UPAL,
Glad the info on Cantab was helpful.
In answer to your question regarding Shield, yes I am a long term holder of Shield. I also hold Chiroscience and Cortecs.
Are you a UK-based investor, since to be a long-term holder of the likes of Chiroscience, Cortecs and Cantab you must watch the UK biotech sector very closely?.
A small UK biotech I think has big potential is Polymasc,
which has a market value of around œ25 million ($40 million).
I think their MASC (Molecule Altering Structural Chemistry)
technology for attaching polymers to other molecules or carrier systems for pharmaceuticals has enormous possiblities. The Company's current chioce of polymer is polyethylene glycol (PEG) - hence the name POLYMASC.
Using this proprietary technique to attach PEG to pharmaceuticals drugs, particularly proteins and peptides, can add great value to the drug. Attaching PEG disguises the drug from the body's defence and elimination mechanisms, allowing it to stay in the body far longer than is normally possible. The result is a longer-acting drug which should be more cost effective and convenient - with a need for injections at less frequent intervals. For example, a PEGylated protein-based drug can last between 4 and 400 times as long in the body as a conventional protein-based drug.
Polymasc is in discussions with a large number of companies, large and small, in the US, Europe and Japan, who are interested in licensing the Company's protein and peptide polymer modification technology. It is clear that the Company's patented techniques could have applications across a very broad range of pharmaceutical products, and some of the companies with whom Polymasc is in discussions have as many as 20 candidates which could derive significant benefit from the
application of this technology.
I would expect a string of licensing deals over the next 12 months which could add substantial value to Polymasc and have a big effect on the share price.
Chiroscience, by the way, is probably my favourite UK biotech. If things go according to plan, and admittedly there are lots of ifs and buts with these types of stocks, the shares could head to the moon.
The company's MMP inhibitor drugs for arthritis and cancer and the PDE IV drug for asthma would serve huge markets - though these are all at early stages of their development. The acquisition of Darwin Molecular opens up interesting possibilities in gene therapy.
Cortecs has big potential too. If it can get either or both the oral calcitonin and oral insulin products to market the upside will be huge. Both the calcitonin and insulin markets are massive and none have oral products yet available - thus an oral version could grab a large slice of either market. Their oral vaccines should not be underestimated either.
What made you choose to hold Chiroscience and Cortecs? |
