2016-2017 Year in Review |
The Life Sciences sector in Australia and New Zealand, 2016-17
Bioshares 2017 - Another great conference. Every July the biotechnology and medical device community of Australia and New Zealand gathers in Queenstown, on New Zealand's South Island, for the annual Bioshares Biotech Summit, the leading Life Sciences investment conference for our region. This year at the Peasants Dinner before the official start of the meeting on Thursday 20 July another crop of 'Red Hat' award recipients were honoured for their contributions to our sector (click here and here), and this year's Summit on 21 and 22 July was up to the usual high standards that the team at Bioshares team always set for themselves. Bioshares is a chance to look back and see what our rapidly emerging Life Sciences sector has achieved over the previous twelve months, and to review mistakes that have been made and learn from them. Here is NDF Research's review of the year that preceded Bioshares 2017 for the sector.
In 2016-2017 the overall performance of the ASX Life Sciences sector was flat. On Thursday 28 July 2016, at the start of that year's Bioshares, the NDF Life Sciences Index closed at 153.0 points. It was 145.6 points on Thursday 20 July 2017. The market was healthy until October when the Index peaked at 181 points. The mood after this was largely bearish until May 2017, by which time the Index had dropped to 134 points.
In 2016-2017 the overall performance of the ASX Life Sciences sector was flat. On Thursday 28 July 2016, at the start of that year's Bioshares, the NDF Life Sciences Index closed at 153.0 points. It was 145.6 points on Thursday 20 July 2017. The market was healthy until October when the Index peaked at 181 points. The mood after this was largely bearish until May 2017, by which time the Index had dropped to 134 points.
Some solid performances. The peptide drug developer Phylogica (PYC) rose 220% off the back of a milestone payment from Genentech earned in December 2016. Medlab Clinical (MDC), a company mainly involved in the development of nutraceuticals for gut health, increased 98% after it moved into development of cannabis products for oncology paid. GI Dynamics (GID), developer of a edical device to treat obesity and Type 2 diabetes, was up 80% upon the gaining of German reimbursement for the product. The stem cell developer Mesoblast (MSB) rallied 76% thanks to a number of clinical data points and the announcement of pharma collaborations. And Cogstate (CGS) rose 68%, helped by Eli Lilly's May 2017 selection of the company's cognition measurement tools in its Alzheimer’s disease platform.
A few de-ratings. Atcor Medical (ACG). a developer of blood pressure diagnostic systems, declined 63% over the course of the year, despite the company's business being in reasonably good shape. It was roughly the same story with IDT Australia (IDT), the pharmaceutical manufacturer, down 68%. Biotron (BIT) fell 68%, even though by July 2017 the company had completed patient recruitment for its clinicla trial of BIT-225 in HIV patients. Adherium (ADR) declined 73%, mainly over concerns about the long-run commercial prospects of the company's Smartinhaler technology for respiratory medication adherence.
There were several new listings including the dermatological drug developer Botanix Pharmaceuticals (BOT) and a cancer drug developer called Race Oncology (RAX) in July 2016, and another cancer drug developer called Noxopharm (NOX) in August 2016
Innate Immunotherapeutics' clinical failure. Innate Immunotherapeutics (IIL) reported a significant clinical failure on 27 June 2017. The company's MIS416 compound, which had shown potential as immunomodulatory agent for the treatment of inflammatory disorders when administered systemically, failed at Phase 2b in a study in 'Secondary Progressive' Multiple Sclerosis. In MS, the CNS comes under attack from the patient's immune system, and as the myelin insulating nerves gets destroyed the patient gradually becomes paralysed or blind. In the earlier stages MS is mostly 'relapsing remitting', meaning that it comes and goes. Later on it generally becomes 'secondary progressive', meaning there is no let-up. Innate may have one of the first drugs suitable for these patients. MIS416 had had a long history of compassionate use in NZ, where '70% of these patients have self-reported significant improvement in their MS-related disabilities and and/or health related quality of life'. Unfortunately the Phase 2b, when it read out top-line data, showed 'no clinically meaningful or statistically significant differences in measures of neuromuscular function or patient-reported outcomes'.
The Nasdaq stocks recovered from November 2016. The recovery of the biotech sector in the US from the second half of 2016 continued into 2017, so that by 20 July the Nasdaq Biotechnology Index was 3,381.5 points, up 31% on the November 2016 low.
A few de-ratings. Atcor Medical (ACG). a developer of blood pressure diagnostic systems, declined 63% over the course of the year, despite the company's business being in reasonably good shape. It was roughly the same story with IDT Australia (IDT), the pharmaceutical manufacturer, down 68%. Biotron (BIT) fell 68%, even though by July 2017 the company had completed patient recruitment for its clinicla trial of BIT-225 in HIV patients. Adherium (ADR) declined 73%, mainly over concerns about the long-run commercial prospects of the company's Smartinhaler technology for respiratory medication adherence.
There were several new listings including the dermatological drug developer Botanix Pharmaceuticals (BOT) and a cancer drug developer called Race Oncology (RAX) in July 2016, and another cancer drug developer called Noxopharm (NOX) in August 2016
Innate Immunotherapeutics' clinical failure. Innate Immunotherapeutics (IIL) reported a significant clinical failure on 27 June 2017. The company's MIS416 compound, which had shown potential as immunomodulatory agent for the treatment of inflammatory disorders when administered systemically, failed at Phase 2b in a study in 'Secondary Progressive' Multiple Sclerosis. In MS, the CNS comes under attack from the patient's immune system, and as the myelin insulating nerves gets destroyed the patient gradually becomes paralysed or blind. In the earlier stages MS is mostly 'relapsing remitting', meaning that it comes and goes. Later on it generally becomes 'secondary progressive', meaning there is no let-up. Innate may have one of the first drugs suitable for these patients. MIS416 had had a long history of compassionate use in NZ, where '70% of these patients have self-reported significant improvement in their MS-related disabilities and and/or health related quality of life'. Unfortunately the Phase 2b, when it read out top-line data, showed 'no clinically meaningful or statistically significant differences in measures of neuromuscular function or patient-reported outcomes'.
The Nasdaq stocks recovered from November 2016. The recovery of the biotech sector in the US from the second half of 2016 continued into 2017, so that by 20 July the Nasdaq Biotechnology Index was 3,381.5 points, up 31% on the November 2016 low.
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