Threaders,
I spoke to Bernie Landes over the phone yesterday. He seemed very
enthusiastic about PRLN's prospects. I took some notes, so here is what I learned.
On selling Androvir
PRLN has 1 Million AndroVir tablets stored in Europe. They plan on selling them as dietary supplements. They are not going to sell them to a targeted audience such as AIDS or cancer patients. Selling AndroVir is a bit tricky because they don't want to do it in a way that will compete with Scherer or any of the companies that Scherer signs up to help them sell the BioFIT program. They are still in the process of formulating a marketing strategy for AndroVir. There is no agreement for Scherer to market AndroVir for them but if
the initial marketing goes well, who knows? It is a possibility that they could reach an agreement with Scherer (or someone else) to market it for them. They are hoping to market it at a profit. They would like to market it by the 3rd quarter. I'm sorry, but I'm not sure if Bernie meant the 3rd quarter of this year (meaning July - September) or the 3rd quarter of PRLN's fiscal year (meaning April - June). So bottom line, right now the plans on AndroVir are nebulous, but I have a feeling we will hear more about this within the next half year.)
On Raising Money
As you all know, PRLN would like to raise another 1 - 1.5 million in cash. Bernie said that they are hoping to do this through a private placement of equities. I didn't ask him this, but I am guessing that they are planning to do this after a deal with the AhImmunoassay has been announced. It would make sense to me to hold off until after the announcement if they can because the announcement should send the stock over $2. This is strictly my opinion. Bernie never predicted a stock price for the future, nor did I ask him to. As you know by now, I have a lousy record when it comes to predicting how the market will evaluate PRLN, so take my prediction for what it's worth. Still, despite my poor track record, if the deal looks good I fail to see how this stock can trade at less than $2.
If they can get the stock price up by announcing a deal then they won't have to sell as much stock to get $1.5 million as they do now. We will see less dilution.
What will they do with the money?
There are many things they would do if they had more money. Right now some of the Board members are stepping in to perform the duties that would be performed by company officers if they had a full management team in place. The company would like to hire a Chief Financial Officer. They might also want to hire a Chief Science Officer to oversee and coordinate their growing scientific program.
They have now virtually completed development of the first 5 assays of the BioFIT program. They need to complete the next 5 assays this year. They would be in a better position to complete them more quickly if they could hire more scientists.
Bernie said that PRLN would also be undertaking new scientific initiatives in the future, but it was premature to announce what they would be. Let's just say that they have ideas for other projects they could do with their technology if they had the money. They might also want to move to a bigger lab as their science program grows.
Paracelsian also would use some of the money to help market the BioFIT
program. More on this later.
Finally, Paracelsian would like to have a larger reserve of working capital on hand just in case they needed to meet an unexpected contingency or take advantage of an unexpected opportunity.
How does the current Roswell Park test compare to previous tests?
AndroVir was included in both tests, but Bernie was pretty sure that the other drug candidates tested were new. They were not retesting the same candidates that were tested three years ago. Bernie said that he was currently writing his letter to the shareholders and he would emphasize this in more detail. The result for these experiments were preliminary and we could expect more results in mid-March. (I hope I have this right. It is possible he could have said results
from SRI testing will come in around mid-March. My apologies if I screwed up in my note taking.)
On marketing BioFIT
They now have a target of getting BioFIT products on store shelves by late spring or early summer. Bernie emphasized that we did not have to wait that long to see money flowing to the company since we have already received money from completing 5 assays and we will receive money when Scherer signs up distributors. Sorry, I didn't ask how many distributors Scherer has signed up already. Marketing and publicity for the BioFit program would be conducted by PRLN, Scherer, and distributors that Scherer signs up for the program. I'm afraid I'm a bit hazy here, but my impression is that PRLN, Scherer, and the
distributors will all have independent marketing programs, but hopefully they will be coordinated to produce a synergistic effect. The distributors will probably each be pushing how the BioFIT label benefits their own product lines. Scherer will have a major fair that will be used to promote BioFIT. Sorry, I didn't ask when this will happen, but Bernie told me that this fair will be broadcast to the
relevant markets.
I'm sorry I didn't ask about plans to get back on the NASDAQ. I hope my notes reflected accurately what Bernie said, but if there are any errors they are undoubtedly my fault and not his.
Overall, I left the conversation with a good feeling. We have waited a long time, fellow Threaders, but I think that our patience will be rewarded in the next few months.
I would like to thank Bernie for spending some of his time spelling out PRLN's plans. It's been a while since I said it, so
GO PRLN, GO!
Robin
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