Member Info for MikeF

Personalised Medicine – ‘The Right Treatment for the Right Person at the Right Time’ Personalised Medicine is perhaps one of the most significant trends in world medicine today. Estimated by PWC* at the end of 2009 in the United States to have a value of $232 billion, this market is expected to grow 11% annually for the foreseeable future. The core segment of this market – diagnostic tests and targeted therapies – is estimated at $24 billion in 2009, growing to $42 billion by 2015. This is therefore a huge and growing market. For the laymen amongst us, the relevance of ‘Personalised Medicine’ is that it provides more effective management of a patient's medical condition on the basis of the use of diagnostic tools employing molecular analysis of the patient's genomic, proteomic and metabolomic data to achieve the optimal medical outcomes for that individual. Quite a mouthful! It is probably better to give a real life example. Avacta Group have a core technology, Homomatrix®, acquired with Curidium Medica which is used to analyse clinical data to identify specific patient subgroups who respond to different drugs with different success or side effects. One result of applying this proprietary method of analysis is to develop diagnostic tests that will identify the patients from each subgroup to guide the choice of drug. An example of this is Avacta’s PsychINDx™ which is a diagnostic test for patients who suffer with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. By taking this test, the patient is categorised into one of four previously defined sub groups. Each subgroup is associated with specific drugs that are the most appropriate for them. The psychiatrist will then prescribe the correct medication according to the subgroup profiling. The patient then receives the most appropriate medicine without risking / trialling the wrong drugs. The benefits are obvious to a) the patient with improved control of their ailment much earlier, b) the health care provider (e.g. the NHS) who will no longer need to spend unnecessarily on ineffective medication for the patient and c) the pharmaceutical companies who will be able to develop novel and effective drug treatments for specific and relatively small patient groups with schizophrenia / bipolar disorder – drugs which might not reach the market at all under other circumstances because they don't work for most patients. But HomomatrixTM doesn't stop there – its analysis can also deliver information that helps drug companies identify new and highly valuable drug targets by increasing their understanding of the whole disease process. This is because Homomatrix relies on analysis of more than just DNA sequences (genomic information) as many personalised medicine approaches do.

It's a pretty big article but ok, here's part 1: Sometimes you find a company that you might otherwise have looked over, having all the hallmarks of financial meltdown; loss making, a tendency to continually issue paper, never ending investment in research and development, miniscule revenues. In other words, a company that might make money some day. Perhaps in a few years, perhaps never? You could make a case for Avacta Group being such a company but then you would be making a very serious mistake if you did. Avacta Group is currently on the cusp of finally breaking the operating loss that it has endured since its floatation in 2006 with the very real possibility of generating attractive returns for its shareholders in the very near future. As an average layman investor, the whole concept of cutting edge biophysics leaves me in pools of sweat before I’ve even tried to understand the acronyms. Perhaps it is early schoolboy memories of accidentally burning my chemistry teacher’s clothing with a Bunsen burner. Bad memories. From that point on, me and science just didn’t get on and this has become a feature of my investment life - I’ve always tried to avoid investment in anything too hi-tech, especially when it loses money. With Avacta Group, I’m prepared to let my prejudices rot as perseverance will hopefully profit the patient (please excuse the pun) investor with significant returns over the next few years. Aimzine recently caught up with Chief Executive Alastair Smith, one of the original founders of Avacta in January 2004. The Current Business Since floatation in 2006 Avacta Group has grown its business through in-house product development and evolved as a result of four key acquisitions / mergers. Three of these businesses were acquired within 2009 – Curidium Medica, YorkTest Veterinary Services and TheraGenetics. A fourth business was acquired earlier this year – Reactivlab. Each acquisition had strategic importance in developing the foundations for an organisation with a strong footprint in supporting the drug development sector in the field of diagnostics for humans and animals, with key IPR in diagnostic technology and in personalised medicine - an area which is expected to become increasingly important in the future and one which I shall explain shortly. Avacta Group is now structured in two parts. Avacta Analytical Limited, which provides innovative analytical instrumentation and services to the biopharmaceutical, pharmaceutical and healthcare industries and Avacta Animal Health, which provides laboratory based diagnostic testing services for the veterinary market and is developing innovative point-of-care (POC) testing technology that will have applications in both animal and human healthcare. There are currently approximately 45 employees in the two stated business units and the R&D and laboratory services teams.

A great article here: http://www.aimzine.co.uk/aimzine/0710/0710_B1/0710_B1.cfm

Ask just ticked down to .76p and Bid remains firm at .75p! A great entry price IMHO. GLA

My buy hasn't shown on LSE or PLUS!? Ask up to .8p now, should see a bounce here, huge overeaction. GLA

Has very little credibility when it comes to share dealing decisiona, he has made many mistakes and i believe selling this share is a huge mistake! Been keeping an eye for a while and i thank him for presenting me with a lovely buy in price of .75p :) GLA

in the biomarker industry: http://www.genomeweb.com/arrays/axela-acquires-xceed-molecular-bolster-biomarker-discovery-business

in here today, been doing a little research and like what i see. The consultant buying millions of shares tells me this is a win win also, look forward to further developments here. GLA

Wasn't sure what the last 100k trade was as it went through @ .059p, just did a dummy buy and got offered .0585p... spread much smaller than shown and very cheap to buy at these levels IMHO. GLA

Morning mate, still .0605p to buy this morning after a good few buys yesterday. Hopefully today we can move up a little if we see the same sort of volumes. GL

Thanks for posting that, i think the tie up with Thermo Fisher is significant. After seeing that article earlier it makes me think that we are a real takeover target.

Hi mate, very interesting indeed, a possibility of a T/O from Thermo Fisher then? We have a good relationship with the company already and they appear to be expanding in this area. I will look into Takeda in a bit more detail also, see what i can find.

Have a look at this: http://www.outsourcing-pharma.com/Clinical-Development/Biomarkers-indispensible-in-cancer-drug-development-says-Quintiles

Are you stupid? Serious question... I have already explained that this co. is about future revenues, the biomarker industry is growing all the time and this company is at the forefront of this technology. If you have a look back at my research as well as oldtramps you will see recent contract wins. This company is still in it's infancy, funding is not an issue either like most small caps because of the Family Trust fully funding it.

Your TMP is a fine example of a share taken off the lift support at least this one moves from time to time. lol A week or so ago the sp didn't move on any buys but the following day was marked up on open, do you remember, that was when you had trouble counting on your fingers! lmao Wouldn't surprise me if the same happened tomorrow. We'll see...

And what overhang might that be?

What's your point?

475,340 @ .06p

Another 3,000,000 buy just came through.

Noone is listening to me? That why i have had several conversations on here with oldtramp and also a couple of other posters were on the board on Friday? Don't be bitter because you can't make a decision yourself and have to follow zara round like a lost sheep! You bought in here then sold out the same day for a £100 loss... show's what a great investor you are. lmao