| | | Beauty chart for sure! Looks like its continuing today which is awesome.
New Recommendation: ImmunoPrecise Antibodies Ltd. (TSX-V: IPA.V)(OTC: IPATF)Background
Though we usually associate chemo and radio-therapy with cancer treatment, over the last 30 years, a new technique using monoclonal antibodies to deliver treatments has become one of the most exciting fields in cancer research.
And the market has taken notice. Today's top 20 cancer drugs are expected to sell $70 billion by 2018.
This therapy uses the body’s own immune system to kill cancer cells. Antibodies seek out and attach to specific proteins on a cancer cell, using them as a "red flag" for identification.
The result is a less invasive, safer, faster, and more effective means of combating cancer, as well as other diseases — everything from neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer's to arthritis.
But the key is finding the right antibody to attack the right antigen.
That is the problem that today's featured company has been working to solve
The Opportunity
ImmunoPrecise is an integrated antibody solutions company that serves as a single-source provider of services across the full antibody discovery value chain (antigen design, hit generation, lead selection, lead optimization, and lead characterization).
Essentially, this is a health care company that provides contract research services for pharmaceutical companies developing biologic drugs.
The company focuses on a full spectrum of antibody production methodologies: library-based technologies, hybridoma methods, transgenic animal-based platforms and single B cell-based technology, as well as on generating therapeutic, human antibodies.
Its long-term goal is to become a go-to partner for the health care industry in the development of therapies for major diseases.
In short, it is trying to become the industry’s first full-service antibody discovery provider.
Don't think of this as a pharma company. Think of it as the company that pharma companies pay to do their homework for them (outsourced R&D) — and there is a lot of homework to be done.
The total size of the market has been estimated at $150 billion.
Vital Stats
Ticker Symbols: (TSX-V: IPA.V)(OTC: IPATF)
Share Price: $1.05 (CAD)/$0.84 (USD)
52-Week Range: $0.33–$1.41(CAD)/$0.26–$1.09 (USD)
Shares Outstanding: 62 million
Market Capitalization: $65.6 million (CAD)/$59.25 million (USD)
12-Month Target: $2.00
The Driving Factors
No FDA concerns. The biggest block to progress in the medical technology field is the all-powerful FDA. With approvals taking years, sometimes decades, to secure, it's a nightmare for investors and for companies searching for capital. With IPA's business model, this is not an issue. FDA concerns remain with the pharmaceutical producers. IPA's revenues rest on antibody testing and development — a stepping-stone to a final product, but not the final product itself. In short, it makes money no matter what. Greatly increases average project value. IPA’s legacy antibody projects averaged US$15,000 per campaign last year. Moving into humanized projects earlier this year moved that up to US$75,000 per campaign. Now, with a full suite of services, those projects will price at US$700,000 and up.Increased discovery capabilities. IPA’s new platform can deliver at least three methods of antibody development (competitors typically have only one method), which means more variations of antibodies with a variety of different attributes. This gives the client a much better chance of successfully finding its end target and on a faster timeline. This not only increases chances of the needed discovery but also saves clients lots of money. It dramatically decreases timelines, which means faster time to market, which could mean billions in extra revenue for a successful drug. Shorter development time is also vital when you consider it can add months or maybe years to the marketing life of a drug patent.Faster than the competition. Utilizing its RapidPrime technology and with the single-source model complete, IPA can beat the competition in speed by up to 40%. There are other benefits to doing the entire process in one facility, while competitors have to ship from site to site. IPA delivers a better (fresher) product with less loss of antibody clones since it does not have to transfer between facilities. This is very important to big pharma companies with drug development campaigns worth billions.New CEO/Rapid Growth. The arrival of Dr. Jennifer Bath has turned the company around, cutting away needless waste while redoubling efforts where they're most needed — to turning IPA into the industry-leader in developing humanized antibodies. Below is a history of the last eight quarters at IPA:
The Team
Jennifer Bath, Ph.D.
CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER AND PRESIDENT
Jennifer holds a Ph.D. in Cellular and Molecular biology from North Dakota State University, and a Bachelor’s degree in Biology, with an emphasis on human genetics, from the University of Kansas. She began her career in academia, and moved into industry after a 15-year appointment as an Associate Professor of Cellular and Molecular Biology at Concordia College, Moorhead, Minnesota. She was the Founder and Executive Director of the Concordia College Global Vaccine Institute; whose mission is to prevent and treat neglected tropical diseases. Jennifer has broad experience in vaccine and therapeutic design, development and testing.
Dr. Bath served many guidance roles in industry including advising on the Economic Development Corporation’s Strategic Planning Initiatives, consulting biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies on strategic and operational business practices, and providing governance for workshops in technology entrepreneurship. She has established relationships with leaders in the fields of therapeutics and vaccinology, enhancing collaborative developments and partnerships in discovery.
Jennifer served in an executive role at Aldevron, LLC, as the Global Director of Client Relations, where she held both strategic and technical roles. She headed the global sales and client relations teams, and defined business strategies by applying knowledge based on the science, technology and the market. In addition, she served as a key technical specialist, particularly for therapeutic antibody discovery, and was responsible for retention and growth of the existing client base through individual efforts and efforts of the management team to deliver profitable, quality services.
Teri Otto
GENERAL MANAGER
Teri Otto joined ImmunoPrecise in 1997 as a co-op student and continued as a fulltime employee upon graduation in 2000. She began as a technician and animal care manager. She has been a key part of developing ImmunoPrecise’s successful laboratory operations and antibody engineering capabilities, particularly in the area of mouse hybridomas. Ms. Otto served 17 years in directing laboratory operations and project management before leading IPA’s Marketing and Sales team. She now serves as the General Manager of ImmunoPrecise Antibodies’ Victoria site, where she oversees all business units. Ms. Otto holds a B.Sc. (with distinction) from University of Victoria in Microbiology and Associate Degrees in Psychology, Biochemistry, and Applied Chemistry from Camosun College in Victoria, BC.
Deanna Dryhurst
CHIEF SCIENTIFIC OFFICER
Dr. Dryhurst joined ImmunoPrecise in 2010. She received an NSERC Industrial Research and Development Postdoctoral Fellowship to work on a platform for rabbit monoclonal antibody development at ImmunoPrecise Antibodies where she was key in the development of IPA’s B cell technology. Rabbit monoclonal antibodies are now a key part of what ImmunoPrecise provides to its clients. She is currently in charge of R&D at ImmunoPrecise where she is responsible for the prioritization of research projects, alignment with corporate strategy, and developing new product introductions. She received her B.Sc. in Biology, and her Ph.D. in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from the University of Victoria.
Analysis
Trading took share prices down substantially in the second quarter of last year, but since then, the recovery has been dramatic.
With the new CEO in place and a new focus for the company on one of today's most prospective new fields in medical science, we should be seeing this trajectory continue for some time to come.
In the vital stats section, I put the 12-month target at $2 (CAD). Though that may seem optimistic for most, it's actually quite conservative.
I believe that if the company continues as it has been and the individual campaign revenues do what they're expected to do, we could be looking at $3 or more within that same time frame.
Shares have been trading up over the last couple days, which signals that the market is starting to take notice.
With no FDA bureaucracy to create speed bumps along the way, this health care company looks poised for an order of magnitude leap in share value.
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