Bioventix Share Discussion Threads

[bamboo2] 23/3/2015 20:13

During this relative 'burst' of liquidity, some trades are going through the ISDX market, these seem to balance out those on the LSE.

[bamboo2] 15/3/2015 17:07

If the Henderson shares have gone to one buyer, we could be forgiven for expecting a corresponding holdings rns.

[bamboo2] 13/3/2015 20:10

Impvesta, thanks.
Gloomberg has - Next Earnings Announcement 04/24/2015
24 April 2015 in GB!

I'm trend following here and my lower trendline says we are due a tick up within the next two or so sessions, or I need a redraw.

[impvesta] 13/3/2015 16:39

Sharescope doesn't show any volume to account for these 129,000 shares sold either.

Sharescope does show unconfirmed interims date of 18/3/15. Not sure where this date will have come from if it isn't confirmed as last two years' interims were 27/3/13 and 24/4/14.

[bamboo2] 13/3/2015 14:40

Henderson formerly held 1,026,660, now down to 897,660 or 17.77%.

Not sure the volume has been picked up by advfn charts. Not surprising I suppose.

[igbertsponk] 09/3/2015 12:38

How long until a tenner ?

[igbertsponk] 23/2/2015 11:43

good to see demand still inching this up.

[boros10] 15/2/2015 09:52

I don't understand much of this 510k either. However, if you look at page 4 and line 4 in the table you will see reference to the Monoclonal Sheep Antibody licensed by Bioventix. Interestingly the comparison test by Euroimmun also uses the Bioventix antibody. Euroimmun is the 19th largest diagnostic company in the world. BioRad (whose 510k we have been discussing) is at number 11. Beckman Coulter whose Vitamin test using the Bioventix antibody was discussed in an earlier post and who have also gained FDA approval are part of Danaher, the global number 4 in diagnostics. I have also been looking at Vitamin D tests sold over the counter. Theranos, founded by Elizabeth Holmes the world's youngest self-made female billionaires, is selling such a test directly and through Walgreens in the US. I am still trying to track down a 510k to establish if this test also uses the Bioventix antibody. See https://www.theranos.com/test-menu/test/82306

[trident5] 13/2/2015 21:29

Thanks for the links Boros. The first one brings home how far outside my circle of competence I am here.

[boros10] 13/2/2015 00:36

Another Bioventix partners gets FDA Approval for a Vitamin D diagnostic test. Bio Rad has a markt cap. of £2.2bn.

[apad] 10/2/2015 16:02

I looked at this when it was on the Plus market and again when it came to AIM.
I was put off by the DiaSource patent challenge which, I believe, was solved by agreement rather than in law. However, this patent was broad and I wondered whether it has been challenged by anyone else.
ABC is my second biggest holding - maybe I should buy some of these to complete the set:-)

apad

ps did very well out of Celltech in the past too - I should've followed the staff!

[bamboo2] 07/2/2015 09:06

SSDJ, Thanks. That's a great help. Third paragraph onwards is all quite new to me. Will investigate further based on this info.

[superstardj] 06/2/2015 20:20

bamboo2 - hope this might help:

Antibodies are proteins produced by white blood cells in the body as part of the immune response to invasion by foreign bodies such as bacteria, viruses and yeasts. These are collectively known as antigens. Antibodies are formed of four units called chains. Each antibody has two heavy chains and two light chains. These are inter-wound to create a Y-shaped molecule. There are several different antibody heavy chains and these define the group to which the antibody belongs. Five of these groups are known in mammals: IgA, IgD, IgE, IgG and IgM. The general structure of all antibodies is the same, but it is the regions at the tip of the arms of the Y-shaped protein that vary extremely. Changes in the protein sequence at this point of the antibody create variants that can bind to different antigens. There may be more than one antibody produced to an antigen, for example, binding to different cell surface markers known as epitopes. This allows millions of antibodies with slightly different tip structures to exist, thus allowing the immune system to recognise a large number of antigens.

Antibodies are produced by injecting an antigen in to an animal, taking blood and separating out the proteins. If several antibodies are produced in reaction to the antigen, this mixture is called polyclonal. If a single antibody is isolated that binds to a single protein, this is termed a monoclonal antibody (MAb). MAbs are manufactured by fusing a mortal white blood cell(where the antibody is produced) from the inoculated animal with an immortal cancer cell. The resultant cell is called a hybridoma. This hybridoma can be cultured using standard cell biology techniques. In culture, the cells secrete the MAb, which is then harvested and purified.

The development of an immunoassay (diagnostic test) is a complex procedure. To start, an antibody is raised to the analyte of interest (the molecule contained within a blood sample that might be worthy of analysis and quantitation by a doctor, e.g. a hormone). This is usually done by immunising a mammal and harvesting the antibodies. The antibodies (several may be formed to different parts of the analyte molecule) are purified and tested for specificity and selectivity. Then one or more is chosen as the basis for the test. For MAb tests, a single antibody is cloned in cells. It is these clones that are a key part of the IP of a company (though they cannot be patented they are unique to the company). They are stored both onsite and usually at Porton Down to be used every time another batch needs to be made. Clones are grown as required and the antibody they produce is purified. A detecting antibody is conjugated to another molecule. This enzyme digests a chemical in the reagent which then changes colour, luminesces or emits radioactivity. The change is read by a calibrated machine giving a quantitation. Individual tests are optimised to work on specific machines. They must be proven to do so in a repeatable and accurate fashion before regulatory approval is obtained.

The key attributes of an antibody are its affinity and its specificity. Affinity is the strength of the reaction between an antigen and the antibody. The higher the affinity of the antibody for the epitope, the more stable will be the interaction. Thus the ease with which the interaction can be detected is enhanced. Specificity refers to the ability of an antibody to react with only one epitope. The higher the specificity of an antibody, the greater the confidence that it is binding to the site of interest and not to other similar sites.

The vast majority of MAbs are produced in mice. The use of sheep for MAb production confers some advantages over murine monoclonals. Sheep are reported in the scientific literature to have more diverse antigen recognition than mice as well as a better immune response to small-sized antigens. SMAs therefore bind more tightly to the antigen of interest, enabling better detection of smaller amounts of antigen with less interference from other antigens. They are, however, technically more demanding to produce.

[igbertsponk] 06/2/2015 09:14

Indeed. Good article.

[impvesta] 06/2/2015 09:00

Thanks for the link to that excellent article Boros10. Very informative and well written.

[bamboo2] 05/2/2015 22:19

Boros10, thanks for posting the link. Very re-assuring.
Are you into the science here in a big way?
I only have a very rudimentary laymans knowledge of the biology involved in antibodies and antigens, transplant rejection etc. Do you have any links to reasonably easy to understand websites that I could use to gain a better understanding of the co? tia

[boros10] 05/2/2015 20:40

Very good article on Bioventix by fund manager Keith Ashworth-Lord of UK Buffettology which owns just over 2% of the Company.http://everyinvestor.co.uk/2015/02/05/favourite-share-fund-manager-keith-ashworth-lord/

[igbertsponk] 30/1/2015 10:50

Woken up again.

[boros10] 22/1/2015 17:24

The Edinburgh research team's work discussed in the press yesterday was published in the British Medical Journal



An interesting, shorter and slightly less complicated paper which discusses the results of various troponin tests is available in the link below. Five of the nineteen sampled tests are for the more sensitive tests discussed in the BMJ. These five tests produced the best results and include tests from Roche and Abbott which are already on sale in European (no one has yet gained FDA approval to launch in the USA but it is surely only a matter of time).



You can see from this report that Bioventix's diagnostic partner on high sensitivity Troponin must be either Siemens or Beckman Coulter (hs-cTnI Assay).

I think it is more likely to be Beckman Coulter as the company has been working closely with Bioventix as evidenced by the recently filed 501k (Dec 14) which shows the Company has received FDA approval to market its Vitamin D diagnostic test kit in the USA based on a sheep monoclonal antibody which, of course, augurs well for 2015 revenues.

[impvesta] 22/1/2015 09:12

Yes, I watched those last night bamboo. I was disappointed the Mello one is only 1 minute and 4 seconds long though!

[bamboo2] 22/1/2015 08:58

Some great info here, inc recent mello.

[impvesta] 22/1/2015 08:54

Thanks for the excellent links Boros10 (post 69), which caused me to look at the company's website in more detail. I certainly needed to improve the quality of my research into this company. I will give you all a good laugh by confessing that I had thought the company's products were designed to test sheep for disease!!! My wife enjoyed that one at my expense anyway!

I've now made a small top up!

Regards

Impvesta

[boros10] 22/1/2015 08:03

Spann - I see Totally's Stockopedia ranking has soared to 4 which is around a 20th of Bioventix's ranking. Not a bad approximation for the ratio of the value of my Bioventix investment to my Totally bet!

[spann_703] 21/1/2015 20:16

Thanks for the continued stream of information, Boros10; I've been in here for a while since your posts on the Fool prompted me to do further research.

Have to say I'm struggling to construct an investment case for Totally though - I note Stockopedia gives it a "StockRank(TM)" of precisely 1 [out of 100]!

Cheers.