ASA ATTENDEES
Welcome to the Yahoo BioTime message board. You
clearly have learned something about Hextend at the
ASA Annual Meeting. Links provided below will direct
you to additional information. The purpose of this
message is to introduce you to BioTime, Inc.
(BTX-AMEX), the company which created Hextend and
licenses it to Abbott.
BIOTIME, INC.
BioTime was founded in Berkeley in 1990 to research
and develop plasma expanders, blood volume substitutes
and organ preservation solutions for use in surgery,
trauma care and organ transplant procedures. The
company has 13 employees and expenses of about $6
million per year. BTX carries no debt and has more
than $7 million in the bank. The first royalty check
from Abbott for the sale of Hextend will arrive this
quarter. BioTime has 10.9 million shares outstanding
and a float of 7.4 million shares. BTX also has a
short interest of more than 2.5 million shares. This
huge short interest is a major part of the BTX story.
PRODUCTS
BioTime has more than a dozen patents for Hextend and
its other products. FDA approval for Hextend was
granted last March, exactly one year after completing
the application. An application for Canadian
approval was filed in July and BioTime is working on
regulatory approvals in Europe and Japan. The company
has at least 3 additional products in its pipeline -
Pentalyte, Hetacool and Hetafreeze. INDs for
Pentalyte and Hetacool are expected to be filed this
year. These products are described at:
biotimeinc.com
ABBOTT AGREEMENT
BioTime's agreement with Abbott will pay the company a
sliding scale royalty of up to 36% of net annual
sales. In addition to the royalty, Abbott will pay a
licensing fee of up to$37,500,000. The Abbott
agreement covers the US and Canada and includes the
option to acquire rights to other products in
BioTime's pipeline. The full agreement can be viewed
at:
sec.gov
. BTX is negotiating similar agreements with major
overseas pharmaceutical companies.
By the Abbott agreement, Hextend sales of $50 million
per year will generate revenues of about $.75 per
share for BTX shareholders. Sales of $100 million
will generate about $3.00 in revenue and $200 million
would generate about $8.00. Expenses currently run
about $.55 per share. P/Es for profitable biotech
companies average more than 40 times earnings. The
total US market for plasma volume expanders is in
excess of $400 million. The global market has been
estimated at more than $1.0 billion.
SHORTS
A large short position was established in BioTime
years ago by a few individuals who believed that
Hextend was snake oil. However, in 1998 with
Hextend's NDA filing, the announcement of the Abbott
deal and a move to the NASDAQ, it became clear that
they had made a mistake. They immediately began an
aggressive campaign to undermine the stock by issuing
misleading press releases, shilling message boards and
(with their substantial influence on the float) by
outright manipulation of the stock. While they have
successfully kept a lid on BTX so far, the price they
have paid is a substantial increase the size of the
short position.
nasdaq-amex.com
. But now that sales and revenues are beginning, the
shorts are faced with a terrifying prospect - a short
squeeze of historic proportions.
INVESTING
If you decide to invest in BTX, the large short
position makes it is VERY important that you buy in a
Type 1 Cash Account and that you not purchase BTX in a
margin account. A more thorough discussion of
BioTime, Hextend, shorts sellers and Type 1 Accounts
can be viewed in 5 sequential posts beginning with the
link below.
messages.yahoo.com
. You can also call Ron Barkin, BioTime President, at
510 845-9535. |
