Professor Yuman Fong suggested recently it was not too far fetched to suggest one day a virus would be invented to cure cancer. He noted meningitis which attacks only the brain cells as an example of a virus that attacks a particular part of the body, before outlining how he and his colleagues developed a virus that only attacks cancer cells. Viruses have been thought of as a potential cure for cancer for many years now. pfizer.com notes on their website as early as the 1900s, scientists observed that viruses could kill cancer cells. According to Pfizer in 1904, an Italian woman diagnosed with cervical cancer had the added misfortune of being bitten by a dog. After she received the rabies vaccine (a weakened form of the rabies virus), however, something surprising happened: her large tumor disappeared and she lived cancer-free for another eight years. Whilst in the 1990s Scientists discovered how to genetically alter the herpes virus so a patient would not become ill with the infection. They then learned how to modify its genes so it could replicate within cancer cells, optimising its cancer-fighting abilities.
In some cases, the body’s immune system destroys these viruses before they can attack the tumor. Delivering the virus to the cancer site is seen by Pfizer as another challenge. Enter Yuman Fong, the City of Hope and Imugene Limited, a clinical stage immuno-oncology company based in Australia, who have developed a resilient and strong oncolytic virus to hunt down, target and kill only cancer cells within humans. In May this year they (IMU - ASX) announced that the first patient was dosed in a Phase 1 clinical trial evaluating the safety of their novel cancer-killing virus CF33-hNIS VAXINIA when used in people with advanced solid tumors. The City of Hope-developed oncolytic virus has been shown to shrink colon, lung, breast, ovarian and pancreatic cancer tumors in preclinical laboratory and animal models. At the time Daneng Li, M.D., principal investigator and assistant professor of City of Hope’s Department of Medical Oncology & Therapeutics Research, noted “Our previous research demonstrated that oncolytic viruses can stimulate the immune system to respond to and kill cancer, as well as stimulate the immune system to be more responsive to other immunotherapies, including checkpoint inhibitors,” he said “Now is the time to further enhance the power of immunotherapy, and we believe CF33-hNIS has the potential to improve outcomes for our patients in their battle with cancer.” Last week in an interview with KPLC TV in California Professor Yuman Fong reiterated Vaxinia is a virus capable of killing cancer in patients and suggested he was convinced Vaxinia could one day become “human therapy," working in combination with any number of immunotherapy treatments to provide support for cancer patients who up until now have had no form of treatment available to them.
Clearly CF33 and Vaxinia are at the core of the valuable intellectual property sourced and ultimately licensed by Imugene Chairman Hopper for his now ASX listed vehicle IMU. As we know many people are now keen to pursue the use of oncolytic viruses to fight cancer. Oncolytic viruses fall under the umbrella of immunotherapy, a dynamic area of cancer treatment that has advanced rapidly in recent years. Given its momentum, the field has even attracted unexpected supporters such as Napster co-founder Sean Parker, who recently donated $250 million to a new cancer immunotherapy research center. Considering Imugene's recent success in stimulating the immune system to fight off cancer utilising their B cell vaccines in addition to CF33 and now Vaxinia, one may well ask “Why is the IMU share price hovering in the $1bn share price range, when clearly the intellectual property alone is worth in excess of $10bn to $20bn USD, when one considers the ability of CF33 to work in concert with any number of Car T therapies as witnessed by the recent poster presentations at the SIT Conference in Boston?” Why this recent data is manna from heaven for Car T manufacturers who until now have had no way of successfully treating and reducing solid tumour progression within patients. The mind boggles at the potential license fees available to Imugene from the Amgen, Novartis’, Eureka, Celularity and Arovella’s of the world who require Imugene’s CF33, Vaxinia, CD19 Oncarlytics platform to make their own products viable in this most lucrative of market segments.
Despite Professor Fongs interviews and Fridays announcement that Vaxinia was progressing safely through the stringent dosage limiting hurdles imposed on it by the FDA, during a phase 1 trial in up to 100 solid tumour patients in the USA and Australia, clearly the market wants to see efficacy signalling data before they finally give CF33 and Vaxinia the green light to enter the share price stratosphere. However given what the market already knows from Fridays poster presentations in Boston, one may well ask “Why hasn’t the share price taken off to be worth well over a dollar, given that the watered down yearly targets presented by health care share analysts of upwards of 50 and 70 cents don’t even attribute an NPV or cash flow modelling projections for Imugene's Oncarlytics platform, CF33 and Vaxinia? Is Imugene communicating the message effectively to the public in order to create real value for shareholders? Should the Board of Imugene look more closely at the field of communications and marketing to engage ethical individuals such as Parker, or other sophisticated investors and funds?”
Up until now IMU CEO Leslie Chong has carried the weight of most of Imugene’s PR and marketing, though with her predominantly scientific background this is not her skill set. Yes, she is doing a magnificent job, and who better to support her than Professor Fong and Dr Saul Priceman, both of whom are excellent communicators. But clearly a broader market reach is required if the stock is to escape the clutches of rampant traders. Traders who consistently cap the stock at low levels, bashing it down before buying it back at lower levels to turn a buck day in day out, at the behest of weak handed retail holders. Increased volumes are now needed to take the brakes of the traders and allow IMU to run toward its true valuation. An effective marketing and communication strategy could go a long way toward increasing exposure, market interest and subsequent share volumes for what is game changing medication. Medication that could alter forever the way we treat cancer.
Perhaps it’s high time Imugene Chairman Paul Hopper began communicating with the media and public. He himself is an entrepreneur who has the ability to speak clearly and concisely on all things Imugene. John Barrington, a Perth-based strategy and governance consultant, who chairs the Perth Festival, Anglicare WA and Curtin University School of Management Advisory Board and last year was awarded the AICD PwC Director Award for Excellence in the NFP Sector, suggests “If you can raise the profile of an issue through public commentary and get the community, government and industry thinking constructively about it, that’s valuable. All organisations are actors in their sector and the community; they need to find their voice on issues that matter”. Maurice Newman, AC, FAICD, notes, “All too often, directors stay silent or hide behind their organisation’s brand rather than rely on their individual authority. I believe the public wants to hear from business people who can put forth a reasoned opinion on important issues. And that the views of respected business leaders make a difference. When communication is effective, it leaves all parties involved satisfied and feeling accomplished. By delivering messages clearly, there is no room for misunderstanding or alteration of messages, which decreases the potential for conflict. Maybe David Meerman Scott had a point when he said "Nobody cares about your products and services (except you).What people care about are themselves and solving their problems.”
Friday’s breakthrough announcements and Imugene’s scientific achievements clearly are not cutting through to the investment community, or resonating with the public at large. And as the Board of Imugene is charged with the responsibility of creating shareholder value, something needs to be done. Random tweets at infrequent intervals and a few Proactive Investor interviews simply aren’t making an impact. The recent FOX interview was undoubtely a great step forward. Though maybe it’s time to change strategy and outsource to a serious media, PR, communications and marketing firm in the US, in order to tell the world what Imugene is all about. Imugene recently outsouced manufacturing, why not outsource communications, marketing and media? Questioning the financial managers of the company as I did in my most recent post may not be the answer, as they could in fact be bound by confidentiality issues. Even if they were in discussions with the Merck, Pfizer and Roche’s of the world, they may be bound by privacy and confidentiality clauses, rendering them unable to reveal their financial strategies with the public and shareholders alike. Therefore the hiring of a cutting edge and experienced communications and marketing firm may well provide the solution for Imugene shareholders. Shareholders who are desperate to close the yawning gap between the prevailing share price and the real value attributable to Imugene’s burgeoning war chest of immunotherapy jewels. Here’s hoping the ensuing week, the forthcoming Eureka/Imugene poster presentation and the upcoming conferences featuring Yuman and Saul go some of the way toward closing this ever increasing aperture.
DYOR - Seek investment advice as and where necessary - Opinions Only
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