Good morning, Armchair Army,
Welcome to today's edition of The Armchair Analyst, a 5-minute daily update on the ASX life-sciences sector.
Disclosure: Armchair Analyst Media Pty Ltd owns 1,458,518 CBL shares. CBL has also engaged Armchair Analyst for investor awareness services. Read this article with the relationship in mind.
This information is general in nature and does not constitute personal financial advice.
I just noticed something this morning…
Control Bionics (ASX: CBL) is going absolutely viral on LinkedIn.
TWO BIG European tech influencers picked up the news that Control Bionics’ NeuroStrip secured CE Mark in Europe…
NOW hundreds of thousands of people have heard about CBL’s NeuroStrip.
(at about a like-to-impression ratio of 1%)
All organic.
“Free” awareness about CBL’s product.
The NeuroStrip.
Over the past 20 years, CBL has shrunk its surface EMG technology to the size of a paperclip.
A device placed on the skin reads signals from the brain to the muscles.
A “Brain-Computer Interface”.
BCI technology has long been thought of as science fiction.
… but over the last few years, companies like Elon Musk’s Neuralink have made BCI inevitable.
Just this morning, Seimen’s announced its intentions to enter the BCI space:
(Source: Fierce Biotech)
I’ve been following BCI for several years now…
My cousin, Nick Opie, co-founded Australian startup Synchron, one of the first BCI companies to implant in the brain.
While they were several years ahead of Neuralink, Synchron fought an uphill battle for attention and resources.
But that’s when it went viral.
A 2022 TED Talk by Nick’s partner, Tom Oxley, reached hundreds of thousands of people.
… and then the media followed.
Just last year, on their own YouTube channel, a patient using Synchron’s BCI tech got 1 million views:
(Source: Synchron YouTube)
This virality put Synchron in front of some very important people, and the company raised ~$300 million at a $1 billion valuation last year.
(Source: Forbes)
Nick (Synchron co-founder) now sits on Control Bionics' board.
Viral marketing was a BIG part of Synchron’s “playbook”.
(I know… I watched it for many years)
It is great for investor awareness…
But it also builds pent-up customer demand too.
Yesterday, I had the pleasure of speaking with Warren Bingham, Chairman of MedTech International and the person who brought Pillcam (from Israel) to Australia in the year 2000.
The day before he unveiled the technology at an endoscopy trade show in Hobart, he went on the Today Show.
The next 14 minutes would change Pillcam's trajectory forever.
It went absolutely viral.
Newspapers. Radio. Front page of the AFR.
Endless references to the 1966 sci-fi film “The Fantastic Voyage”, about a team of scientists shrunk to microscopic size and injected into a man's bloodstream.
Sci-fi becoming reality.
I searched the Victorian Library’s old newspaper archives for the headlines…
Fantastic Voyage… Colon Cam… Swallowable Camera.
The tech captured the media's imagination.
Warren explained to me that for the next several years, every time that the news would talk about a healthcare story that related to gut health, the Pillcam B-roll footage was used.
This kept awareness up for years.
Several years later (in 2004), Pillcam secured approval, but because of the viral marketing, demand was very much patient-led.
This is what can happen when tech goes viral.
Control Bionics is just starting this journey.
Its surface EMG product is very new… and only now reaching customers.
The first markets are sports and rehabilitation.
Elite sports teams already use it, including the Kansas City Chiefs, PSG, Hawthorn, GWS, the British Olympic Team, NASCAR teams, and Rugby Australia.
On the rehab front, organisations like Mountain Land PT, Royal Rehab, and Mayo Clinic are already using it.
… using it.
Not paying for it… yet.
CBL’s goal is to take this amazing tech, which has gone viral organically, and build a sustainable business offer.
80 organisations engaged, 30 live trials right now.
Paying customers next.
But the hardest part…
“Attention”…
… is firmly on Control Bionics right now.
Let’s dive in…
The Pulse Check
Starpharma (ASX: SPL) secures 66% ownership of Petalion, investing $5M to advance the FAP-targeted DEP® oncology program. (SPL)
🪑 Interesting. A majority stake gives SPL much more control over the assets (speed of development and direction).
I wonder if SPL ever looks at Radiopharm (ASX: RAD) as an acquisition target…?
They’ve already got the partnership in place, and RAD is capped at just $20 million now.
Percheron (ASX: PER) and Invion (ASX: IVX) will enter into a preclinical collaboration to evaluate PER’s HMBD-002 (targeting Vista) combined with IVX’s Photosoft on tumours. (PER, held)
🪑 The question in all of these deals is “who pays?”... It looks like the two companies will share the costs.
Argenica Therapeutics (ASX: AGN) pharmacokinetic studies show that Xaranetide targets “several pathways” in brain injury. (AGN, held)
🪑 Lots of big science words in this announcement.
Essentially, Argenica now better understands how its drug works, the mechanism of action and target receptors.
EBR Systems (ASX: EBR) has submitted an ARTG application to the TGA for its WiSE® leadless pacemaker. (EBR)
🪑 A milestone on the pathway to Australian market entry.
Microba (ASX: MAP) secures $2 million in a two-tranche placement with major shareholders Sonic Healthcare, Perennial and Thorney. (MAP)
🪑 Notably, Tranche 2 ($1M) is conditional on the GSS merger occurring.
Article coming soon…
See you all next week,
The Armchair Analyst
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An Armchair Pick is an invite-only spot I reserve for my highest-conviction investment ideas.
It's a paid arrangement, but to align myself, I only take my fee in shares - half escrowed for 6 months, half for 12.
It is general commentary only, not personal financial advice or a recommendation to buy, sell, or hold. Always see the disclosure at the top of the article and do your own research.
