Roundtable Discussion; The Future of Mineral Sands. Watch the video here.
how's that short position working out for you?
very positive. decent grades and more importantly, over long intervals. this one has all the right signs.
nice find. should pique interest from US investors. thanks for sharing
For many, 2020 has been a year of heartbreak. For the army of small investors in experimental drug-maker Synairgen, it has been nothing short of a miracle.
Anyone who invested £100 in its shares in January would be £2,700 better off today.
The company owes its rocketing valuation to the coronavirus: it has a potential treatment. In July, Synairgen reported positive results from a trial of its drug. The shares jumped by 420% in one day.
“It is a thrill to be in this position,” said chief executive Richard Marsden, on a tour of Synairgen’s main trial site at Southampton General Hospital. His excitement was tempered: “It’s in the context of awful destruction happening, people dying, people losing their jobs.”
Synairgen is one of a host of healthcare specialists rushing to develop Covid-19 treatments, exploring whether drugs can improve outcomes for patients with severe symptoms. Drugs such as Synairgen’s — if they work — will be vital in reducing the death rate, allowing a quicker return to normality than by waiting for a full vaccine.
Synairgen’s trial involved 101 people hospitalised in various parts of the UK. Their treatment included Synairgen’s drug, SNG001. By aiding the immune response to the virus, Synairgen hoped to speed up recovery. In July, it announced that it had reduced the likelihood that patients would need to be put on a ventilator. The trial was deemed a success.
The results were a boon for Synairgen and its investors, who snapped up shares. Synairgen’s value has soared 2,621% since the start of the year, making its founders and executives paper millionaires. The shares closed on Friday at 160p, valuing it at £239m.
With winter coming and UK cases at about 7,000 a day, doctors need medicines to treat severe cases. A widely available vaccine is likely to be at least six months away.
Synairgen’s drug is based on interferon beta, a naturally occurring protein that is the body’s first line of defence against viruses. In the trial it was delivered by inhaler to recently diagnosed patients. They had appeared to develop more severe symptoms after the first few days, before being given SNG001. The body rushes to attack the virus, causing lung symptoms to worsen. “It seems with this virus that the second week is the risky week,” said Marsden.
The trial showed there was a 79% reduction in the risk of patients developing a severe version of the disease. There were no deaths of patients treated with SNG001, compared with three on the placebo. Marsden hopes the future drug will be taken at home before sufferers become sick enough to need hospital treatment.
“We’re anticipating a bad winter,” said Marsden, who predicted in August that local lockdowns would expand until large areas of the UK were under more restrictions.
Synairgen’s journey to the front line of the fight against coronavirus has not been smooth. Established in 2003 by three professors from Southampton University, it develops drugs for respiratory conditions. Until it b
dunno what dots you're joining, but there is no way NCYT will buy SNG. complete nonsense.
Very positive. Can’t read it any other way.
Great find. Thanks so much for sharing.
Is the problem here that we backed the wrong horse with CONDOR? If it's a technical hurdle that's the issue, then how come Abbott and Roche and others have managed to leapfrog Avacta and successfully launch their rapid Antigen tests? Roche are launching with 40m tests a month and scaling up to meet demand. I am sure Abbott and Roche also encountered technical challenges, but it seems they managed to overcome theirs, faster than we have. Perhaps the issue here is one of size? Is it the case that Avacta are too small to really take advantage of this opportunity and are being muscled out by the big boys? I ask all these questions only because I hold a significant stake in Avacta and I believe it's healthy to debate, rather than sugar coat every post with what people want to hear.
but right now today, we have nothing to sell, and it seems unlikely we will have anything to sell this year, and even when they start manufacturing it'll take months to scale up, so likely less than 10m tests a month for the first 3-6 months, or do we think they can realistically scale up faster??
I do find it interesting that all the people who stated first mover advantage and time to market was a key factor, are now suggesting it doesn't matter. Also, suggestions that the test from Abbot are in some way inferior, because they require a shallow and painless nasal swab. Do we at least accept that there are a number of competitors now on the scene, with tests available now, that give accurate results within 15 minutes? So, whilst there is still a huge potential market out there, would it be fair to say we lost the first mover advantage, we aren't the only company with a rapid antigen test, there are other tests available that can be scaled up over time?
Best to let the results do the talking. No amount of ramping will change the outcome of the results. Best to buy and hold.
So all the speculation that we were involved in trials at Southampton and Porton Down were incorrect? The current status is that LSTM and Porton Down are waiting for supply, before they can start validation. Is that correct? Assuming this is the case, then it seems we are perhaps a couple of months away from validation?
I just feel sorry for people who bought last week on the back of blatant ramping and Ill informed comments from respected posters, who should know better. Cries of “you won’t get in under 30p on Monday” etc. Looks like a lot of people were spiked on this. Lessons learned I hope
When the interviewer asks if there is anything that could take the stock higher and he replies with IBS, I think that’s a fairly big clue that the readouts will be good. I’m sure he must have had sight of those readouts by now, given that they will be published in the next 10 days. So why would he say IBS if he didn’t already know that it was going to push the stock higher? Massive buy signal, right there.
really enjoyed reading that Mercedes. Regards, The Wolf.
I'm still trying to work out what happened. It was like a drive by shooting. lol. exciting times!
I think we are out of steam, for now
11.04am was me. I've thrown in everything, including the kitchen sink. Huge conviction and belief in AS and the team at Avacta.
I think you’re wrong.
Fair point. As you say, the phase 1 pilot appears to have been Optigene. However, the Optigene test is clearly not the holy grail. Spit in a pot, send it away, get results in 48 hours. The press release also clearly states that they are "currently exploring the potential of other no swab saliva based coronavirus tests.....including Avacta".