MEI Pharma, Inc. (MEIP)

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MEIP presentation today at Wells Fargo--notes

Lots of new information, but VERY technical.

Major point was that MEIP’s 2nd drug, a PIK3 inhibitor, will be moving forward in follicular lymphoma, but not in CLL. CLL is considered by MEIP management to be a much too-crowded field. Follicular lymphoma is an indication for which there is a more unmet medical need, so MEIP management thinks they have a much better chance here for accelerated approval.

News on Pracinostat, MEIP’s lead drug, both in AML and MDS will not have news at ASH. But data will available in 1st quarter, 2018.

MEIP’s 3rd drug, a mitochondrial inhibitor, will have some data in HER2+ breast cancer at the SABC (San Antonio Breast Cancer conference) in early December. This will be very early-stage data.

MEIP’s new drug, Veruciclib, acquired yesterday, a CDK9 inhibitor, had previously been in the clinic in solid tumors, so there is some clinical data available. However, MEIP is going to take the drug into hematological malignancies in combo with Venetoclax, a drug from Abbvie (formerly Abbott) and Roche/Genentech, already on the market. So this will probably require some kind of collaboration with Abbvie and Roche. MEIP will have to file a new IND with the FDA for hematological malignancies. MEIP hopes to have the drug in the clinic in the 1st quarter of 2018. Most of the call was spent on this new drug. MEIP seems very excited about it. They got the drug for a paltry $2.9 million upfront. My cancer doctor thinks they got a great deal.

MEIP has about $53 million in cash and should have enough to get into 2019. The EV (enterprise value or the value of the company minus cash) is only $50 million. The EV seems very low for what they have going on—Remember, they have a good partner on Pracinostat in Helsinn—but if Pracinostat fails, they will be in deep trouble. High risk, high reward.

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