the blind may yet see

Following BDM's exciting announcement this morning, there is hope that those made blind due to macular retinopathy - prem babies, the elderly and diabetics - may one day see. Whether the market removes its blinkers towards this promising biotech is another matter...

I guess the complete lack of a market response to what could be a significant medical breakthrough should not surprise. It is frequently said that the 'market is always right' - and this is true in the sense that the majority will always outweigh a few individuals - but the majority is often proved wrong in the longer term. Galileo faced the Inquisition for daring to suggest that the earth revolved around the sun. Now, though, his theory is accepted as common knowledge.

BDM's announcement this morning is extremely significant since it amounts to a breakthrough in what has been an intractable condition: blindness or sight loss in premature babies, the elderly and diabetics. The company reported this morning that BDM-E 'was a powerful agent for repairing retinal damage to blood vessels...with the highest dose responsible for an 80% return to normal levels for damaged blood vessels,' concluding that it was 'an outstanding result.'

The market has no doubt decided that achieving such results in mice is one thing and that replicating it in humans is another. And certainly this is not a stock for those who want results NOW. But in the same way that biotech powerhouse Cochlear was not built in a day, those willing to take a stake in an very promising junior biotech might like to do some research on BDM. Australia already has over 1m diabetics and the U.S. has 20m. The market for a drug with this sort of efficacy is therefore potentially enormous. 192 patients have already been recruited for the 1/11 clinical trial to further test the drug.

BDM also has the LAIV (birdflu) vaccine which the FDR is now supporting as the more promising approach to dealing with a potential avian flu epidemic and a number of other interesting technologies under development.

I have held from early days and remain bemused at the market's indifference to its highly promising suite of drugs. The stock is thinly traded and is close to all-time lows despite the progress made towards its drug milestones. It's one to watch in my view.

I have a vested interest so caveat emptor.

Gupper