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Conducting trials in a unstable country may not have been a good choice.
From the US Embassy In GA dated 8/08/08.
Ongoing conflict is taking place between Georgian and separatist forces inside South Ossetia. The highway between Gori and Mtskheta has been closed until further notice. U.S. citizens are urged to avoid non-essential travel inside Georgia at this time, to defer all travel north of Gori, and to avoid all travel to the conflict zones of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. Updated warden messages will be posted on the Embassy website at: http://georgia.usembassy.gov/citserv_wardenm.html
I think mgmt owes shareholders an update on how trials could be affected in Ga. Could this be another mgmt blunder among the many?
Just one question. Were we fed a bunch of b.s. on the "Duke" importance? If it's so groundbreaking why have we drifted towards historical lows? Things don't add up. Either we were fed a crock of $heet or mgmt is inept in communicating the story. Either way mgmt should be replaced.
SK from last CC:
"We will take the necessary steps to maintain our NASDAQ listing, which is obviously critical as we move forward. As far as creating value for the company, over the past few weeks we have, in my opinion, had the best news in the history of the company, including major outside validation in the form of the DTRA contract and promising clinical data. We need to build on this momentum in the form of further clinical data and outside validations supporting our programs."
The historical low price was $.27 in Dec 1999. What progress they've made.
Ga conflict in different province.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tbilisi
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Ossetia
Will research. The PPHM trials are located in Tbilisi, Georgia.
The stock price is the report card wilber. Mgmt has failed and should be replaced.
If the study has started, why no PR? I bet mgmt got some more cheap options on this milestone.
$77 mil market cap? IMO the company could fetch 3 to 4 times that if sold in pieces. What does that tell you about current mgmt? That they create negative value? I get sick when I hear SK say the company is in it's best position ever while the stock trades at record lows. Time to get rid of these bums.
Financing deals w/ offshore pipes that have benefited a BOD member. That same BOD has wall st experience and has been resisting advice by IB's and other company insiders that would have retained nasdaq listing and gained institutional interest. Why?
Can anyone explain why PPHM declines while most biotech's are humming with all the M&A activity? Is mgmt inept or does pphm not have the goods?
Good thing PPHM is a Delaware corp. Good art on Imclone buyout issues and director responsibility in Delaware. Hopefully PPHM mgmt is aware and won't try any funny stuff.
http://www.forbes.com/healthcare/2008/08/05/imclone-bristol-icahn-biz-helathcare-cz_df_0805imclone.html
Really getting frustrated with the advances in biotech and we decline to a $79 mil market cap? If Avid's worth $35 mil, then Cotara Bavi and all the preclinical's worth only $44 mil while Imclone shoots up to $5.5 bil? Time for a change cause mgmt is not getting it done.
If the story is so great, mgmt is not telling it. I talked to my IB friend. Problems in Tustin? Time for a change.
You're making the assumption that mgmt is capable and qualified. Bad assumption on your part.
I think it is a lack of resources aka cash. IMO mgmt had to put some programs on the back burner. I'm sure Thorpe's really happy about it. Perhaps there's a change coming. Sure smells like it.
Jazz,
I'm just a layman in biotech. I'm an investment/finance person. If all this is so obvious and if all roads lead to Rome, why is Rome trading at $.39? Why is Rome facing delisting? Why can't Rome show the investment community how to connect the dots?
What am I missing?
I scanned the patent. No mention of PPHM's so called mabs. Also, on the US patent page, Haynes has 27 patents.
Will this be another milestone where options are granted?
Giddy for cheap options.
If Bavi is any where near what mgmt has been saying and if the docetaxel bavi trials continue, the company is worth a lot more than Arius. Add cotara, Duke and Avid into the equation and the story gets better. Too bad some folks don't want the story to be told. Why? Cheap options.
I would not be surprised if there is one or two more shakeouts related to the nasdaq delisting, combined with another milestone award. PL seemed pretty nervous on the CC.
When the share price reflects the value of the company, I'll bang the drum on mgmt's skills.
With DNA shooting up today along with most biotechs, why is PPHM still lagging? Does mgmt want the word out or do they want their cheap options? Things are not adding up.
I saw that and I believe his comment was naked shorting has really hurt small cap biotech stocks. This is really a shame for several reasons. First, lives are on the line with potential cures and these firms need cash to advance the ball. Second, small companies create jobs. Last week two pioneers in the hedge fund industry stated there has been no regulation over the last seven years.
The BOD has the right to issue preferred shares w/o shareholder approval. IMO that would be the mechanism if they were do do something that sleazy.
That's my concern as well. Mgmt holding out for the hail mary because they have very little ownership relative to the float. This is all hypothetical. Let's say the latest and greatest is Chen's mab. In order to develop it it would take $50 mil and two more years. To get to that point mgmt has to throw current shareholders under the bus, do another PIPE with an institutional investor privy to info we don't have and move forward. Mgmt awards themselves more options so they don't lose. Let's also say mgmt could sell the company now for $2 per share which is the best current shareholders would do under this scenario and if they move forward with the hail mary PIPE, current shareholder get diluted 90% so they would never do better than $2 per share. How do we keep mgmt accountable to current shareholders, the ones that paid for this journey and continue to pay mgmt's hefty salaries?
If he lives under an overpass, he probably invested heavily in PPHM. As SK says, the company is at its best point ever but the stock is at its lowest. Duh? Translation is the mkt says we can't make things happen.
As for Teva, by the time PPHM gets anything going, perhaps PPHM will compete in the generic markets. BTW, that would require the law to change so it gives the companies that actually make something even more time.
BTW, my retired IB friend reminded me of what he said over two years ago. He did not personally meet with mgmt but talked to a team (not R&R) that was pitching the biz. The team suggested a R/S back then in order to get some institutional interest even though it was early in the clinical phase of bavi, it was a pretty good story. The IB team came away surprised as to how "green" pphm mgmt was in managing the "street". Now after all these institutional roadshows and conferences, mgmt says they can't get institutional interest cause the stock price is too low and they have 226 mil shares. Even R&R says wait until they fix their capital structure problems.
I think it's safe to say the company could be sold in parts much more for what it's trading at. What is the market saying about current mgmt's abilities? Isn't that like saying the company is more valuable if mgmt is not there?
I spoke with my retired IB friend last week. He has a biotech portfolio and keeps up w his former associates. His take on PPHM remains the same. Good potential w pipeline combined w weak mgmt. They want to do a deal but they don't know how. He said that's what you get when you have a very green CEO and CFO. Does anyone have confidence in PL? I don't.
On another note, getting more and more private emails from some pretty big shareholders. Lots of frustration with expectations the ship would have at least righted by last CC. I smell a shareholder revolt brewing. Hopefuuly it gathers steam by the ASM.
Jazz,
How far along are the IS1 mabs in the trial phase? Preclinical, phase I etc? It appears that they tested bavi as well and that doesn't seem to be the holy grail.
If they're back to preclinical, that means years and millions more to move the ball forward.
OT. Financial terrorism, an inside job.
http://www.forbes.com/2008/07/15/sec-shorting-stocks-biz-cx_lm_0715nakedshort.html
Interesting article on Cox when he first was appointed.
http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/05_26/b3939126.htm
Bush has done more damage to this country than Osama Bin Laden could ever dream off. It will take years to clean up the financial mess. The very top profited and has headed to the hills with hundreds of millions.
Impact on PPHM? The banks have closed for small companies.
Interview on CNBC this am with attorney that represents hedge funds. The dude said the current environment has been lax in regulation. They discussed naked shorting and you just had to "locate" shares to borrow to short. Just so happens that several other firms or traders "located" the same shares. Seems to me the SHO list has been understated if several firms can use the same shares.
Interesting discussions on CNBC on shorting and naked shorting. Looks to me like it's been rampant and the SEC has been pretty lame (as we all know). Now that the practice threatens the stability of the financial system, the SEC is going to do something (like actually enforce laws already on the books). Several traders and fund managers said the same stock could be lent out to several traders from the same firm which got around the "naked short" issue but increased the number of shorts w/o borrowing the shares.
Looks to me like this is 1929 all over. Rampant manipulation and no regulation. In fact, the regulators are the ones that are preventing regulation.
Update: Now the emergency law that was supposed to go into effect yesterday was delayed until Monday. Why? Ya think all the hedge funds put some pressure on the SEC?
Just finished reading an LA Times article on IndyMac. Depositors were waiting in lines to get their money back. Lots of bad information out there and many folks were screwed if they had over $100,000 in deposits, even when tellers told them if they had the money in different accounts. With all the press coverage in LA, I'm sure all the other banks had a contraction in deposits as customers protected themselves from loss. My guess is new loans were impossible as the deposit base probably shrank.
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-indymac16-2008jul16,0,1217522.story
Given what is happening in the credit markets, my guess is the financing markets froze up on PPHM within the last week. From what I hear it is near impossible to get a loan with stellar credit. What loan officer is going to recommend a non compliant going concern company to committee? You would have to be a complete idiot to bring a PPHM deal to committee.
I think it's going to take quite some time for the credit markets to get better and they are probably going to get worse before things turn around. To me it looks like a partner deal is the only way out.
Jazz,
Where do you tie PPHM to the patent? It could be a number of firms or Duke w/o PPHM. I hoping PPHM is involved but I've been dissapointed so far w/ the "Duke".
Translation:
That study has grinded to a halt cause we ain't got no money.
OT. SEC finally getting serious about naked shorting. Already having an impact on financials. Look at LEH intraday since announcement was made. Bout time.
Why would mgmt want this thing to take off before they get more cheap options?
SK owns 91,555 shares direct and 1,360,833 options (probably all out of the money)
PL owns 76,833 shares direct plus 870,833 options same situation as SK
ES owns 2,730,892 direct and 950,000 options.
There are several other employees/directors own less.
Let's see, top three owners own about 1.3% of company directly and 2.6% of the company including options.
SK and PL draw nice salaries relative to their "equity in the company".
That's the problem. Until SK and PL are motivated to deal, we won't see a deal or a PR blitz to get the share price in line with value. What will motivate them? More cheap options. IMO R&R knows the drill and is helping mgmt as well as their clients in this game.
Avastin posts sales of $650 mil for the qtr.
The market cap increased $4.4 bil today to $83.4 bil.
"We find it more than a little odd that the fate of the stock of an $82 billion market cap company could depend on revenue of one drug, Avastin, and mainly for sales to treat metastatic breast cancer," said Leerink Swann analyst William Tanner in a note to investors just prior to the announcement.
However, that drug came through for Genentech. U.S. sales of Avastin rose 15.2% to $650.0 million in the quarter, slightly above the consensus estimate.
Peregrine shareholders.
We find it odd that we knocked the snot out of Avastin (so far) in a comparable trial with docetaxel and we lose about $25 mil in our market cap.
Read the tea leaves.
All contingent on additional Ph II data. Do your own DD on the biotech landscape. Don't know where the number shakes out but if data is good, a deal will be done.