Register for free to join our community of investors and share your ideas. You will also get access to streaming quotes, interactive charts, trades, portfolio, live options flow and more tools.
Register for free to join our community of investors and share your ideas. You will also get access to streaming quotes, interactive charts, trades, portfolio, live options flow and more tools.
Excellent point. It's as if they want this company to fail.
There's a cosmic disconnect between Dr. Fiona Crawford's continued ability to find grants to fund Antabine / TBI research and Rock Creek management's inability to gain any sort of financing.
Anyone care to explain why this might be the case?
What's the angle here?
At some point this management needs to deliver a win for its long-suffering shareholders. Merely staying afloat, while decimating shareholder wealth, is NOT a success. It is not a success UNLESS, of course, you are part of a management team drawing a handsome six-figure salary.
Current management has had nearly FIVE YEARS.
Here's a start:
•Put that vaunted Scientific Advisory Team to work
•Update your website
•Find a non-predatory lender
•Spend time at your corporate headquarters
I know. They are long gone, well, for the most part.
No, I'm referring to the new sharks. The ones that go beyond the shark-infested waters that Maxim swims (nice outfit, by the way, especially that biotech analyst, Mr. Credibility, Mr $4.00 call, Jason K-Something, a real winner there). No, I'm referring to the specs that bought the Maxim shares - the ones that were unloaded on the open market.
So, who do you think owns the 170M shares? I'm not talking about the ham-n-eggers with a hundred thousand or so. And I know there is a RS and I know that Rock Creek needs funding, probably in a few weeks, but whoever is buying these shares in mass has a major incentive to keep this afloat.
I listened to the conference.
No need for questions because two - maybe three - major investors own the vast majority of stock - and they can get all their questions answered whenever they want. No need to wait for the ASM. By my estimation, of the 170,000,000 shares outstanding, I have them owning roughly 150,000,000 shares. They now control the stock. And it, of course, behooves them to see the stock rise.
Currently the market cap is a paltry 1.36M. Ironically this is the furthest Rock Creek has ever been to bringing a drug to the market. Don't get me wrong, they still have a long ways to go, however for a few speculators, this price level (however it got there <cough, cough>) made sense so they bought in. Besides, they OWN the company NOW. What else can they do but stick around - or sell once they ramp it up / good news is finally delivered . . .
This is only my opinion only, and it should not be construed as investment advice.
DB - Valid point regarding spin, etc.
Management received plenty of stock options, that I agree. However, I don't see any stock purchases prior to the split, which is something you have cited.
Am I missing something?
This guy! $4 price target on RCPI
Credibility < 0
Shill.
http://www.maximgrp.com/equity-research/research-team/jason-kolbert/
Leif is correct, testing has moved to human subjects. The company just does a poor job of updating their website.
Totally agree, golden strand. I still believe this name gets some momentum and trades up from here, likely to .20 cents or so in the next couple of months. Maxim and the other MMs have a lot of this stock and will look to make money on the long side. Besides, Nobel Prize hopeful, none other than Maxim's Jason Kolbert, has a $4 price target on this stock. Do you really think they will continue to let their TOP bio analyst hangout to dry? I don't think so. Lol.
Dr. Mullan's pay is all in stock, which means nobody has more incentive than him to perform and to pull RCPI from the ashes. There are those at Rock Creek, however, being paid in cash. Those individuals are incentivized to get financing done (so they get paid!), even if it's toxic financing and destroys shareholder value. Think about that. So, I ask, why pay management hundreds of thousand$ of dollars when the current market cap of RCPI mirrors their very salaries? No need. Just look at the track record. When current management took the reins, the market cap was roughly $100M, a whopping $99,700,000 plunge! That's a lot of green backs. Dr. Mullan's bailiwick is science. Full stop. And an honest, competent financier (paid in stock) needs to be brought in to right this ship. Stat!
We have heard about the mouse studies. We know that Anatabine reduces inflammation. It cuts down on base messenger RNA. It crosses the blood-brain barrier. And we are all abundantly aware of this narrative, a narrative that's been pitched for over four years, as evidenced by countless YouTube videos and company presentations, yet the company is valued at far less than $1M...
So, come this afternoon, I'd adjust your narrative to better align with your vision of where you see your company headed. Don't listen to your inner circle; they've been hopelessly wrong. Instead, paint a picture, one encased with enthusiasm and hope for the future. Make it crystal clear to pharma, the investing community, etc., that Rock Creek's best is yet to come. Good luck.
Maxim's highly esteemed analyst, Jason Kolbert, re-re-re-re-reiterated a $4.00 price target for this stock. All aboard the omnibus!
Considerable accumulation at these levels. Watch for Maxim, Nite, et. al., to start to take this for a ride towards ten cents - and soon. These outfits have accumulated millions of shares by pushing the stock down and then buying on the absolute cheap.
With the stock so depressed, those buying at <.02 cents should feel good about the prospects of a ten-bagger, cashing out at .20 cents.
All aboard.
Excellent post, with this at the crux of the matter:
...stock provisions of the convertible note agreement, an agreement which the board, Mullan and Jenkins, entered into without shareholder approval as required by Nasdaq, their fiduciary responsibility to shareholders...
Now, what will they do to make this right? And what actions should shareholders consider? Hmmm...
Robert Scannell bought $100K of RCPI on March 30, 2016. Today that investment is worth less than $5K Cool $95K loss in two short months. Don't know how he does it. Look at his filings when he was running TradeWinds. One loss after another with Star/Rock Creek. His...Angle? Anyone? He loses on every single deal, but makes up for it on volume, apparently. Lol. Lol. Lol.
Oh, and he's an RCPI board member. I'm guessing he knew - or should have known - about the dilution. You know, the Maxim(um) Pain. I guess he got JasonKolbert-ed!
There's a sell-side analyst at Merrill that has coined the phrase "JasonKolbert-ing a stock". That's where you place a fanciful price target on a (promising) company - say $4 - whose underlying fundamentals point towards insolvency. BUT, since your very own firm provides financing, you sort-of-have-to, you know.... let's just call it the team player approach.
Well done, PhD Kolbert. Well done. Got any other gems, Señor Science? I've got a few bucks and am looking to put some money to work. LOL.
Jason Kolbert, sell-side analyst with Maxim, placed a $4 price target on RCPI recently. His firm Maxim provided financing for Rock Creek, collected fees on the offering, and is currently unloading the stock at below .02 cents. Recap: Equity research arm of Maxim places a $4 price target for a company with little-to-no cash available. Maxim has buried the stock, selling tens of millions of shares and pushing it to BELOW .02 CENTS.
Equity Research Analysts:
They are incentivised by offering their recommendations to institutional investors clients, as well as by seeking investment banking deals with the firms they cover, although the latter is subject to significant regulatory restrictions.
You can pick up a million shares (25 million shares pre 1:25 reverse split) for a paltry $15K.
Let that soak in, longtime Rock Creek / Star Scientific holders.
One day - maybe - that $15K investment could be worth $1M.
Secured Secured Convertible Notes and Rick Creek Board of Directors and Management Litigation Risk
Facts:
1. The Rock Creek Board of Directors signed off on the predatory financial terms outlined in the Maxim offering.
2. In a publicly held company, directors are elected to represent and are legally obligated as fiduciaries to represent owners of the company—the shareholders/stockholders.
Oh really, one came back. So what did he share with you?
He gets paid in stock. Lots and lots of stock.
Good thing there are such capable souls at the helm of this ship, making savvy financial decisions. Just can't imagine where Rock Creek would be without this strong financial acumen and many, many years of Wall Street experience?! Recent Board Mtg: "Yeah, let's get the always altruistic Maxim involved. They'll fund us with absolutely horrendous terms, use a couple of their (possibly unwitting) analysts to tag a $4 price target and then sink the stock ... Oh wait... That's not a good decision.... But hey, we've got the omnibus plan so don't hang your head. That's the incentive we need -- all aboard the omnibus!"
The Maxim analysts, Kolbert and McCarthy, have forecasts to justify a $4 price target. Thing is, these forecasts are based on 10 million shares outstanding, not the current 15 million shares (or more) that currently exist. So, either their projections have increased by 50% (unlikely) or they haven't given this much thought.
Meanwhile, stock is being accumulated on the cheap. At some point this makes a push north, allowing for distribution (read: a nice profit). Seriously, they can't leave their esteemed analysts looking like utter fools, having stamped this with a $4 PT while the stock wallows at .04 cents, just 1% of the projected price target.
What I don't understand, and I would like others to chime in on, is this: why in the world would Rock Creek - and likely Mr. Jenkins in particular - allow for such noxious financing? And don't tell me there was nobody else available. This stock sat at $2.75 pre-split with a tight float. They had ample opportunity to provide an investor with a significant stake in the company, without annihilating holders of common stock. It does not make sense.
Update: Robert Scannell bought $100K of RCPI on March 30, 2016. Today that investment is worth $11K. Can't make this up. And he was meant to be in the know... Oy vey.
Scannell is a serial loser when it comes to Rock Creek/Star. Back when he used to run Tradewinds, a Cayman Islands hedge fund, he routinely took part in private placements with Star Scientific. He consistently got crushed. Of course, it's my understanding that Johnny used to include warrants so I'm sure that's how he did OK, a la Iroqouis - from what I've been told they might be known to sell the stock before the financing and get free warrants. Certainly could be wrong about that... Stratagem.
Almost 12 million shares traded over the past 7 trading days, pushing the stock down from .18 cents to .6 cents.
I'm thinking that this month's money raise by Maxim is nearly complete (they needed to fund Rick Creek with a $1,000,000).
Rock Creek management totally bungled this financing, causing a major dilution. Maxim will, ultimately, do OK on this deal, and maybe even well. And Rock Creek? Time will tell.
I picked some up too, bringing my average to about 20 cents. I think the huge increase in volume is a result of the $20M loan ($1M / month) that Maxim has with Rock Creek. Remember, you have to sell A LOT of Rock Creek at eight cents to raise $1,000,000. Last July, Maxim brought to market a $3.7 direct offering at $2.25/share. They have nearly $5M into Rock Creek now, which means they are an motivated to help this company succeed ... or move the stock higher. Either way I think I'm reasonably safe at .20 cents.
The private placement took place at .35 cents; today the stock sits at .08 cents. That's why his investment is down by nearly $80K.
Robert Scannell bought $100K of RCPI on March 30, 2016. Today that investment is worth $22K.
Oh, and he's an RCPI board member. I'm guessing he knew - or should have known - about the upcoming equity dumps (3.6M shares in the last two days) and yet he bought. Bad timing, I suppose . . .
I'm using 'lofty' in relative terms. Lofty as compared to the Maxim price target of $4. A price target, that I should add, is downright laughable given the current situation.
Similarly, Maxim selling at this level, equates to a we-name-the-price-IPO-for-our-preferred-clients. In the short run, the lower the stock price the better, as far as the firm is concerned.
Once a few million (or more) shares are bought on the cheap the PR machine will soon arrive.
While I'm not making any lofty predictions in terms of price targets, you better believe that Maxim isn't in the business of losing money. The stock will head north, once their position is sizable and/or the money has been generated for clinical trials and operations.
For the uninitiated, Dr. Mullan hasn't been paid a salary in a couple of years. But he has accumulated a heap of shares. His payday comes when the stock takes off. He truly deserves it, too! He obviously believes in this molecule and has put in the work to (eventually) get an IND.
Do your own due diligence. Not to be construed as financial advice. Good luck!
Keep this in mind, while the stock wallows in the low two-digits. Dr. Mullan has a deferred base salary, accepting shares in lieu of deferred salary.
So, if you accept shares in lieu of salary, isn't it better that the stock trades extremely low. Simple math:
$600,000 (his base salary for 2016) divided by .11 cents (current stock price). That works out to approximately 5,500,000 shares (yes, 5.5 million shares!). Compare that to a stock price of $2 / share, which is a relatively meager 300,000 shares.
Now, would you be in a hurry to move the stock higher? And I know that this is on a weighted average, but the general idea is a lower stock price actually helps the good doctor.
A busy chap, this Professor Vincent Piguet ...
The Cardiff Dermatology Department is at the forefront of translational research which moves from inflammatory pathways to clinical trials that benefit patients in South Wales and internationally. The department’s clinical trial team is lead by *Professor Vincent Piguet* and is supported by Gladys Makuta, dermatology research nurse. Dr John Ingram, a senior lecturer and consultant, is NISCHR CRC lead for dermatology clinical trials across Wales and R&D lead for dermatology in Cardiff & Vale University Health Board.
The department hosts a portfolio of investigator-initiated and commercial clinical trials. It is currently recruiting into international commercial trials testing novel small molecules and monoclonal antibody therapies for psoriasis and eczema.
Last of the trio: Vincent Piguet
Bill Gates gives a million dollars to Cardiff Dermatology research team
Cardiff Department of Dermatology and Wound Healing has been awarded nearly one million dollars (£630,000) by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The award comes from the foundation’s Global Health Program and was secured by head of department, Professor Vincent Piguet.
The money will go towards developing a new technique for vaccination, which could lead to a breakthrough in preventing the spread of HIV, tuberculosis and other serious infections. The vaccine will be delivered using thousands of tiny microneedles in a patch applied to the skin. The aim of the technique is to target “dendritic cells” in the skin, which are key to the body’s defence against such serious infections as HIV, TB and Cytomegalovireus (CMV), and increase the body’s own immune response.
Dr. Menter is also a RCPI consultant:
After years of dedication to psoriasis research, including involvement in over 150 clinical research trials in past 35 years, in 2011 Dr. Alan Menter opened a specialty Research Center in Dallas, Texas. Menter Dermatology Research Institute (MDRI) was established to combine Dr. Menter’s interest in both clinical Dermatology and Research locally, nationally, and internationally. For years, Dr. Menter has been involved in *clinical research trials for psoriasis* and considered a leader and innovator in psoriasis treatment. His dedication has put him at the frontier of investigational therapies in psoriasis and he has now expanded his research interest through *clinical trials* in a host of other dermatologic disease.
Rock Creek's Psoriasis Expert, Professor Vincent Piguet. Here's some info: The Cardiff Dermatology Department is at the forefront of translational research which moves from inflammatory pathways to clinical trials that benefit patients in South Wales and internationally. The department’s clinical trial team is *lead* by Professor Vincent Piguet and is supported by Gladys Makuta, dermatology research nurse. The department hosts a portfolio of investigator-initiated and commercial clinical trials. It is currently recruiting into international commercial trials testing novel *small molecules* and monoclonal antibody therapies for psoriasis.
The Rock Creek science advisory trio - Doctors Menter, Griffiths and Piguet - are highly respected in the field of dermatology and each of these docs has extensive clinical trial background.
This leads me and a few others to believe that there will be clinical trials for Antabloc in possibly Manchester, Cardiff, and / or Dallas - the three locations where each has a practice / presence. Now it's up to the company to make it to the trial phase.
Well put, Haysaw. I'm confounded by how a researcher of Dr. Mullan's stature is unable to land any meaningful financial backing, particularly on terms that don't destroy shareholder value (read:Maxim financing = an absolute fleecing).
The importance of this article is not lost on those in the know. While I realize the article is dated, it does include important commentary from the most recent addition to the board.
As I predicted, Maxim has supported the bid, stair-stepping this stock from the .70s right thru the .90s and on to its current level.