Eddy,
RIBI is Ribi Immunochem in Hamilton Montana. They have adjuvant technology used in prophylactic and therapeutic vaccines, and have partnerships with Lederle (moving very slow), SKB (their biggest deal with the biggest vaccine seller), and Biomira (cancer theracines). They have a couple of other uses of their technology, most of them moving slowly in the clinic or languishing waiting for a partner. The furthest along of these is Melancine for melanoma. They are putting together an NDA based on quality of life interpretation of originally disappointing PIII data.
Ribi's technology seems ok, but they are pathologically slow. I think they are proud of the fact that their cash in the bank ($20M? I don't follow them, so I'm not sure) will last many years at their current burn rate, however, their NDA will break every record for the slowest NDA preparation time of any company ... never to be broken ... a DiMaggio streak, if you will. They'd be better off paying some bucks to get some help getting the thing filed.
The technology is worth more than the current stock price, but all the same, it's not a stock I'd recommend holding. Their biggest chance at capitalizing on their interesting adjuvant technology is the SKB deal ... SKB was testing their hepatitis B vaccine with Ribi's adjuvant with apparently good results, but appears to have put the project on the back burner. I think because they have a lion's share of the market for that vaccine (it's the largest $ selling vaccine WW), and have no urgency in improving it. I think Ribi's adjuvant would take the vaccine from 3 shots to 2, probably over a shorter period of time, with equivalent efficacy. SKB appears to have switched their efforts with Ribi's adjuvant to their herpes vaccine, which is a competitive horse race.
Biomira seems to be producing good PII cancer results with their product using Ribi's technology, so they're worth keeping an eye on.
With all that, I don't know much about adjuvant technology, who else has it available, and if there's significant money to be made in betting on an adjuvant company. Seems like a promising niche, but I don't know if it's one that can be capitalized on.
Peter |
