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OT but worth mentioning a deal announced today between Bicycle Therapeutics and Genentec with an upfront payment of $30m and potential total value of $1.7 billion.
Have been following Bicycle Therapeutics for a while - a Cambridge University spin out company founded by Nobel Prize winner Sir Gregory Winter with a lead product being taken through a phase I/IIa trial by CRUK. Well done to them, fantastic to see a success story arising from UK innovation.
https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200225005302/en/
Especially as CRUK took the trial through phase 1/11a.
Bermuda, have you seen any news about the SCIB2 trial?
The CRUK website was updated in January and unfortunately still shows SCIB2 at an exploratory stage. Although the deal with CRUK was announced in December 2017, my understanding is that Scancell had to complete their preclinical research on the nanovesicle delivery system before CRUK could start preparing for the trial in earnest. That work was completed and handed over to CRUK in May 2019.
I'm hoping that CRUK will update their site again in April and it'll show that SCIB2 has at least moved on to a preclinical stage.
https://www.cancerresearchuk.org/funding-for-researchers/our-research-infrastructure/our-centre-for-drug-development/centre-for-drug-development-strategy-and-portfolio#portfolio0
Thanks.
More on that Bicycle Therapeutics deal from Fierce Biotech.....................
https://www.fiercebiotech.com/biotech/genentech-pays-bicycle-30m-upfront-to-form-discovery-stage-immuno-oncology-pact
And I think the words ""taken through a Phase 1/11a trial"" are very significant.
SCIb2 would take a year to manufacture ...
ATB
https://www.scancell.co.uk/Data/Sites/1/media/docspres/26.09.16-new-frontiers-in-t-cell-activation-and-targeting.pdf
Timescales quoted in September 2016
SCIB1 combo - In 3Q 2017, Scancell will initiate a
Phase IIb study in combination with a checkpoint inhibitor
SCIB2 - Proof-of-concept trial expected to start recruiting in 2018
Modi1 - It is expected to enter proof-of-concept trials in advanced osteosarcoma,
triple negative breast cancer and ovarian cancer in 2018.
Hmmm .................
Ray,
Yes and that is the frustration here.
How do you square that rather heavy allegation with David Evans' recent purchase of 70 grands' worth of shares? Wouldn't he have a better insight into the general running of the company than even your profound wisdom and judgement K?
Timelines are indeed the frustration felt by all LTHs here however not making excuses but SCIB2 delays surely have been as far as we know mostly due to the finalising nano delivery which was done May 2019...
'"We are delighted to announce this important milestone in our partnership with Cancer Research UK, which moves us one step closer to entering the clinic. This new nanoparticle approach to deliver SCIB2 is expected to achieve results that are as effective as, or even better than, electroporation. We believe SCIB2 has the potential to provide a much-needed treatment option for patients suffering from a range of common solid tumours including NSCLC, the most frequent cause of cancer death globally."
Dr Nigel Blackburn, Cancer Research UK's director of drug development, said:
"We're pleased to see advances in this innovative vaccine, which could bring about urgently needed improvements for some cancers. Our collaboration with Scancell, combining extensive expertise and experience in drug development, will help bring this treatment to the patients that need it sooner."
*Under the terms of the Clinical Development Partnership, Cancer Research UK will fund and sponsor a UK-based Phase 1/2 clinical trial; the charity's Centre for Drug Development (CDD) will be responsible for manufacturing the clinical trial supplies of SCIB2, conducting pre-clinical testing, sponsoring and managing the clinical trial, including the clinical trial timelines.'
I do think there is a case for saying that the ingenuity of the management does not measure up to that of the science produced by Lindy and her team.
The SCIB1 combo trial is the prime example of this.
Ray what do you mean .. are you suggesting an alternative route to trial ?
It has been frustrating for LTHs, perhaps also a good opportunity for new shareholders to buy at a price I feel represents where we are now. In the case of Vulpes most certainly so.
TBH it has given me the chance to triple my holding and that is reflective too in my average after buying in at 41p to 14p where we are now.
Mind you, I seem to remember one poster saying he was going to buy in at 3p. I suppose he must be feeling pretty sore now and wondering how to deramp this one. What was his name? No - don't tell me, It'll come to me some time I'm sure.
Crumbs,
I think one of the biggest issues is around communication of timescales and expectations. SCIB2 is a perfect example.
Funding is so tough for UK early stage bios and I can honestly understand the pressure on AIM biotechs. in particular to portray the best case, positive scenario. Going back to the announcement of the CRUK deal, they could and possibly should have mentioned the nanovesicle work still to be done and given a realistic idea of timescales. The fact that they didn't has resulted in unrealistic expectations from shareholders. Inevitably reality catches up with you and the end result is disappointment.
Inan
No, I am talking about powers of persuasion.
The ability to overcome obstacles.
My own view is that CH is the weakest link.
But then again I also recognise that we don't really know what is taking place behind the scenes.
Bermuda,
Hard to argue . We will find out soon enough whether they have learned from that.
Ray...............Why do you think CH is the weakest link??
To take a view needs evidence really ... not sure how you would come by that
SP gives you no indicator at all .. you can see that by the sp not reacting to avidmab and the FDA .. really we should be back in the twenties now . Maybe tomorrow ... who knows
It's purely an impression I get, C7.
I don't know the guy obviously, so I go mainly on his presentations.
To me, they lack clarity and impact.
He always seems to me to be ill at ease.
In contrast Lindy's presentations, whilst she often starts a little nervously, she always warms to the task.
You know she is speaking from a great wealth of knowledge and experience.
Fair enough Ray, funny how we see the same things and come to different conclusions. The lqast couple of presentations IMHO were pretty good and who do we give credit for for the collaborations we have signed??? Very hard to say, we certainly need data to get commercial deals on three platforms IMHO, and as Bermuda posted earlier re Bicycle, Genentech waited till CRUK had taken them through Phase 1/11a trials.
Anyway, off to watch the Mighty Blues play Bayern!!! lol, I think i am dreading it.
Continued missing of timelines and often by years! = An erosion of trust..... However we know it is not a case of them stating something and then doing nothing lots and lots of work has been and is being done for instance it turned out making a clinically viable modi1 was a lot more challenging than first envisioned but I expect them to overcome that challenge as they are a scientifically capable outfit.... Communication (to us) could be loads better,Cliff is not as natural a presenter as RG was however compared to what he was like on first arrival he has indeed improved and to my mind is alright though he has made some pretty poor mistakes for a guy on over 200k ( saying BioNTech collab would end in June 2019 when he should have known of the 6 months delay!)... It is more how he performs in meetings with pharma that matters most to me...He comes from a MaBs background and I'm impressed with what is happening there at scancell the creation of a 'package' and getting it out to those that matter and then getting them to collaborate in a pretty good timescale I'd say and yes I do think 'transactions later this year' is a realistic outcome of that..... but we will see... As ever so much potential newsflow... SCIB1,SCIB2,modi1,modi2 and Glycans/Avidimab plus who knows what else means news of a very positive kind can appear anytime .... If I knew what I know now would I have invested here 8 years ago..No of course not! lol but that does not mean scancell is a share to write off on the contrary it would be now I'd be getting my holding if only I knew .... and yeah we could still be waiting for something to happen in another 8 years time too :)
Crumbs, as ever some good points.
I'm sure that every timescale he's given (and missed!) has come from the R&D team so I think there's an element of shooting the messenger here. Nevertheless, handling investor relations and acting as a buffer to allow the R&D team to get on with the job in hand is an important part of his role.
Crumbs
Yes, I too am far from writing Scancell off.
There is more going on than ever before now that Glycans/Avidimab has been added into the mix.
Then the Biontech collaboration is on-going.
Take your bets for the next left-field news item as well.
We look at Scancell from the perspective of LTHs who have been waiting years for that illusive inflexion point.
New investors would have a different perspective, IMO.
I was going to say, here's to a resounding Chelsea win. They were 0-0 when I last looked but I see Bayern have now woken up!
Knowlesi I won't dissect your rather hysterical and characteristically abusive 20.53 post, suffice to say it is wrong in pretty much all aspects, and in any event you could only be shooting in the dark unless you were my stockbroker (you aren't) or had access to my facebook details (difficult as I am not on Facebook) or had some insight into my private life, and you don't. Some very interesting discussion this evening from others, but nobody touches on the paradox of having a buy-in point on what they dismiss as a 'lifestyle' company because surely any sensible investor would avoid one of those like the plague, and if I felt scancell had become one such I would sell out and leave, as I would have thought you would if genuinely holding that opinion. Just can't understand why you bother lambasting a dead duck if that's how you see it.
Well I think we can all learn from Bermuda. He makes his point and I don"t think any of us can say it hasn"t been very frustrating.
However, and a big however, we have suffered via our M/Cap for whatever is to blame for delays in getting us to this point. I just think we should accept that, and the very reason we are a High Risk investment is because IF we continue to delay, we will be severely punished in the market. It is easy to say just sell if you aren"t confident, but as we know many of us are considerably down on our investment and the very reason I use the word ""hopeful"" at every juncture is because I am.
I keep asking myself why Vulpes would come in with their investment if they didn"t know a lot more than us?? Each and every one of us has probably felt the same way and yes I feel the potential for good news far outweighs the potential for bad news. I would suggest that is what risk/reward is all about. GN guys.As ever till tomorrow, and yes IMHO we do have a buyer at 7p, and I actually think the reason we didn"t tick up today after 3 buys at 7p is because ""our buyer is still around at 7p. Lets see tomorrow.