Insite Vision CEO, Dr. Kumar Chandrasekaran, called in response to my memo last night. Here are a few highlights of the conversation:
-INSV has identified six genes associated with glaucoma, two related to congenital glaucoma and six related to primary open angle glaucoma. This is four more than have been announced in regular press releases.
-The company does have a prototype glaucoma test kit now that tests for all the genes.
-As we already know, discussions are ongoing for a corporate partner for the kit. Kumar can't be more specific about when we'll finally hear more about this. He's a bit frustrated by the pace of discussions and (he believes) the investing community's lack of patience and, perhaps, the importance of the gene-related work Insite is doing.
-CEO feels INSV's genetic research is "hot" (his word).
-INSV has at least one other well-known ophthalmic drug being tested with the DuraSite system. Kumar wouldn't identify the drug or the company with which he is working.
-Cash situation is solid through early 1998. Also, probable additional cash infusion in the near term. Most likely, this will be a cash for research arrangement. IOW, probably won't involve issuing more equity. <g>
- Kumar couldn't be too specific about when we'll see NDA filings. He did say that the first out of the chute will probably be from Bausch & Lomb (B&L) which means BetaSite or PilaSite. (note: MethaSite will be marketed with Ciba).
-He's still trying to get additional analyst coverage for the company. In fact, he's visiting another analyst today. He told me that at least one institution asked for a quid pro quo before it would initiate coverage; it wanted some of INSV's banking business. I guess Kumar couldn't comply due to existing arrangements. I suspect this may be a fairly common problem for small start-ups.
Overall, things are going well at Insite. Kumar is excited and very upbeat about things. As noted, he's also a bit frustrated by the company's lack of recognition and the low stock price. Banking quid pro quo's aside, he feels that if the stock were trading in the double digits, it would pick up more coverage. I guess the market capitalization is just too low to meet many institutional thresholds.
Bob M. |
