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Sierra remains in operation under GSK's umbrella so I think the license RNS stating, "...a private biopharma company based in the United States..." could describe the situation.
Yeah, Potnak, we're only presuming 737 is somehow back in the hands of those who contributed to its development so that would mean either Boundless (Sierra's CSO now working there) or Sierra/GSK.
IF it's boomeranged back to Sierra then the 137,000 shares would presumably be GSK shares, currently trading for just over £16 - that'd be about £2.2m in our coffers before the start of next January if I recall the known terms of the deal.
On the other hand, plenty of preclinical research papers have been posted here singing the praises of 737 so maybe it'll be someone out of left field.
There are another couple of presentations (one happening tomorrow) that mention 737 -
https://www.abstractsonline.com/pp8/#!/20272/presentation/10507
https://nwm.covr.be/cmPortal/searchable/eai24/config/normal#!abstractdetails/0000998790
Clearly our focus here is on Sareum so it's easy to forget the dozens of other small UK biotechs jostling for funding. If the RF deal really was the best or only option, just think of the other companies who couldn't even get that.
Stumbled across this article - https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2024/04/06/london-bad-place-raise-money-life-sciences-john-bell/
Extract -
"One of Britain’s top life science leaders, Sir John Bell, has warned over an impending exodus of drug makers from London as he branded the City a “bad place to raise money”.
Sir John, an industry veteran known for his critical role steering the Covid vaccine rollout, said British biotech businesses “are all going to pack up and go somewhere else” if the UK’s equity markets do not become a better place to raise money.
The comments come just days after two British drug discovery companies announced they were quitting London’s junior market. On April 2 Redx Pharma unveiled plans to delist from the Alternative Investment Market (Aim), claiming its low valuation was “not conducive” to raising cash to spend on more treatments. It echoed an announcement from C4X Discovery a week earlier where it said it was leaving Aim because the recent downturn in the financial markets “adversely impacted our share price, and with it, our future ability to raise funds in the public markets”.
The moves have sparked fresh concerns over the health of the UK capital markets. The London Stock Exchange has been struck by a spate of exits over the past year, including travel giant Tui and Paddy Power-owner Flutter.
Sir John said it was like “night and day” comparing London with New York’s Nasdaq exchange.
He added: “The London public markets are just too light on investment capital. In general terms, they are a bad place to raise money.
“One of the whole reasons for being on the stock market is to raise capital, but that has stopped being the case on the London exchange.”
Sir John said this was leading to “inappropriate” valuations for many small and medium-sized biotech companies. “You can hear it going all down the gurgler already frankly.”
It comes as calls mount for bolder intervention from the Government to reverse the decline of London’s markets."
Hi Cobalt - yes, you're right that if the WRAP shares were bought inside an ISA then you're ok. I was suggesting anyone who picked up the 10p shares via a regular share account.
My apologies for any confusion.
Onwards!!
I took the gamble that although the MMs would probably push the price up to catch us early birds and the sp might drop later, if RF are out then we could see steady sp progress from here on. At least by jumping in first thing I got to fill my ISA at a price I was ok with.
For those who bought at 10p in the WRAP they might have to pay CGT if they're moving shares into this year's ISA as the CGT limit is now £3000 before you need to pay tax on profits.
Hi Matt - the 2 large buys were my ISA - first went through ok then got NT for the second trade a few times before it went through.
News could come at any point now and I've averaged down to 43p so even though I couldn't take part in the WRAp I can't complain too much.
Regards.
Hi Silver - the sp decline is probably due to a variety of factors which have all compounded to where we are now:
1. 737 handed back but now subject to a fairly opaque deal with no clue what the licencee really plans.
2. Despite the MHRA fiasco being quickly switched to Oz, we don't have absolute certainty over the success of the current trial. As you know, the markets don't like uncertainty. Results = prizes.
3. RF involvement. Was there a presumption that a 737 deal would create significant upfront revenue and therefore RF looked like an acceptable short-term gamble to the BoD? That gamble didn't work out and the market saw the deal as desperation and assumed the worst.
4. Punters care about SAR, brokers don't. The MMs are ambivalent and if it benefits them to drive an sp lower in order to help a takeover then as long as they can be seen to be neutral (cough, splutter), then it's all just business.
Solid results from Oz plus jumping ahead to a P2a trial with or without a partner will send a good message that we can go it alone (for now). Plus ditching RF should work wonders.
All quite the tangled web to be honest.
Hi Silver, I don't think we have any right to see that info in much the same way a member of a building society can't just rummage through head office records. RF will have to show the BoD a clear record of what they sold and for how much etc. as part of the contract. The Edison report gave some indication of the current position but since we're not now looking for the full £5m I think it's a case of we don't have to issue more shares to make up any shortfall but we do have to repay any outstanding monies by Aug 2025. If a fat deal doesn't come along before then at least we should get some income from the 737 deal before the end of this year to finally tell RF to get stuffed.
RF have warrants but no idea if they can be cancelled on payment of x,y or z.
Morning Warthog - good to see you're feeling better!
I don't have a problem with people having multiple income streams but do wonder if we're getting value for money from Parker. Without knowing what goes on behind the scenes it's hard to say if he's working like a maniac for us, with many strong links to interested parties, or if he spends all his time at the Garrick pretending to be a mover and shaker.
I was digging for clues as to who may have 737 and searched the US gov SEC website for any mention of 'Sareum' in the last 30 days in case we're a footnote to some entry relating to a deal or whatever.
There are 2 results, both for Biodexa Pharmaceuticals Plc - https://biodexapharma.com/
So what's the connection? Step forward Stephen Parker (or 'Simon' if you open his bio) - https://biodexapharma.com/about/#board-stephen-parker
Anyway, back to the SEC doc and look at the 'Letters of Appointment' starting about halfway down page 96 - https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1643918/000121465924005356/d320242424b3.htm#MANAGEMENT
It states, "Dr. Parker is paid an annual fee of £82,000, plus an additional fee of £1,750 for every day in excess of 16 days worked." I'll let someone here do the maths.
It'll be interesting to see if the SAR BoD announce what their reduced renumeration is in light of our recent financial concerns.
Footnote: if the typo refering to Stephen as 'Simon Parker' gets corrected in the next week, is it because someone over there discovered the error by chance or because our BoD read this forum?!
Evening SOG - whilst we've both mentioned AZD1775 previously, I can't find a link between AstraZeneca (or Merck) and any privately owned US biopharma so I don't think we'll be seeing a SAR/AZ deal any time soon (more's the pity).
https://delta.larvol.com/Products/?ProductId=326ab820-1f70-446a-a97a-a9e6d947e352&Index=0
Perhaps the BoD are hoping that RF have gone to the wall by Aug 2025. It'd be a fitting end.
You'd certainly hope Clive Birch knows precisely where we stand re who owes what and when. He should now be advising T&J whether or not to utilise the excess WRAP monies to pay them off or press on with 1802.
As you'll know, Sierra applied for a number of 737-related patents but the IP was to be handed over when they returned 737. The list below was collated from the Google Patents site. It shows the patent & current assignee - make of it what you will:
Publication number: 20230150994 - Methods for synthesis of chk1 inhibitors - Sierra Oncology Inc
Publication number: 20200397796 - Methods of treatment of cancer comprising chk1 inhibitors - Crt Pioneer Fund Lp
Publication number: 20220184091 - Methods of Treating Cancer with Chk1 Inhibitors - MD Anderson Cancer Center/Sierra Oncology Inc
Publication number: 20210077499 - Chk1 (sra737)/parpi combination methods of inhibiting tumor growth - Crt Pioneer Fund Lp
Publication number: 11596637 - CHK1 (SRA737)/PARPi combination methods of inhibiting tumor growth - Crt Pioneer Fund Lp
Publication number: 20220226338 - Methods of Treating Cancer Using CHK1 Inhibitors - Crt Pioneer Fund Lp
Hi SOG - the recent RNS notes, "The goal of the proposed Phase 2a trial would be to recruit up to 24 psoriasis patients..."
Regards.
When I got SC clearance I was amazed I could remember the answers to some of the questions! I feel sorry for whoever had to look through my internet search history!
Which company? If you mean RiverFort then probably.
My apologies to other posters, my interaction with the little prince will end here.
Puma - That’s very simplistic. Based on your logic, you expect the 9.5m shares to be sold off at a loss?
On a different topic, do you have the word 'slave' written on your cheek as a tribute to the short purple one?
Thanks for the reply, Potnak. That would be some hike from 10.5p today to 20/30p on Monday if it happens.
Cobalt - the 9.5m shares cost 10p each. Would you look to sell them to punters for more or less than 10p?!?
I'm just wondering what might happen on Monday when people start loading up their ISAs. If the 9.5m placing shares are newly available from Friday, will we see a large spread next week if MMs hike the ask price but keep the bid low e.g. 13p+ to buy but 10p to sell?
Would appreciate any thoughts on this.