Pharming....
Since Pharming (Netherlands based) is the closest peer to GTCB I sometimes like compare how they are progressing and their
valuation relative to GTCB.
The share count for Pharming is 88.75 million shares outstanding and the market price is 3.40 (Euros) so the current valuation is about 300 million (in Euros) and just under $400 million dollars, about 4 times the market cap. of GTCB. At December 31, 2006 Pharming's financial picture is similar to GTCB with cash of 31 million Euros (about 40 million in dollars) and their cash consumption in 2006 was 22.7 million Euros (including 3.1 million in capital expenditures), in the same ballpark as GTCB.
The much higher valuation applied to Pharming is an 'anomaly' from my perspective. I think Dr. Cox and Company are doing the right things as they push ahead in using the advantages of transgenic manufacturing to make things which aren't easily done in cell culture (Atryn, alpha-1 antitrypsin) or do it less expensively (Factor 7). The fact that Pharming is currently valued more highly may be a source of frustration to some but I see it as encouraging as I expect GTC to get similar treatment eventually....... :)
Unlike GTC, Pharming does not yet have an approved product but their lead product, for hereditary angioedema, may be perceived as a larger market opportunity, as least at at the outset, compared to antithrombin, which may explain the higher valuation of Pharming. On the other hand, there may well be competition in hereditary angioedema from Dyax. Pharming uses rabbits to make their product by the way. FWIW, Pharming expects to receive approval in Europe in the second half of 2007 for their product to treat hereditary angioedema and they expect to finish US clinical trials in 2007, with a filing in 2008.
In general, Pharming doesn't seem to be as focused on using the advantages of transgenics to build the business as they acquired a company called DNage last year which is working on DNA damage and repair. While this may fit strategically, at first glance this looks like a completely different arena from manufacturing proteins. In addition, they do not have the large scale 'farm' like GTC has nor have they done much 'demonstration of concept' by building animals for others which produce products like Remicade or Humira. Also, LFB partnered with GTC, not Pharming, which I think is says quite a lot about GTC's capability to manufacture.
