Good morning,
Welcome to today’s edition of The Armchair Analyst, a 5-minute daily update on the ASX life-sciences sector.
There are some nervous Immutep shareholders today…
Me included.
It’s never good when a company goes into suspension.
The ASX hates it, shareholders hate it.
Immutep was scheduled to release the interim results of its Phase 3 clinical trial yesterday, but instead went into suspension because “it is not yet in a position to make an announcement” .
I’ve made about 20 phone calls over the last 24 hours to try to work out what’s happening.
Bottom line…
Expect the worst, hope for the best.
Could Immutep pull a rabbit out of the hat, and the results still be good (potentially good with a “but”)? YES.
Could the results be bad, and the company is working out how to communicate this to the market? ALSO YES.
Could things be taking a bit longer because any future plans for what to do next with the trial will require input from its collaborator, Merck? POTENTIALLY.
Could the results be delayed by someone forgetting to check their inbox? LOOK, PROBABLY NOT.
(but seriously, I’ve seen this happen before!)
I don’t know what the results will be…
But as soon as they come out, I will be on the screens, reading through and sending you my Armchair Analyst take.
These results will have ramifications for the entire drug development industry on the ASX, so even for non-Immutep shareholders, this one is important to pay attention to.
What a time to start a biotech stock newsletter!
(at least it’s not boring)
Let’s dive in…
The Pulse Check
InteliCare Holdings (ASX: ICR) signs an $8.8M, five-year Master Subscription Agreement with mecwacare to deploy its AI-driven platform across 22 aged care facilities. (ICR)
🪑 A big multi-million dollar deal is the backbone of these health tech/software companies, nice result.
CSL (ASX: CSL) will spend US$1.5B to expand its plasma manufacturing facility in Illinois. (Capital Brief)
REPORT: Pharma Is Ravenous for M&A Action but Late-Stage Supply Dwindles (BioSpace)
🪑 Great read about the M&A landscape right now.
Osteopore (ASX: OSX) secures a distribution deal with DSM-Firmenich for non-exclusive distribution of its injectable regenerative bone filler in Southeast Asia. (OSX)
🪑 Distribution deals can often be hit-or-miss. Let’s see if this partnership converts into sales or if it is just another filler announcement from Osteopore.
For what it's worth, this is one of the better announcements the company has made in the last few months.
Vertex Pharmaceuticals announced that its experimental drug, povetacicept, met the primary endpoint in a Phase 3 trial for IgA nephropathy (IgAN). (Biopharma Dive)
🪑 What I found interesting about this one is that Vertex is pursuing accelerated approval for a different rare kidney disease.
If approved, it will be interesting to see whether Dimerix (ASX: DXB) can leverage this to accelerate its own approvals using protein urea endpoints.
Cash Injection
Breakout Ventures raises $114M third fund, supporting AI-focused early-stage biotechs (BioSpace)
Imugene (ASX: IMU) launches a $20M capital raise via a $12M institutional placement at $0.18 per share and an $8M SPP. 1-for-1 option exercisable at $0.18 with a piggyback. (IMU)
🪑 Pretty steep terms, this one. Starting to see a few of these now for the mid-cap biotechs (first Botanix, now Imugene).
See you all tomorrow,
The Armchair Analyst.
