When I was at school we would travel around rural Nsw attending what were known back then as “Country Parties," meeting kids from other boarding schools in other locations. It was fun to meet, party and make new friends. In time these parties morphed into what became Bachelor and Spinster (B&S) Balls where as young adults we would drink, dance and catch up with both new and old friends throughout the countryside. So much fun was had over one or two beers, or rum for those that way inclined, talking, chatting, dancing, partying and gathering together. For many of us Annual College and University Balls held a similar place in our lives. We established connections, met new faces and forged strong ties with those at similar ages and stages to us.
In the corporate world I found it just as important to establish relationships with as many contacts in the industry as one could. As the part owner of a master fund we would be forever visited by managed funds and stocks spruiking or selling their wares. From hedge funds, to biotechs, growth and index managers we were paid a visit. Bond funds, property funds and mortgage trusts all got a look in. Across town stock brokers were frequently paid a visit by the next upcoming miner or play and my broker would call me up to come in for a presentation or lunch to see what they had to say for themselves. If it was a “really good thing” she may have even invited me in at 10 to 10 to watch the open on the screen, to assess the volumes on offer, the buyers and sellers at open, in the days before we were all teched up as we are now with e brokers.
Today when I look at the volumes going through in the stock we follow here, that being Imugene (IMU ASX), it saddens me to see how a company with such a strong value proposition has such low dollar figures attributed to the daily trading column. Often only 3 or 4 million dollars AUD are traded daily. Why if one relatively large shareholder decides to buy or sell on any given day, the stock moves by up to or over 5% in value. In short there hasn’t been a lot of meeting and greeting going on. When I look at the share register up to 50% of the leading holders were either introduced by an existing investor, or actually work for the company. In terms of investment presentations and roadshows by Imugene, yes there have been a few, but the message clearly isn’t cutting through to the right people in the right marketplace with their hand on the right amount of money to invest. Local brokers with small funds under management, a focus on mining and an inability to comprehend the science behind Imugene's novel technology platforms probably isn’t a great place to start.
Imugene’s recent discussions with JP Morgan do sound promising, as was the addition of the likes of Blackrock, State Street and Vanguard to the register back in 2021. Though I would note that in the US we are moving back toward risk now. At the same time there are a number of specialist Biotech Funds who could form the nucleus of a broad investment base if I were to look at gaining traction for IMU ASX and potentially IMU NASDAQ. Funds such as the Fidelity Select Biotechnology Portfolio (FBIOX), with 7 billion USD under management, could be a great place to start cultivating investment. Or Franklin’s Biotechnology Discovery Fund Class A (FBDIX) with 1.1 Billion under management and the Fidelity Advisor Biotechnology Fund Class A (FBTAX), with 2.4 Billion under management. These funds invest specifically in those companies engaged in the research, development, manufacture, and distribution of biotechnological products, services, and processes, as well as companies that benefit significantly from scientific and technological advances in biotechnology. Meeting, greeting, liaising and keeping these funds abreast of your own product development and business strategy should be par for the course for a savvy IMU business, commercial and financial manager on top of his or her game. It’s definitely not the domain or job of the company scientists to be out and about shaking hands, presenting and at times partying with potential investors. Having ticked off the US leading biotech funds why stop there? There are countless other growth funds, small to mid cap managers, ETF’s, index players, pension funds, ethical investment houses and prominent brokers to visit in and around Wall Street. And why stop there? What about the London market, Europe, Asia and beyond? If the goal of your company is to add value to your shareholders, what better way to increase your share price than to increase the volumes traded each day. It's all about supply and demand is it not?
Imugene does have something to sell. The scientists can sell their value proposition to fellow pharmaceuticals and life science houses however many of these institutions are only interested in end stage ready for market products that can be bolted on to their own pipelines to increase their existing product runways and revenue streams. Hence Imugene's recent strategical manoeuvring toward combinations with Keytruda, Tercentriq and Bavencio, all leading monoclonal antibodies with huge market presence and shortening lifespans. Imugene's B cell vaccines Her Vaxx and PD1 Vaxx, both safe and low in toxicity, having exemplified sound efficacy at relatively low dosage rates, have the potential to sky rocket the sales of Merck, Roche, Merck Germany and Pfizer respectively, once combined with these Big Pharma cash cow drugs at their optimal dosage rates. Keep in mind Imugene’s value proposition doesn’t stop there. They have oncolytic viruses now into Cohort 3 patients wherein ongoing safety has been illustrated together with positive signs of virus infection and signals of efficacy through the replication of the virus in TNBC patients. Back to the value proposition and one notes investors only need to wait till December 9 for further updates on this oncolytic virus progression. If early indications are anything to go by these clinical developments together with Phase 2 combination trials of Imugene's B cell vaccines at optimal dosage rates with leading cancer drugs such as Keytruda, would no doubt turn the head of any Biotech or fund manager worth their salt in the US and beyond.
But it’s simply not just about selling the value proposition to potential investors in the stock. The business, commercial and financial managers of Imugene, are now swimming in large pools of cash following multiple capital raises and the ongoing exercise of company options, not to mention government grants. These managers and commercial directors should be out and about adding value to existing IMU shareholders. The should be commercialising collaborations with partners such as Eureka Therapeutics, Celularity, Arovella Therapeutics and Car T or allogenic therapy providers, all of whom have products which on their own are ineffective in targeting solid tumours in cancer patients, without the infusion of Imugene’s CF33 and CD19 combination that is. Listen to Dr Saul Priceman for 5 minutes to obtain a deeper understanding of the amazing achievements Imugene has made in this oncarlytic space.In mid 2021 Imugene investors started buying and increasing the value of IMU on the ASX based upon (among other things) the fact that in late 2022 following on from clinical trials with the aforementioned collaborators in the oncarlytics space, their would be commercial agreements reached from which to spring board from. Fast forward to late 2022, the pre clinical results are outstanding (as exemplified in recent poster presentations), there has been significant tumour killing, ( I might add when CF33/CD19 is part of the mix), and there are no commercial arrangements on the table. The only commercial arrangement that’s gone down in late 2022 is the decision by these commercial managers and directors to sell off more of the company to some unknown counterparts for a discount to the prevailing share price of the day. It looks to me as if they haven’t done the hard yards, the meet and greet, the appropriate sale of the value proposition to the powers that be, and all they've achieved is the sale of a portion of our company worth potentially far more than 10 or 20 billion USD, for a fraction of its value, at a measly 1BN USD. And I don’t say this lightly, when one considers Keytruda, Tercentriq, Bavencio and even Herceptin, (which many see as inferior to Imugene's Her Vaxx), have combined values of close to 200 BN USD. What, are these finacial managers all planning on Imugene's drugs failing? It looks like it given what they are setting their Capital Raising pricing and rates at. To be honest I’m surprised their wasn’t a mutiny at the AGM. If I was a scientist within Imugene I’d be asking some serious questions of this internal financial cohort. I’m not suggesting it’s akin to “Sandpaper Gate” with Lyons, Cummins, Hazelwood and Starc taking on Warner, Smith and Bancroft, but it's up there.
Imugene has built the ground floor of the oceanfront apartment with the development of CF33 and CD19. They are now inviting several others to add an additional story or level above to take in the sea views but they are not charging them for it. Come on over Dr Harari (Celularity), Cheng (Eureka) and Dr Baker (Arovella), come and take in the view from the upper level, it’s free. It’s all swings and roundabouts, we’ll catch you on the way out. You are kidding me aren’t you? It’s now almost December, we are on the cusp of CF33 and indeed Vaxinia trial announcements, the preclinical trials and collaborations have long finished, the outstanding poster presentation's have since passed, and there is no deal on the table. No commercial agreement or arrangement’s have been struck. Whatever happened to striking while the irons hot? Seriously, if these characters at the financial forefront of Imugene in both management and directorship roles cannot deliver by late December and match the scientists in the company with their muscle, I’d be asking Leslie to change horses. Send these ones out to greener pastures, that’s what I’d be suggesting. Find some work horses prepared and experienced enough to do the meet and greet in the US and start running the company like the 10 and 20 BN company it is, rather than the free for all 1 BN AUD company it is currently. An ASX Llisted company where the stock price ebb's and flows at the whim of a handful of investors each day. Start creating some real value for shareholders, as the scientists in the company are, and stop eroding the existing company value through your inability to attract a broad shareholder base and significant commercial agreements that equate to the company’s outstanding scientific achievements. For realistically not everyone who sits through an investor presentation is interested in your modus operandi of long term financial rewards. Results have come and gone when it comes to Imugene's science, and even bigger results are just around the corner. If you are incapable of creating a solid financial platform and strategy from which to guide the company moving forward, hand over the baton, it may be time to find someone who can, directors included.
Now back to that Ball I was discussing earlier in the post. At the end of the evening whether it was a Country Party, B&S, College or University ball, one always had their eye on the last dance of the evening. And I guess if Imugene were present I’d be saving my last dance for Vaxinia. In Yuman Fong’s recent Television Interview on KPLC - TV, he suggested his oncolytic virus could one day become “human therapy.” Now for me that’s definitely a dance worth waiting for. A value proposition that sells itself. An effortless transition from the outdated world of chemo, MABS, and ineffective solid tumour treatments programs, into an endless sea of blue, under the brightest evening stars on our planet. Yes, that truly is a dance worth waiting for. And with Vaxinia, I might not have to wait much longer, irrespective of what the entry price is.