Global Market Trends and Private Investments in Biotech

By Imagine Biotech

After Japan’s central bank raising interest rates left the global markets down, many investors felt nervousness and a lack of security regarding their investments. Confounded with the U.S. election in the coming months, many investors, both those who focus primarily in biotech and amongst other sectors, are searching for ways to make more secure investments— one of the most promising, and possibly lucrative, being private investments.

🔒️ The Benefits of Private Investments 💵 

“Information drives price.”

1. More Security and Control

   In contrast to over-the-counter and secondary stock exchanges, private investments offer individual and corporate investors a more secure and controllable investment alternative. Private investments allow for a much more direct role to be played in regard to how capital is allocated within a company, ensuring that investments are working in the best interest of the investor.

2. More Information

   As opposed to waiting for quarterly filings or press releases, private investors have access to financial information regarding a company they are invested in at all times. While this information comes with the benefit of more security and control, it also allows investors a better idea of how the company is performing in regard to competitors within the market. If, despite revenues being down within the sector, the portfolio company is performing well, and vice-versa, the investor has a better sense of company performance in contrast with the markets— a useful factor for gauging future success .

3. Possibility for higher ROI

   Getting in on an early stage company with potential for likely and extreme growth is appealing to all investors. Risking less capital and having a higher ROI is a dream come true. With private investments, more information is accessible to the equity investor before any capital allocation occurs. This allows for more in-depth and meticulous analysis of a possible portfolio company that could alert the investor to possible red or green flags, signaling an opportunity for failure or success early on.

A Lesson in Toxicity: Merck Pulls Plug on KeyVibe-008 due to Safety Concerns ⚕️ 

On August 8th, Merck provided an update regarding a Phase 3 KeyVibe-008 Trial aimed at combating extensive stage small cell lung cancer— they were pulling the plug. Despite data showing the overall survival of individuals in the study meeting the pre-specified criteria, a higher rate of adverse events and immune related adverse events led Merck to alert study investigators that patients should stop receiving the experimental treatment.

KeyVibe-008 was a randomized, double-blind Phase 3 Trial that evaluated a fixed-dose combination of vibostolimab (investigational compound) and pembrolizumab (KEYTRUDA). Historically, KEYTRUDA, an immunotherapy treatment, has shown success in treatment of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) in combination therapy. KEYTRUDA, used in combination therapy with platinum chemotherapy and ALIMTA, increased the five-year overall survival rate from 11.3% (chemotherapy alone) to 19.4% (combination therapy).

Toxicity concerns are a major reason why new therapeutics fail in clinical trials. With 30% of clinical failures of drug development due to unmanageable toxicity, it is imperative that scientific due diligence is undertaken prior to an investment.

| 📰 Weekly News 📰 |

🧬 Evotec Identifies 400 Possible Layoffs 📉 

Evotec is a German drug discovery and R&D company with services and partnerships extending both into pharmaceutical giants and smaller biotech companies alike. CEO Christian Wojczewski, Ph.D., recently noted financial difficulty within the company due to market factors.

Given the slowdown in R&D across the board in biotech, it is quite apparent why Evotec, whose main source of income comes from pharmaceutical and biotech collaborations, would have lower revenues and profitability. According to Wojczewski, the possible layoffs, numbering 400 staff which would comprise 8% of the company, along with corporate restructuring would save $44 million dollars next year. Despite market turmoil, not all is bad for Evotec, revenues from Bristol Myers Squibb along with an agreement with Pfizer signal possible growth.

💸 White House Announces $150MM in Surgery Awards 👩‍⚕️ 

The U.S. Cancer Moonshot Program, aimed to prevent 4 million cancer deaths by 2047 along with improving the experience of people impacted by cancer, announced funding totaling $150MM toward developers of new technologies improving tumor surgery.

Divided amongst seven universities and Cision Vision, the primary goal is to improve imaging and detection capabilities in order to better inform surgeons of where cancer cells are located. Cision Vision is developing CisionInVision, a technology aimed to help pathologists and pathologist assistants perform lymph node searches. Lymph nodes are a part of the immune system and in cases of lymphoma, a cancer of the lymphatic system, sometimes must be surgically removed to prevent the spread of cancer throughout the body. Lymph node searches tend to be laborious and are often inconsistent. Currently performed by hand on a portion of removed tissue from a patient, one Vanderbilt University study showed that 50% of lymph nodes were missed during traditional manual palpitation. CisionInVision, a shortwave infrared device, is able to provide a picture of lymph nodes to pathologists in a tissue sample resulting in a time-saving and cost effective alternative to manual lymph node searches.

The Imagine Biotech Solution 🔬 

Imagine Biotech resources can call upon a wide variety of technologies to de-risk your portfolio using sophisticated pathways that have matured due to improved data resources, confounding factors, and improved model assumptions.

Our array of services range from sophisticated molecular modeling density functional methods (DFT) to the first-of-its-kind integration package of ADMET and PK predictions to academic risk.

Imagine Biotech staff have the training, expertise, and knowledge to review the proposed hypotheses (investment) in their entire journey to commercialization and select those tests/technologies to support further investment success or flag issues that arise only in the environment of review by skilled biotechnology experts.

We believe that informed investments are the cornerstone of progress. Our mission is to empower investors with the insights and tools necessary to navigate the complexities of biotech investments with confidence.