OncoGenex (OGXI): Biotech Targets Cancer Treatments
June 21st, 2011
“OncoGenex Pharmaceuticals (OGXI) recently released their fourth quarter and year end 2010 financial results; during the conference call they discussed updates in their development programs and provided an outlook for 2011,” notes biotech specialist John McCamant.
The editor of the Medical Technology Stock Letter continues, “The company reported a Q4 2010 net loss of $2.8 million or ($0.26) per share compared to Q4 2009 net profit of $3.9 million or $0.70 per share.
“OGXI finished the year in a solid position financially with $85.6 million in cash. The company expects to end 2011 with $50-$54 million on the balance sheet and use $31-$35 million in operating cash. They appear to have enough cash to fund operations into 2014.
“OGXI has consistently moved their pipeline forward and the latest management call provided some fresh information upcoming clinical trials.
“In collaboration with Teva Pharmaceuticals (TEVA), OGXI will initiate a Phase III clinical trial to evaluate a survival benefit for custirsen in combination with first-line chemotherapy in patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).
“The trial is now expected to enroll approximately 950 patients, an increase of 35% over the original commitment of 700 patients that was agreed to with Teva.
“The increase in patients should help power the trial and increase the odds of statistically significant results. In addition, it is a solid reflection of Teva’s growing commitment to the program.
“A Phase II, company-sponsored clinical trial of OGX-427 in patients with metastatic bladder cancer will begin in 2011.
“OGXI also provided updated data from the second-line, Phase II clinical trial of OGX-427 in prostate cancer.
“In sum, we are very pleased with the continued progress at OGXI. Teva has turned out to be a better partner than Wall Street expected and has made the clinical development of custirsen a major priority as they plan to build a oncology franchise around the drug candidate.
“So where OGXI was previously knocked for not finding a more established partner, what we see instead is a partner with deep pockets and a tenacious focus on this drug and this collaboration.
“OGXI and Teva will have three Phase III trials testing custirsen up and running by mid-year, and the Phase II development of OGX-427 is progressing nicely.
“We are intrigued by the ability to custirsen to generate a durable pain response in CRPC patients as once the cancer metastasizes to bone, it can lead to almost unbearable pain for the patient.
“The drug candidate could provide a significant pain benefit which will be major marketing advantage in the competitive CRPC treatment market.
“We urge investors to purchase OGXI at current levels and be patient as their current $150 market cap, less $85 million in cash, means that the company has an enterprise value of $65 million despite an impressive cancer drug candidate in broad Phase III development.
“We suspect that OGXI gains some momentum by year-end, setting it up to be a big winner in 2012 as investors begin to finally take note of the coming Phase III results.”
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