George Frangeskides, Chairman at ALBA, explains why the Pilbara Lithium option ‘was too good to miss’. Watch the video here.
Scancell is developing novel immunotherapies for cancer based on three platform technologies known as Immunobody, Moditope and Avidimab. Results from Scancell's first clinical trial for the treatment of melanoma continue to be excellent with recurrence free survival at 69% at 5 years, surpassing results in other trials of ipilimumab (leading immunotherapy for cancer) which showed 46.5% at 3 years. The Avidimabs – which are antibodies directed at targets expressed on cancer cells – are the latest addition to the business of Scancell and have already generated three development agreements.
Scancell had a fall in its share price in the first half of the year. An investment of £3.87m from Vulpes Life Sciences Fund supported the company and the share price rose again to 6.4p at 29 February 2020. Scancell has received authorisation to proceed with its SCIB1 trial in combination with Keytruda both in the UK and the US. Post period end Scancell has announced its plans to initiate research work to develop a vaccine against the Covid-19 virus causing a moderate increase in its share price.
Scancell is our third largest holding and had a disappointing year of regulatory and clinical delays in its flagship melanoma trial and its share price fell over the course of the year. Its planned Phase 2 combination trial with their initial product SCIB1 ran into difficulties with the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) due to the delayed approval by the FDA of the upgraded delivery device from 3rd party Ichor. In the event, the trials started in the UK later than expected. Subsequently the required US approvals were received but a year has been lost and results will now be correspondingly delayed. Post period end the UK trial went on hold as a result of Covid-19 risks. Nevertheless good data from these trials could represent a significant value inflection point for Scancell and are eagerly awaited.
Preparations for trials with their other 2 lead products (SCIB2 and MODI-1) are continuing to make progress. Cancer Research UK is funding and sponsoring a Phase 1/2 trial to investigate the safety and efficacy of SCIB2 using a new nanoparticle formulation to effectively deliver this vaccine to non-small cell lung cancer patients with solid tumours. Modi-1 is being developed for the treatment of solid tumours including triple negative breast cancer, ovarian cancer and head and neck cancer. However both are at too early a stage to influence valuations yet. The new AvidiMab platform has also generated significant interest and three agreements have been signed with different partners to evaluate its potential, which if successful, could translate into important commercial deals.
During the year, and after conducting in-depth scientific and commercial due diligence, Vulpes Life Science Fund subscribed £4m in Scancell, through a share placing at 5.0p/share and made a further open market purchase, to become a significant (17%) shareholder with a seat on the board. The investment by Vulpes has extended the Scancell’s cash runway, but it is anticipated that there will be a need to raise further funds or form commercial partnerships to realise the potential of all the technologies under development.
Scancell’s share price started the year at 7.0p and ended at 6.4p but swung during the year between a high of 9.2p and a low of 3.0p when a distressed hedge fund unhelpfully exited all its large position in an emergency fire sale. Post period end the Scancell share price temporarily spiked following the April announcement that Scancell had initiated a research project to use its clinical expertise in cancer to produce a simple, safe, cost effective and scalable vaccine which could induce a durable response against the virus that causes Covid-19.
Unbelievable that this can happen from what should be a respectable Company.
Issue a statement about Covid 19 trials, get the price up so the main II can dump shares.
FCA need to investigate, but they never do.
Lindy is not to be trusted.
As the world scrambles to fight the deadly coronavirus, a microcap U.K. pharmaceutical company saw its stock surge 800%
Shares in Synairgen Plc have soared 845% this year, with gains accelerating in mid-March after the company got approval from U.K. regulators to start trials of its drug, SNG001, in people hospitalized with Covid-19. The company has a market capitalization of just 67 million pounds ($83 million), even after the share-price jump.
SNG001 is a formulation of a naturally occurring protein, known as interferon beta, that Synairgen says may be deficient in those with greater susceptibility to the illness, such as the elderly or those with heart and lung complications or diabetes. The drug is administered via inhalation.
Have loaded up the past few days on great news coming. The future is exciting, the progression will accelerate and the upside here is massive IMHO.
Have substantial funds coming in next three weeks and I can't see a better opportunity for a big return.Looking forward to see my average purchases of 4.9126p return market busting growth.
Corona highlights how important our immune system is as we get older and the research from companies like Scancell underline the potential of money to be made from Pandemics as well as Cancers.
The future is very bright.