase III studies and patient adoption. Mesoblast will also receive “tiered double-digit royalties” on product sales. What most impressed investors was that the Grünenthal deal is exactly the kind of transaction MSB has talked about in its strategy, which is “to team up with best-in-category commercial leaders to maximise market access for our innovative cellular medicines.” The deal should give investors confidence in Mesoblast’s ability to strike similar partnerships.
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