Currency in AUD
Last close As at 27/03/2023
AUD0.04
▲ 0.01 (33.33%)
Market capitalisation
AUD26m
Research: Healthcare
Arovella’s Q322 trading update confirms the progress of its development pipeline, with an emphasis on its lead asset, ALA-101. With the selection of a contract manufacturing organisation (CMO; production of the plasmid and lentiviral vector for ALA-101 began in January 2022) and signed service agreement with Q-Gen Cell Therapeutics (to manufacture CAR-iNKT cells), the company is progressing towards clinical development. Separately, Arovella secured a US patent for the oral spray formulation of anagrelide, which is under development and should expand the market opportunity for the drug and supplement its existing patents in Europe, Japan and Australia. At the end of Q322, cash stood at A$8.1m, benefiting from funding activity during the quarter.
Arovella Therapeutics |
Q3 trading update confirms pipeline progression |
Quarterly activity report |
Pharma & biotech |
4 May 2022 |
Share price performance Business description
Analysts
Arovella Therapeutics is a research client of Edison Investment Research Limited |
Arovella’s Q322 trading update confirms the progress of its development pipeline, with an emphasis on its lead asset, ALA-101. With the selection of a contract manufacturing organisation (CMO; production of the plasmid and lentiviral vector for ALA-101 began in January 2022) and signed service agreement with Q-Gen Cell Therapeutics (to manufacture CAR-iNKT cells), the company is progressing towards clinical development. Separately, Arovella secured a US patent for the oral spray formulation of anagrelide, which is under development and should expand the market opportunity for the drug and supplement its existing patents in Europe, Japan and Australia. At the end of Q322, cash stood at A$8.1m, benefiting from funding activity during the quarter.
Year end |
Revenue (A$m) |
PBT* |
EPS* |
DPS |
P/E |
Yield |
06/20 |
0.5 |
(3.6) |
(0.03) |
0.0 |
N/A |
N/A |
06/21 |
0.3 |
(3.4) |
(0.01) |
0.0 |
N/A |
N/A |
06/22e |
0.4 |
(7.5) |
(0.01) |
0.0 |
N/A |
N/A |
06/23e |
2.4 |
(5.8) |
(0.01) |
0.0 |
N/A |
N/A |
Note: *PBT and EPS are normalised, excluding amortisation of acquired intangibles, exceptional items and share-based payments.
In the first four months of 2022, management made progress in transitioning its lead asset ALA-101 (CAR19-iNKT) to the clinic. Following the selection of a CMO (to produce the required plasmid and lentiviral for the manufacture of the iNKT cells) in January 2022, the company announced that it had signed a service agreement with Q-Gen (cell therapy manufacturer) to complete the second step in the process, to manufacture iNKT cells (April 2022). Arovella intends to convert the current service agreement with Q-Gen into a Master Manufacturing Services Agreement, which should support the extension of the manufacturing contract to later stages of clinical trials.
In another development, Arovella announced that the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) intends to grant a US patent for its oral spray formulation of anagrelide (part of its legacy OroMist platform), which is mainly used in cancer treatment. The patent will offer protection until 2035 and adds to the existing patents already obtained in Europe, Japan and Australia. Anagrelide is targeted at reducing platelet counts in metastatic solid tumour cancers (increased platelet count has been implicated in decreasing progression-free survival in several solid tumours). With Arovella moving its strategic focus to immunoncology, the company will seek to further develop anagrelide through co-development partnerships (research or out-licensing).
On the financial side, Arovella ended the quarter with a cash balance of A$8.1m. It raised gross proceeds of A$6.6m through two rounds of institutional financing in February 2022 (including directors’ contribution) and a share purchase plan (see our previous report for more details). The funds will be mainly utilised in manufacturing CAR19-iNKT cell components, preclinical studies for DKK1-CAR-iNKT and for operating purposes.
|
|
Research: Metals & Mining
Lithium Power International’s (LPI’s) Q322 activities report suggests continued progress on its 52%-owned Maricunga lithium project in Chile. The company has also confirmed its plans to demerge its Western Australia (WA) lithium assets by the end of CY22. We have updated our estimates slightly to bring them in line with the reported cash spend. Our valuation increases to A$1.1/share, due to the implied lower forecast project equity dilution. The planned lithium assets spin-off should crystalise additional value for shareholders.
Get access to the very latest content matched to your personal investment style.