OncoSec Medical Inc (ONCSQ)

[Titan V]

Exceptional Management and Disruptive Products Top the Investment Checklist for Vista Partners' Ross Silver

http://www.thelifesciencesreport.com/pub/na/exceptional-management-and-disruptive-products-top-the-investment-checklist-for-vista-partners-ross-silver

"TLSR: Let's go ahead and talk about the companies.

RS: I'll give you an example of some of the traction we are seeing in immunotherapies right now. At the end of April, Amgen Inc. (AMGN:NASDAQ) had a nice success with its talimogene laherparepvec (T-VEC) immunotherapy for metastatic melanoma, which received a 22:1 vote from the advisory panel in favor of approval. This is exciting. It seems as though we are moving into a new immunotherapy frontier, and we believe that OncoSec Medical Inc. (ONCSD:OTCQB), which is slated to uplist to the NASDAQ shortly, may be on the forefront of that revolution.

"We prefer to invest in a management team that has successfully navigated from concept to approval."
We updated coverage on OncoSec on May 6. Its technology proposes to be able to make a therapeutic option more effective using a DNA vaccine encoding interleukin-12 (IL-12; an immune activator), and electroporation (the application of short electrical pulses to the skin at the injection site).

TLSR: Did you maintain your $1.20/share target price on OncoSec when you updated your coverage—which, since the recent Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA)-approved 1-for-20 reverse stock split, equates to a $24/share target?

RS: Yes, we did. The company has stated it has sufficient capital through 2017. It has $30.7M in cash as of its most recent quarter. OncoSec has stated it will have a number of trials that will begin enrolling this quarter—three specifically—and the company anticipates enrollment will be completed for all three within 12 months. We look forward to data from those trials as soon as they're available.

TLSR: OncoSec has a relationship with Inovio Pharmaceuticals Inc. (INO:NASDAQ), and both companies use a similar electroporation platform to enhance delivery of their DNA immunizations. Inovio also uses IL-12 as an immune activator to simulate T-cell production. Inovio is six or seven times larger in market valuation than OncoSec, which makes for a compelling comparable. Can you take me through the difference between these companies? Why Inovio is valued so much higher? Is OncoSec just still an undiscovered name?

RS: I used to follow Inovio five or six years ago; the company has changed dramatically since. I understand Inovio is using active DNA vaccines. Inovio and OncoSec are both seemingly following a similar theme, and the growing acceptance and excitement around immunotherapies in general may help them both. Inovio has had a number of successes clinically and marquee collaborations that have led to its market cap being what it is today. Thus, it has a market cap of about $590M today, versus OncoSec's $57M.

As an aside, OncoSec announced this week that it has entered a sponsored research agreement (SRA) with Massachusetts General Hospital, an affiliate of Harvard Medical School. The release states: "Under the agreement, researchers will evaluate the immunologic mechanisms underlying the anti-tumor effects of OncoSec's clinical stage platform, ImmunoPulse IL-12, in a human papillomavirus (HPV) tumor mouse model. HPV-associated tumors include oropharyngeal and certain genitourinary cancers (e.g., cervical cancer)."

TLSR: The catalysts going forward for OncoSec are enrollment of the three trials, correct?

RS: We believe potential catalysts are the initiation of enrollment in three Phase 2 trials. We also view the company's planned uplisting to NASDAQ as a potential catalyst, given that the number of investors that may participate in, or consider investing in, OncoSec could be significantly greater on the NASDAQ versus the OTC.

TLSR: Will we get data on any of the trials this year?

RS: The company has stated it may release data later this year."