Re: Antex Biologics (ANTX)
My visit to the annual shareholders meeting was very pleasant. I arrived about 1/2 hour early and ran into Scott and Rip (long time Antex shareholders) outside the hotel. We greeted each other and chatted a few minutes. Then went into the hotel to the meeting room.
Upon entry into the room, I was warmly greeted by name by Dr Esposito .... then Terry ..... then Don Stark (my favorite director). After exchanging a few pleasantries, the meeting began. There were around 8-10 other shareholders at the meeting. Dr Esposito went through the vote items. Then gave his address which is now available on the Antex website for all shareholders.
After the message to shareholders, the vote was taken. Shareholders overwhelmingly approved are three items. I must say that I was very surprised the vote was 8 to 1 in favor of the reverse split ..... especially in light of the range given rather than a specific split ratio. I thought for sure that it would be a close vote since many feel reverse split are detrimental to their pocketbooks. I get a sense that Antex shareholders are united on the reverse issue (which is very positive) and appear to trust management to do the right thing. This is a very positive thing. It gives me the sense that there will be much less downward pressure when a reverse is affected by management.
We discussed briefly (as we had previously) the desired ratio for the reverse. Clearly, management wants the reverse to be 1 for 4 to 1 for 6. Anything more than that will be very undesirable. They have already made all the necessary arrangements for the reverse and consulted financial types about the float issue after a reverse is affected. Bottom line ....... I feel much better about the reverse split knowing other shareholders voted 8 to 1 FOR the reverse.
We had a brief discussion regarding the Blair warrants. Generally, these will not likely be exercised until near expiration .... which would be March 2000. Bottom line here is there is less risk for Blair by exercising later after Antex has matured further and is trading on a national exchange.
Besides the reverse issue, the formation of AntexPharma was the next highlight of the meeting. We have heard for sometime that Antex technologies lent themselves to therapeutic and diagnostic applications. We now have a subsidiary dedicated to developing this area. Antex is currently seeking around 4 more scientists to get things moving faster. AntexPharma ..... I believe ..... will start off with hospital type infections ..... i.e. Staphylococcus and a few others that have been more and more resistant to antibiotics. Antex's technology more accurately mimics the body's reaction to infection thereby affording Antex a way to produce bacteria that would be more like the real thing rather than a lab culture. Big benefit here. What kind of market do anti-infectives represent for AntexPharma ????? According to Antex ..... the current marketplace is $26 Billion. The market for human vaccines is expected to be around $7.3 Billion by 2001. AntexPharma is a new exciting opportunity for our little company. It has been a long time coming .... but IMO ...... the first clinical trials have validated the technology's worth ..... and now Antex is going to put the technology to broader use developing therapeutic applications.
Clinicals ...... Campy is now the number one cause of food borne illness now....... outpacing salmonella. Dr Esposito expects the final report on Phase II campy during the third qtr. At that time, a determination will be made on whether to enter Phase III or adjust the adjuvant and dosages in another quick Phase II. The Phase III trial preparations have already been discussed. Thailand, I believe, has been selected as a likely location for real life field testing of the campy vaccine. Antex will be receiving some milestone $$$ from SKB upon completion of Phase II. Next is H Pylori. Phase I so far has been favorable for Antex. It is estimated that H Pylori infects 2/3 of the world's population. Causes the majority of peptic and gastric ulcers ...... and increasingly ..... linked to STOMACH CANCER. The Antex vaccine will basically search and destroy .... then protect against future infection. Phase I H Influenzae (nontypeable) for ear infections has been completed for adults with favorable results. Another Phase I is been started for testing on children. I wish to point out here that this vaccine ..... combined with the start of Moraxella trials (4th qtr) will potentially represent big $$$$$$ for Antex. Think about the vaccination of every newborne child in the civilized world. Milestone money later this year ($500K) from Pasteur due based on this vaccine. I had expected C Trachomatis for sexually transmitted diseases to be the next candidate to enter the clinical stage. But it appears that moraxella has jumped ahead. I feel that the chlamydia may be developed by AntexPharma.
Antex currently has 44 allowed or issued patents worldwide on its proprietary technologies and processes.
After the meeting, I and a few other shareholders toured the facilities at Antex and were introduced to quite a few of Antex's scientists ..... including one sent by SKB to work with Antex. The facilities will double in size later this year as Antex expands. Antex has 5 labs and several other multipurpose lab rooms. The offices are very nice and tasteful. Incidentally, the offices are not adorned with lavish appointments but rather melamine type modular desks. Very nice.
In my humble opinion, Antex, with alliances with SKB and Pasteur, research and development in conjunction with the National Institutes of Health and the US Department of Defense ..... proprietary wholly owned technology, clinicals in progress on 4 vaccine candidates (paid by alliance partners), 4 more in preclinicals, new subsidiary dedicated solely to therapeutics starting with hospital - acquired infections and 44 patents ......... IS FAR, FAR UNDERVALUED. The investment banking model provided by Jay Abella at Westergaard values Antex around $3 right now. I agree ...... $3 is a minimum value in my book as that would give Antex a market cap of only $66 million today. To see Antex trade in the .68- .84 range is an OUTRAGE to say the least. Once Antex reverses and achieves an AMEX or NASDAQ listing ...... I expect the market to correct this severe undervaluation and move Antex to higher levels. Antex will continue to have my support and I will continue as a shareholder and owner for the forseeable future.
Long and still accumulating,
Amigo Mike
PS Incidentally ..... Antex would rather SKB ..... NOT exercise their option for $1 million in October of this year. They'd rather SKB pay more to purchase shares in Antex. =)
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