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According to the BIA, biotech stocks have never been a more attractive destination for investors and so they have today published a guide to help investors who are new to the sector. May be of use to some looking in here and there are some useful facts and figures from p. 24 onwards.

Of particular interest to some on this bb is the section on how to value a biotech starting at page 38. There's a useful explanation of risk-adjusted NPV but the long and short of it is that it's all pretty subjective and there is no right or wrong or any definitive answer. We could all post any valuation we like and come up with ways to justify it.

Also posted is a proactive interview with the BIA also released today to coincide with the launch of the guide.

https://www.bioindustry.org/policy/invest-in-biotech.html

https://www.proactiveinvestors.co.uk/companies/news/928340/bioindustry-association-marks--golden-age-of-biotech--928340.html

LL

Sorry to hear that - take care

Ivy/Burble

Thanks for your explanations of the research I posted last night. Just to add a couple of points, if they're not quite right then perhaps you could correct them Burble?

As I understand it and in very simple terms, COVID-19 uses receptors on the Spike (S) protein to enter cells whilst the Nucleocapsid Protein helps it spread and thrive once it has infected a cell.

If you want to build a preventative vaccine, it therefore makes sense to target the Spike protein by generating neutralizing antibodies to prevent the virus entering cells in the first place. That's why all developers are targeting various regions of the Spike. However, one or two, including Scancell are building vaccines that will also generate T cell responses against the N protein which should give a belt and braces approach.

The other major benefit of targeting the N protein is the fact that it remains relatively unchanged between different coronaviruses. So as the virus mutates and as new ones come along, Scancell's vaccine may well still offer protection. This will be really important on an ongoing basis as you don't want to be having to constantly develop new vaccines as and when the virus mutates.

The research I posted last night was an analysis of memory T cells from patients who had recovered from Covid-19. They looked at the whole range of SARS-COV-2 peptides to fully understand the T- cell response and to understand which epitopes were dominant. There has been very little research at this level and the most relevant part for Scancell related to their findings on the immune response to the Nucleocapsid protein.

They identified 6 immunodominant groups of epitopes that were targeted by T cells, importantly, this included 1 group in the Nucleocapsid protein - 'strong and dominant T cell responses specific to the Nucleocapsid protein'. Their findings support Scancell's approach:-

'These data strongly suggest that NP and M have the potential for inclusion within future vaccines so as to stimulate strong effector T cell responses. Furthermore, T cells responding to these antigens may be more cross-reactive'

In short, some of the most detailed research yet in understanding the T cell response to Covid-19 strongly suggests the inclusion of the Nucleocapsid protein in future vaccines and Scancell is one of the few developers to have already gone down this road.

Burble/douve

I think you have to look at how the Company has developed over the past decade, the age and composition of the board and management team and the infrastructure they're building around themselves. LD really is the company and the fact that she has retained her UoN role and there is no apparent succession planning suggests to me that whilst they're likely to license products, there will come a point in time when they feel they have optimised value and will look to sell the Company.

They have previously confirmed that they wouldn't run phase III trials so it would seem logical to take Modi1 through a phase I/II and possibly even a proof of concept in Modi2 and then take stock. To take an oncology product to market, especially in the US requires completely different skills and scale to an early stage bio and it's not what Scancell is all about. I'm sure LD's priority will be to ensure her innovation is developed and taken to market. The very best chance of that happening will be in the hands of a larger pharma/bio with the infrastructure, experience, skills and resources to do justice to the pipeline.

IMO of course.

New research from Oxford has been published today - 'Broad and strong memory CD4+ and CD8+ T cells induced by SARS-CoV-2 in UK convalescent individuals following COVID-19'

Some really interesting findings from Scancell's point of view. The research looks at both mild and severe Covid patients to analyse their T cell responses and precisely what the T cells are reacting to. Some points of interest are listed below - note NP stands for nucleocapsid protein and of course, Scancell's vaccine is one of the few in development targeting the nucleocapsid protein as well as the spike.

'Multiple strong dominant T cell responses were seen in study participants that were specific for the M and NP proteins.'

' Dominant epitope regions within NP (NP-16) were detected in 35% of study participants'

' a higher proportion of multi-cytokine-producing M/NP-specific T cells compared with spike-specific CD8+ T cells were observed in individuals who had recovered from mild disease'

'These data strongly suggest that NP and M have the potential for inclusion within future vaccines so as to stimulate strong effector T cell responses. Furthermore, T cells responding to these antigens may be more cross-reactive'

https://rdcu.be/b6MF7

He meant the £8 club

'The Options have an exercise price of 4.5 pence each (the same price as the expired shares) and will vest twelve months from the date of Grant'

Ipad,

I agree

I'll take it as a very bullish post :)

Thanks for sharing.

Crackin -

I don't necessarily agree but it's your opinion and fair enough.

Crackin

Not with you Crackin, they haven't refused the options.

These options were originally granted to LD and RG back in 2010 and expired in 2015. They were reissued in 2016 and expired again in July this year. They have now been reissued again and I guess the timing is simply down to the timing of a meeting of the remuneration committee who would have approved the reissue.

As I posted the other day, the reality is that they will likely sit there, unexercised unless there is a major corporate event, in which case they will receive a nice lump sum. Nobody would begrudge them that.

lol, have to admit that when posted my 17.41 yesterday, this was one RNS that hadn't crossed my mind!

Worth having a look at this paper which discusses the design of the Amryt clinical trial and the unique issues facing EB trials in general.

https://trialsjournal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13063-019-3362-z

Candid,

Ignore my previous, I've now found the paper with the Amicus trial results and posted the link below.

'It is possible that one or more components of the vehicle control cream had therapeutic effects. The vehicle used in the present study contained lanolin oil and cod liver oil, both of which have been shown to promote skin healing [32, 33], and therefore could have contributed to the higher-than-expected levels of wound closure observed in the control group'

'In addition, daily application of a topical cream to the entire body may have contributed to the improvements observed in the vehicle arm, as the degree of skin care that occurred during the trial may have been greater than the skin care routine normally practiced at home.'

https://ojrd.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13023-020-01419-3

That's a really interesting concept. I'll try and find the paper from Amicus - I don's suppose you remember the name of the journal?

Chelsea,

You think an Avidimab deal is on the cards?

Chelsea - yes, I could be wrong of course but from CH's comments it seems that the first deal will be for one/some of the mAbs rather than the Avidimab platform. I still am puzzled by the slightly conflicting statements in the fundraising RNS and CH's Proactive presentation. Perhaps it'll be a deal for the mAb with a further collaboration with the same partner to evaluate Avidimab?

Bunsie - thanks and my earlier post wasn't intended to be terse, just trying to do a million things at once atm

LL - not sure what interim report you mean. Scancell's financial year end is 30th April so their half-year end is 31st October. Could that be what you're thinking of? If so the half-year report won't be issued for a few months yet.

Chelsea,

I expect the next RNS will be the posting of the Annual Report and announcing the date and arrangements for the AGM. I assume it'll be a virtual affair with just a minimum quorum of BOD members actually attending. If so, I very much hope they'll provide a live link to proceedings and allow time for a Q&A session.

Around the same time and possibly to coincide with the AGM I'm hoping we'll see some preclinical data for Covidity and will learn a little more about the vaccine, the dosing regime and the peptide nanoparticle delivery system. We also should have confirmation re. the granting of at least one but possibly more Moditope patents.

Other than that, the following are all possible during Q3/Q4:-

- glycan mAb deal
- further avidimab / mAb collaborations
- SCIB1 new study centres open for recruitment and 1st patient dosed
- BioNTech deal

Bunsie

Feel free to start a new discussion/thread