Arix Bioscience Share Discussion Threads

[ohisay] 10/6/2021 14:59

First time for a while I couldn't buy online this morning ..had to put an order in .

[alter ego] 04/6/2021 10:26

I think the AGM is on 14th June. Should we expect any kind of update?

[skyship] 17/5/2021 15:22

Well, back in March I played a small holding from 183p to 190.3p. Have decided to have another go, paying 182.5p this time around.

Seems rather surprising that they don't cough up and take Evans out in the one hit; seems the entirely logical thing to do.

[chesil356] 13/5/2021 09:19

We still have the seller here who is SIR CHRISTOPHER THOMAS EVANS. He last reported his change of holding on the 16th of March but is now below 3% so doesn't have to report. He is selling, based on the sales between February and March approx one million shares a month, so is selling faster than ARIX are buying. If I'm correct I won't be buying any until the end of June when he should be out hopefully!Larger trades can be delayed by hours and sometimes days if they are of a certain size so you can't go by the daily trades buy/sell data it will be wrong.

[supernumerary] 12/5/2021 14:56

A regular newsletter summarising the news from their holdings would also be handy. Not as good as a quarterly dividend cheque dropping on the doormat, mind :)

[ohisay] 12/5/2021 14:39

Their website if you look keeps you up to date on newsflow from the companies they have an interest in.

They could also usefully update their asset value at the end of each month ..?!

[eaaxs06] 12/5/2021 13:59

Trading this week has been minimal, so the price is hardly drifting due to any real selling pressure. Indeed, of the meagre 270k shares traded on Monday/Tuesday the company has bought in over 170k of them, even though they (and virtually all other shares this week) have been marked by ADVFN as ‘sells’

What we need is a few good news announcements, to bring the buyers back. Not so long ago we were getting news nearly every day, now the only thing we hear of is the company buying another £150k worth of shares, as they cant think of anything else to do with the money.

Good luck everyone, Sid.

[frazboy] 12/5/2021 13:24

I haven’t checked but perhaps the drift is due to slippage of some of their listed holdings (and by read across) some of their unlisted holdings? The current jitters in high tech shares may also be seen in the valuations of jam tomorrow biotechs, perhaps? Just my thoughts.

[pinemartin9] 12/5/2021 13:13

This gradual drift downwards is concerning me. If the share price wasn't being propped up by buy backs what would be happening? I'm looking hard at the share price and wondering if I may cash in and watch from the sidelines. Thoughts?

[piano man] 10/5/2021 21:04

Yes,t some sort of hybrid growth / income fund.

[supernumerary] 10/5/2021 12:54

That I think would be a very bad idea - they'd end up neither fish nor fowl.

Nor am I a great fan of 'special' dividends - great for current holders but does nothing to attract new investors. Why not a chunky, well-covered progressive dividend policy? There surely must be investment managers, if only at pension funds, who are interested in a steady income combined with potential capital gains in a go-go sector?

[weatherman] 10/5/2021 12:49

They could invest in a basket of major pharma stocks while waiting for the target smaller stocks to become available. What is Glaxo dividend for example? They are buying back shares that already pay no dividend.

[eaaxs06] 10/5/2021 12:40

I’m no fan of either; the share buyback, nor a special dividend.

What I do find particularly galling is the fact that the board can’t find anything better to do with their (sorry, our) money, other than a share buyback programme.

All this does is show a complete lack of ambition from the company after some great investments to get us into this healthy financial position, I’d be far happier if they backed themselves to find new growth opportunities, which surely must exist out there.

Good luck everyone, Sid.

[ohisay] 10/5/2021 12:27

I have no problem with the limited buyback but I too thought a Special Dividend would have attracted shareholders.
Missed opportunity !

[supernumerary] 10/5/2021 11:57

Yes, I remember your post, but was agnostic myself at the time.

Now I can't help the feeling that they're paying once-loyal shareholders to leave the company, with no particularly strong incentive for others to join.

A chunky divi, solidly backed, would likely have the opposite effect, possibly attracting non-life sciences specialists who would like some safe exposure to the sector.

I think they've still got plenty of funds in the cash pile for investment - it's finding good ones that's difficult.

[rcturner2] 10/5/2021 08:44

I said at the time it was a total waste of money.

They should be investing the money into new biotech plays.

[supernumerary] 06/5/2021 16:50

So far they've spent about £5M buying back shares from their allotted £25M with no discernible effect on the share price I can't help feeling I'd much sooner have the remaining £20M as a divi.

[eaaxs06] 06/5/2021 15:21

Arix are leaving their buying late today, indeed only just over 50k of shares hsave been traded all day.

In normal cicumstances, the prospect of a imminent 100k purchse after such a slow day would help the share price nicely, but alas, things never work out as expected with Arix.

Good luck everyone, Sid.

[ugandalad] 30/4/2021 11:54

Hope they know what they are doing. The RNS seems to give the departed Chairman quite a good report card.

[n0rbie] 30/4/2021 09:14

Activist investor got the board shakeup they wanted.

[pinemartin9] 29/4/2021 15:35

I think we can say the share price flatlining!

[ugandalad] 29/4/2021 09:08

Seems a very low reward for a high risk investment but maybe that is life.

[supernumerary] 28/4/2021 18:14

Gives an idea of the market value of these antifungals:



Pfizer buys Amplyx to grow infectious disease pipeline
by Nick Paul Taylor | Apr 28, 2021 7:45am

Pfizer has bought infectious disease biotech Amplyx Pharmaceuticals for an undisclosed sum. The deal gives Pfizer control of a pipeline led by phase 2 antifungal candidate fosmanogepix.

Amplyx received investment from Pfizer last year as part of a $93 million series C round that set the biotech up to advance fosmanogepix and MAU868, a neutralizing antibody targeting the BK virus. In the months after disclosing the investment, Amplyx shared phase 2 data linking fosmanogepix to an 80% treatment success rate in patients with invasive fungal infections caused by Candida.

The progress has persuaded Pfizer to acquire Amplyx outright. In return for an undisclosed financial package, Pfizer has added fosmanogepix, MAU868 and the early-stage antifungal APX2039 to its R&D pipeline.

Pfizer focused on fosmanogepix, Amplyx’s lead compound, in its statement to disclose the takeover. Fosmanogepix is a prodrug of manogepix, an inhibitor of the fungal enzyme Gwt1. Eisai discovered manogepix by searching for small molecules that disrupt the assembly of mannoproteins into fungi cell wall glucan. The mechanism is distinct from those of the three existing antifungal classes.

If validated in the clinic, the novel approach could enable physicians to treat troublesome stains such as echinocandin-resistant Candida and azole-resistant Aspergillus. Amplyx has studied intravenous and oral forms of fosmanogepix, raising the prospect of patients receiving the antifungal agent into their veins while in hospital before taking it by mouth once they return home.

Pfizer framed the acquisition as part of its continuous search for opportunities to build its portfolio of anti-infective therapies. The focus on growing the anti-infective portfolio dates back years, with the 2016 takeover of AstraZeneca’s small-molecule antibiotics business and the 2017 in-licensing of the European rights to Basilea’s antifungal Cresemba distant examples of the strategy in action.

Last year, Pfizer’s hospital business, which sells infectious disease products, grew U.S. sales by 9%, in part due to the introductions of anti-infectives. Pfizer’s top-selling antifungal is Vfend, which pulled in revenues of $270 million in the pandemic-affected 2020, down from $346 million the year before. None of the anti-infectives are blockbusters, but, collectively, they are a big part of Pfizer’s $8 billion hospital business.

[supernumerary] 28/4/2021 16:42

Insiders only, I'm afraid - 'Financial terms of this acquisition were not disclosed.'

[pinemartin9] 28/4/2021 16:38

Arix retains a stake of 3.0% in Amplyx, valued at $6.4 million (£5.2 million[1]).I think we had 3% on v quick research which would have valued it at 177 million GBP market cap previously. I can't recall what the most recently reported book value was we were reporting here. Anyone know what Pfizer paid?