Dumar, you ask a good question. It begets the desire to know the commerial value of the company. There are many on this board who frequently speak with management, but are hard pressed to answer your question, preferring instead to point to the breadth of the potential market in terms of annual financial cost and cost in lives. What is offered is "if we build it, they will come" type statements. The elements of business execution are also glossed over due to the presumed association with an alliance partner.
We have good reason to believe that Dr. Shannon is progressing on the science side of things; we've been given evidence of his work. We have materially less information about the commercial outlook for MZEI.
Owning shares of stock in this company is presently a speculation based on the hopeful success of the science and potential commercialization. I share that hope. Assuming the success of intervening events, the rubber will meet the road in terms of share valuation when the results of a successful hospital-based test is announced. At that time the science becomes "real" and the work management has or hasn't been doing with respect to commercialization becomes evident. It is at this time that the market will transition from hope-based ownership to investment-based owing to the commercial aspects of the business. What those commercial aspects will look like is at this time the subject of conjecture as management has not been forthcoming about such matters.
We are very likely to see a few more announcements about the efficacy on other than MRSA bacteria, the results of a mock-up test, the naming of a hosptial test partner(s), the resutls of the live hosptial test and some presumed peer journal article publication. At that point, share price advances based on science stop or materially slow and and the focus of investors shifts to "what is the economic value" of the science? Your question is only one of very many the typical analyst will want answers to, and the company needs to be delivering those answers to analysts now. This is the same information presently desired by investors rather than speculators. It will only be through the use of a breadth of highly regarded analaysts spreading the news and investment merit of MZEI to their distribution channels that MZEI will reach it's full potential in terms of stock valuation. Reliance on PRs will get some word out, but they won't maximize and sustain the share price.
The development of a robust business plan (manufacturing, pricing, sales & marketing, distribution, G&A, R&D, Finance, etc.)will serve management and shareholders in that management will be better prepared to negotiate any terms with an alliance partner. Leaving all of these facets of management to the determination of the alliance partner will, in my opinion, diminish the return to MZEI. Has management been methodically evaluating the multitude of commercial issues? If management lacks the expertise and simple manpower to do the job, have they hired a top-shelf investment bank to consult on the job and potentially evaluate the commercial strength of patents, develop a cadre of alliance partners, advise on commercial strategies, etc.? If this company truly has multi-billion dollar sales potential, let's get the best talent developing the business model.
