The Bloom Burton Healthcare Conference in Toronto is an annual pilgrimage for most Canadian life science investors, companies, and service providers. Here are some of my thoughts from the conference. Apologies for the grammar and spelling, I wasn’t able to give this as much review as I usually would.
The day before the conference I met with the CEO of Alpha Cognition (TSXV: ACOG, US: ACOGF), Michael McFadden. I have followed the company for a few years but this was the first time meeting Michael in person. Their lead asset, 1062, is a pro-drug of the FDA-approved Alzheimer’s drug galantamine. The company has generated bioequivalency data for 1062 to galantamine and plans on submitting a 505(b)(2) NDA in Q3. On the surface, it appears to be a low-risk NDA. There are commercial questions around product differentiation vs generic galantamine, but Michael seems confident they can communicate the benefits to prescribers once approved and carve out a healthy market for 1062. Regardless, I’m intrigued and think there could be substantial upside from an FDA approval. In the meantime, the company will need to raise additional capital to fund itself through the NDA process, but once financed, it could be a fun one to watch.
Day 1
The early buzz around the conference was about Bellus (TSX: BLU, Nasdaq: BLU) and its recent acquisition by GSK. It would have been great to connect with Roberto Bellini at the conference and congratulate him in person for his well-deserved success, but he was home in Montreal meeting with GSK.
Lots of discussions amongst attendees about who could be the next Canadian company to be acquired. I heard ESSA (Nasdaq: EPIX) and Medicenna (TSX: MDNA, Nasdaq: MDNA) as two take-over candidates, but the most common name I heard was Xenon (Nasdaq: XENE). As much as I am a fan of Xenon, I don’t see them as a take-over candidate, and I will elaborate why below.
I have a 1×1 meeting with the Satellos team (TSXV: MSCL), Frank Gleeson (CEO) and Michael Rudnicki (CSO). Bellus is the talk of the conference, but a close second is Satellos, due to their recently announced $50mm financing. It’s very encouraging to see an early-stage company receive this kind of US institutional support. It’s clearly a testament to the quality of their science, unique MOA, and the market’s love for the DMD indication.
I attend the Xenon presentation. Ph2 MDD data for XEN1101 is creeping closer. I have previously written on why I think these data are important for Xenon. Closing the loop on my earlier comment about Xenon being an acquisition target, I get it, they’re a public company and for sale every day, but their CEO Ian Mortimer makes it pretty clear they have ambitions of marketing 1101 in the US themselves. Maybe they do an ex-US deal, but I don’t see them openly entertaining take-out offers at this stage. In fact, it wouldn’t surprise me to see them be an acquirer of CNS (ion-channel) assets in the future.
I attend the Satellos presentation. These guys definitely have a good story, it’s early, but very unique approach to the treatment of DMD.
I have a 1×1 meeting with Theratechnology (TSX: TH, Nasdaq: THTX). I have known these guys forever and was an early investor when they first bought Egrifta back from Merck Serono. For years they were building a healthy little HIV-focused specialty pharma business with Egrifta and Trogarzo, but for some reason decided to dive back into R&D soup a few years ago and acquired an oncology asset. It’s a strange fit for sure, a spec pharma business with an early-stage oncology R&D program. Nonetheless, their oncology asset, TH1902, is interesting, and after a recent pause to adjust their Ph1 protocol, appears ready to enroll patients again. My advice to them, not that they asked, would be to monetize the spec pharma business and become a pure-play R&D company.
I bump into a fund manager friend who focuses on healthcare. We bounce ideas back and forth. He likes Fennec (Nasdaq: FENC), a name I know well, so we compare notes there. I mention Delcath (Nasdaq: DCTH) as a name worth taking a look at. Medicenna is another name we have a mutual interest in, and both have scheduled 1×1 meetings with management. Finally, he mentions a name that I hadn’t heard in a long time – Promis Neuroscience (TSX: PMN, Nasdaq: PMN). I was surprised to learn they had uplisted to Nasdaq and had a new CEO, both promising developments in my opinion. I knew Promis when it was still called Amorfix, so my curiosity is peaked and I make a note to revisit it in the coming weeks.
I have my 1×1 meeting with Medicenna. I have known Medicenna since they went public and always like catching up with Fahar (CEO) and Liz (CFO). When I met Medicenna at last year’s conference, they were about to release interim data from their Ph1/2 study with MDNA11 and also acknowledged that they would need to raise additional capital at or around their data release. The stock performed well through their July data release but the financing that followed in August didn’t go as expected and unfortunately, the stock took a beating and still hasn’t recovered. So when speaking with them this week and hearing that they were planning on reporting data from their final cohorts over the coming months and that their cash position would likely need topping up before year end (runway into 2Q24), I had a feeling of deja-vu. I suspect this time could be different for Medicenna, assuming they report some provocative data from the final two cohorts of their ongoing study, the stock is already so beaten up, it might be poised for a nice bounce, even with a financing likely in the near-term horizon,
The day was capped off at the conference cocktail reception. I ran into the Perimeter Medical (TSXV: PINK, US: PYNKF) team, including their CEO, Jeremy, and a few of their board members. In my most recent update (Feb 2023 Update), I shared why I think 2023 could be big for Perimeter, and speaking with the team only reinforced my enthusiasm. They are planning on hosting a call in May where they will be elaborating more on what investors should expect from their ongoing IDE study with the B-Series. I will definitely be tuning in.
I end the night talking to a friend who used to be the CEO of an ophthalmology company that I used to own. He’s still plugged into the ophthalmology space, so we discuss the recent dismissal of Mina Sooch as CEO of Ocuphire (Nasdaq: OCUP). Neither of us had much insight into the situation but agree the timing is curious. He introduces me to a diagnostic company he likes – Gemina Labs (CSE: GLAB). I spend the last part of the night talking with their CEO and we agree to coordinate an introductory call in the coming weeks.
Day 2
The morning of the conference I run into an investor friend who sits on the board of a private Alzheimer’s company that I have an investment in. After we spend a few minutes lamenting the challenging biotech funding environment, especially for an early-stage private company, we spitball a few ideas back and forth. He highlights Xortx (TSXV: XRTX, Nasdaq: XRTX) as a company of interest. I met this company pre-pandemic in Calgary, but they had fallen off my radar. I was pleased to learn that they had uplisted to Nasdaq and were meeting with FDA to discuss their Ph3 plans for oxypurinol in the orphan indication, autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease. We didn’t get any further into it, but he peaked my interest to revisit the name.
I attend the Perimeter presentation. I know the story very well, so not surprisingly I don’t really learn anything new. It’s just good to see other investors interested and there were some good questions at the end of the presentation.
I run into another portfolio manager friend. He suggests I take a look at Cognetivity (CSE: CGN). I add it to my list of companies to dig into after the conference.
I have a 1×1 with Appili (TSX: APLI). Unlike many companies that pivoted their stories a few years ago to take advantage of the investor interest in COVID without any real intent or hope of success, Appili stepped up to the COVID plate and took a real swing……and missed. They benefitted from the investor interest in their Ph3 favipiravir program, but when it failed, the stock has never been able to recover. They remain focused on infectious disease, but the story is now all about DoD contracts and potential priority review vouchers for their tularemia and leishmaniasis programs, and we will not have visibility on these for quite some time. Their partner for their taste-masked metronidazole has a PDUFA date in September, and although the economics that flow back to Appili are likely to be modest, perhaps it sparks some investor interest.
I end the day sitting down with another portfolio manager friend. We spitball ideas back and forth, most of which have been already mentioned above. The only new name that was of mutual interest was Gain Therapeutics (Nasdaq: GANX). I have followed this company for a few years and it was encouraging to hear a deep-science fund manager share my interest in their allosteric drug approach. More on this name to come…..
If you want to talk about any of the names above or have insight into any of the new names I mentioned (and can save me some work), please don’t hesitate to reach out. Thanks for your interest.