Part 1 to Newbies- note this is a simplified overv
Post# of 72440
Innovation Pharmaceuticals (IPIX)
Biotech investing is risky and is not for everyone and I have absolutely no motive other than alerting friends and family to an investment that in my opinion (IMO) has tremendous upside. For more detail on IPIX science, trials and management profiles go to the IPIX website at www.ipharminc.com
IPIX is a pre-revenue biotech company that has 3 major drug platforms that have all completed various FDA phase 1 and phase 2 trials. The 3 drugs are Brilacidin ( which is the first new class of antibiotic since 1987, and also has powerful anti-inflammatory properties which have had clinical trials for diseases that are not infections, Prurisol (P) which is a drug targeted for the psoriasis market and Kevetrin (K) which is a cancer drug that has been found to shrink tumors and most importantly activates the P53 gene that is found to be dysfunctional in over 50% of all cancers.
In order for IPIX to continue to advance their science through expensive and time consuming FDA trials IPIX issues stock through an agreement with Aspire Capital who in turn sells a portion of their IPIX stock holdings on the general market. The issuance of this stock is dilutive to shareholders but is necessary until either IPIX gets a drug to market or a Big Pharmaceutical (BP) company partners with IPIX to secure exclusive sales rights and pays IPIX an upfront payment and a royalty in the form of a percentage of future revenue. IPIX has expressly stated that a royalty structure with BP after successfully completing phase 2 FDA trials is their preferred approach and has also stated that they have nearing 20 Non-Disclosure Agreements (NDA) with BP. Unfortunately there are professional investors and illegal entities that short stock and target companies that’s only form of revenue is to issue additional shares. IMO this is the main reason that IPIX stock price is so depressed and IMO considerably undervalued. In addition, IPIX is thinly traded and is not currently followed by any large brokerage firms or newsletters so supply of shares to date has outstripped any demand that small retail investors have provided to date. There are paid bashers from some larger entity that attempt to scare current and potential investors but IPIX management is well aware of these efforts and has exposed false claims in the past including a bogus class action law suit in 2015 that was thrown out without merit in favor of IPIX . An investment in IPIX has to be based on a belief that IPIX’s science and advancement of valuable and needed drugs to market will trump the above challenges and will ultimately be lucrative for shareholders.
This week IPIX made 2 important press releases. On Thursday after the market closed IPIX issued a statement that they have secured additional financing with Aspire that gives IPIX $2M in upfront cash and another $5M in cash based on 3 milestones effective through 9/30/18. This press release basically draws line in the sand with a finite date to complete these milestones and IMO is a strong signal to shareholders that IPIX management has a high confidence level in achieving these goals. IMO the milestones themselves are way more important to shareholders than the actual funds that get released as a result of completing these milestones. They are as follows:
- $1M if the FDA grants IPIX Breakthrough Technology Designation (BTD) for IPIX Brilacidin Oral Mucositis (B-OM). A BTD adds considerable value to a drug candidate and includes accelerated priority with the FDA. B-OM recently successfully completed a phase 2b and IPIX has an agreement in place with Evonik who is a major, reputable world-class producer of drugs to produce Brilacidin in large quantities and package the drug in easy to use and distribute packets for the OM market. OM represents a $1B+ annual revenue opportunity and is only one of many possible usages for B. B-OM is addressing a market that currently does not have a solution for the prevention of OM which Brilacidin addresses. IPIX has also completed phase 2 trials for B for Inflammatory Bowel Disease and Serious Skin Infections. I assume that IPIX has already filed with the FDA for BTD and anticipate a positive response.
- $2M if the Prurisol (P) FDA phase 2b trial meets primary endpoints. On Friday IPIX announced that they have received the data from their P 2b double blind study and that the database has been locked. IPIX will probably take 10 to 14 days to fully analyze the data and present it in a thorough manner. IMO if this trial meets primary endpoints it will be a huge win for IPIX. The P phase 2b trial was geared towards patients with severe psoriasis and the main competition for this market are biologics that in most cases require injections and many have significant side effects. Prurisol (P) is in pill form and to date has not shown any side effects. In previous FDA trials it was found to be effective in lower doses. If this phase 2b trial is deemed successful the market for P could represent a $2B+. If this trial is a failure it would certainly hurt IPIX but I believe IPIX will soon have a Brilacidin partnership independent of the success or failure of Prurisol.
- $2M if IPIX inks a partnership agreement with BP with at least $10M in upfront cash. IMO this is by far the most important of the 3 milestones. Many partnership agreements have $50M+ as upfront payments. IPIX’s current cash requirements have been around $1M/month or $12M/year so $50M would allow IPIX to aggressively move forward in progressing all 3 of their drug platforms to market. It would also allow IPIX to run their business without the need to issue additional stock and stop any further stock dilution. The current outstanding share count including the current Aspire deal is around 220M shares. The current share price is a ridiculously low 59 cents which makes the entire IPIX market cap $130M. A typical BP partnership could be something like $50M upfront and 15%/year on associated revenues. On a $1B market that would be $150M per year royalty to IPIX with a single partnership agreement on a single indication (for example B-OM). IMO a BP announcement will spike the share price north of $3. Once a partnership is in place and a year or 2 later when the drug has passed phase 3 trials and it is on the market the share price will be north of $10/share. Again these are my ballpark projections on a single drug with a single indication. There are many indications for Brilacidin alone and if Prurisol and/or Kevetrin make it through phase 3 trials and to the market there could be many multiples of this share price projection.
In summary we will all know a lot more about this investment before 9/30/18. If IPIX hits the above milestones we should a see significant share price increase. I am not interested or licensed to give out investment advice so you have to decide if/when to buy or sell IPIX and you should do your own due diligence regarding IPIX. What I will do is share my own personal thoughts in that I believe IPIX shares under a dollar are an absolute steal and I personally have no intentions of selling ANY of my IPIX position until it approaches $10 share and I hope to have a majority of my position several years beyond that time.