Marker Therapeutics Inc (MRKR)

[Phantom Lord]

I've previously said I will not be responding to you and I'll admit that I let my frustrations get the better of me. As did you from what I could tell. I would like to apologize to you on that front but also request that you refrain from accusations against me, or other posters that you assume to be me as I only have this one account, for trying to manipulate this or any other stock as well as any individuals. You are certainly free to believe what you want but I'm just a lowly retail investor like everyone else who made a massive error by investing here way too early. As I have maintained I do believe there is a path forward for their therapy but probably should have waited to make my initial investment, or other subsequent investments. I will continue to ride this out at the very least until lymphoma data.

With that out of the way, John Wilson had no affiliation with TPIV. That was Glynn Wilson and he is long gone. I don't know how John Wilson found himself associated with Marker other than the fact that he owns Wilson Wolf who manufactures the G-Rex devices they use to manufacture their cells. Either way he has invested a ton of money into this either personally or through companies he owns, e.g. the $9M investment through Wilson Wolf and now this $19M. That's on top of the $3M he personally invested in a previous offering. If nothing else it seems pretty clear he has some conviction here. I hope he knows what he's doing.

He got the income producing New Manufacturing Facility, probably below MRKR’s cost

All things considered the manufacturing facility has been relatively inexpensive. Below are the investing activities breakdown reported in previous 10ks as well as links to the 10ks themselves (scroll past the italic section if you don't want to read through all of it):

2021 10k:
Investing Activities

Net cash used in investing activities was $3.1 million and $9.3 million for the purchase of property and equipment and construction in progress for the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020, respectively. This included the purchase of $1.6 million and $3.4 million of property and equipment as well as $1.6 million and $5.8 million for the purchase of construction in progress for the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020 respectively.

2021 purchases of property and equipment were comprised of $1.0 million in laboratory equipment, $0.2 million of computers, software and equipment and $0.3 million of furniture and fixtures and $0.1 million of leasehold improvements. $1.6 million of purchases in construction in progress related to another modular cleanroom and the continued buildout of our manufacturing facility.

2020 purchases of property and equipment were comprised of $2.2 million of laboratory equipment, $0.6 million of computers and equipment, $0.3 million of furniture and fixtures as well as $0.3 million of leasehold improvements. $5.8 million of purchases in construction in progress related to modular cleanrooms and the initial build out of our manufacturing facility.

2022 10k:
Investing Activities

Net cash used in investing activities was $4.9 million and $3.1 million for the purchase of property and equipment and construction in progress for the years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021, respectively. This included the purchase of $1.5 million and $1.6 million of property and equipment as well as $3.5 million and $1.6 million for the purchase of construction in progress for the years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021 respectively.

Purchases of property and equipment for the year ended December 31, 2022 were predominantly comprised of laboratory equipment along with $0.1 million of computers, software and equipment and $0.1 million of furniture and fixtures. $3.5 million of purchases in construction in progress related to a second modular cleanroom and the continued buildout of our manufacturing facility.

Purchases of property and equipment for the year ended December 31, 2021 were comprised of $1.0 million in laboratory equipment, $0.2 million of computers, software and equipment and $0.3 million of furniture and fixtures and $0.1 million of leasehold improvements. $1.6 million of purchases in construction in progress related to a second modular cleanroom and the continued buildout of our manufacturing facility.

Full disclosure I omitted the 2020 10k where construction began because those details are included in the 2021 10k. So, totaling all of the numbers up they have spent ~$17.3M on the manufacturing facilities. I think it's fair to just call it a wash on Marker's end but Wilson definitely didn't come away with assets purchased below cost. At first glance it seems like a fair deal all around. Especially adding on top of the estimated $11M annual savings to Marker by not having to pay the personnel and maintenance related expenses for the manufacturing facilities. It seems like everywhere we turn John Wilson is there throwing cash at us.

Curious as to why this deal scenario didn’t happen much sooner, like before the R/S.

Obviously would have been nice as this could have been news that might have avoided the R/S to begin with. I previously said the best chance at avoiding it would be some non dilutive funding so its a shame it came too late. That being said I would imagine this took some time to put together. I think it was last August that the company posted the video to their Twitter of the previous CFO giving an interview where they stated they were looking internally at financing options via their BoD. No real indications but it's possible this was in the beginning stages back then. Wilson clearly started CellReady for this specific purpose but it will be interesting to see what he ultimately does with it.

On a side note, Wilson's statement in the PR is really telling. Specifically, "Advancing these therapies would not be possible without.....retail investors who have joined our mission. The reality is that Marker has not yet met our investors’ expectations. Therefore, extending Marker’s clinical runway without investor dilution is the right thing to do." I hope he maintains these views and is not just pandering to us plebs.

If this transaction does indeed extend the cash runway out to the end of 2025 then they should be in a very good spot so long as they execute their plan appropriately. There should be plenty of data available between now and then. Specifically the adjuvant AML and lymphoma data which should have been their focus from the beginning. It's also cool to see they might get some grant funding for the pancreatic trial.

Hopefully with Hoang gone the anchor has been raised.