This week’s Bulls N’ Bears ASX Runners of the Week is dominated by biotechs, with two showing big gains for punters. Line honours go to… Regeneus Ltd. Its share price surged 220 per cent after completing a merger deal with US based med-tech firm Cambium Medical Technologies. The regenerative medicine company joins fellow biotech Acrux Ltd and Perpetual Resources, both of which also kicked the ball out of the park this week.
Regeneus’ shares surged today to touch 1.6c during intraday trading from a previous close of just half a cent after announcing it had finalised the deal with Cambium that was first announced back in April last year.
The two companies have been working together over the past few months on Cambium’s “Elate Ocular” product, which aims to treat “dry eye disease”, a common condition that occurs when your tears aren't able to provide adequate lubrication for your eyes.
Elate Ocular is an allogeneic biologic drug comprised of “fibrinogendepleted” human platelet lysate (HPL) pooled from multiple healthy donors. HPL, which is a composition similar in nature to natural tears, will be offered as an "off-the-shelf natural tear" to treat dry eye disease.
The company says around 17 million adults in the USA alone suffer from the condition which is equal to about 6.8 per cent of the population. The current market size for prescription drugs to treat dry eye disease in the USA is estimated to be more than US$2 billion and is expected to grow significantly.
The two companies signed a non-binding indicative offer letter to merge almost 12 months ago, with shareholders of both company’s holding fifty per cent each of the merged entity. As part of the deal, current Cambium shareholders will be entitled to a 5.5 per cent revenue royalty from the existing version of Elate Ocular to treat dry eye disease if the future therapeutic development costs do not exceed an aggregate of US$20.5 million.
Following shareholder approval, Regeneus will change its name to Cambium Bio Limited. Cambium’s Elate Ocular bio-technology will add to Regeneus’ current portfolio of potential treatments for osteoarthritis, neuropathic pain and skin wounds.
Following today’s merger announcement, just over 25 million Regeneus shares changed hands for a total value of $308,000, representing its largest trading day in more than 12 months.
Just sneaking into second place on the Bulls N’ Bears Runners of the Week podium this week is another biotech in Acrux Ltd. Punters propelled Acrux’ share price skywards by over 100 per cent to touch 9.9c during intraday trading following last week’s close of 4.8c.
Stock in the company surged after announcing the launch of its “Dapsone 5% Gel” in the United States. The product is a prescription medicine used on the skin to treat acne vulgaris. It helps decrease the number and severity of acne and with healing more quickly. Dapsone is a generic version of “Aczone 5% Gel”
Acrux received US Food and Drug Administration approval in June last year for the product, allowing it to manufacture and market the generic drug in the United States.
Back in 2020, the company teamed up with TruPharma – a sales and marketing company focused on commercialising branded and generic prescription drugs for the US market.
Acrux has enjoyed significant success in the past 12 months, with its total revenue increasing to $5.77 million for the six months up to the end of 2023, an increase of $2.528 million on the prior corresponding period.
It was the great Author Mark Twain who once said words to the effect “reports of my death are greatly exaggerated” after reading his own obituary in a London newspaper in the late 1800’s. Perhaps that quote could similarly be attributed to the lithium market after Perpetual Resources showed onlookers this week that the lithium market is certainly not dead.
Perpetual stepped up this week to own the third spot on the Bulls N Bears Runners of the week podium after its stock more than doubled from 0.7c last week to hit 1.5c during intraday trading today. The company’s share price ran after it executed two option agreements to secure a large landholding adjacent to its existing Itinga prospect in the Brazilian lithium hotspot of Minas Gerais.
The new tenements sit within 30km of world-class lithium deposits including Sigma Lithium’s Grota do Cirlo operation and Lithium Ionic’s Banderia project.
Management says the landholdings contain multiple confirmed lithium soil anomalies and peak value rock chips of up to 2.1 per cent lithium oxide based on initial pass Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS) analysis. The area covers historical artisanal mines with large pegmatites, extending from mapped formations, and adds to the confirmed lithium soil anomalies within its existing Itinga prospects.
The two new areas add almost 30 square kilometres to Perpetual’s tenure in the area where it already holds about 120 square kilometres of highly prospective lithium exploration permits with its Itinga prospect.
The company has hit the new ground running with a detailed mapping and sampling campaign already underway as it looks to build on its prospects in the area of Minas Gerais that is quickly becoming known as “Lithium Valley”.
So there you have it, a couple of doubles and one treble for the week – a nice little Runners of the Week trifecta if you managed to pick it.
Is your ASX-listed company doing something interesting? Contact: matt.birney@businessnews.com.au
