Horizon Discovery Share Discussion Threads

[cestnous] 01/4/2014 16:33

Great minds and all that 'eh Scottish?

[scottishfield] 01/4/2014 16:11

Edison note today says -

Horizon Discovery - Bridging the genomic gap Click for report

Horizon Discovery has raised £68.6m in its successful IPO, with 22.2m shares placed at 180p. The issue was materially oversubscribed as investors warmed to the genomic toolkit themes, which address market segments that are large and growing. The company is now well funded to ensure it maintains its leading position in providing gene-editing services and isogenic cell lines. These factors, together with expected profitability in FY16, suggest it is an attractive and relatively low-risk investment.

Horizon Discovery supplies tools to commercial and academic organisations engaged in genomics research and developing personalised medicines. These include proprietary translational genomics platforms, cell-based assays, and molecular diagnostics and biopharmaceutical production toolkits.

Edit : I'm in today also.

[malhashemi] 01/4/2014 16:08

Was planning to top up a bit if it fell below 200p.. Didn't get the chance .. Seems 200p is where buyers come in abhence

[cestnous] 01/4/2014 15:52

Taken a position today. Looks a potential bagger. We'll see :¬)

[mikeja] 01/4/2014 14:00

Yummy,yummy

[mirabeau] 01/4/2014 10:08

I agree they need to drive sales and the 2 AstraZeneca (AZ) contracts are testament to that. It is this affirmation of Horizon's world leading technology in this field by AZ that caught my eye. The move towards personalised medical treatments is what makes HZD compelling as an investment.

The market will note AZ's involvement with Horizon and AZ's move to Cambridge (they're spending around $2bn on this move to Cambridge) and I have no doubt Horizon will pick up more work with AZ

I am sure other majors are looking at this AZ-HZD collaboration and may be tempted in a similar direction

I don't really understand the science but I do see real potential here though at present it seems IPO sellers means we could have further to fall from these levels

[malhashemi] 01/4/2014 09:59

Mirabeau .. Fair point re the multiple (market cap to sales), as I should strip out the current substantial cash from the market cap. Also future contacted revenues are indeed substantial (over GBP 120mn), when compared to the GBP 6mn 2013 actual revenues. However, it's hard to factor the GBP 120mn as they haven't given any more details on these contracted revenues ( guaranteed ? Over how many years? Ie profile of recognising which amounts of this GBP 120mn income in 2014 and over the next few years ). My guess is they articulated this info during the roadshow with institutional investors, but it's not articulated at all in the admission document, so a PI like me is mainly looking at the GBP 6mn as a base from last year rather the GBP 120mn....

[mirabeau] 01/4/2014 08:54

This is where HZD will 'clean up' with their 'patient in a test tube' technology. Personalised, tailor-made drugs designed specifically for the patient. AZ can see the way forward which is why they've already signed off on over $200m of contracted upfront and milestone payments to Horizon. :-

Personalised healthcare

Matching medicines to patients

AstraZeneca's strategy remains focused on innovation and growth, and Personalised Healthcare (PHC) is at the heart of this. PHC aims to match medicines to those patients who will benefit from them most. Advances in science mean we can increasingly design and use tests to tell us how an individual patient is likely to respond to a particular medicine before prescribing it for them. Developing medicines in this way changes the way healthcare is delivered to patients. It means better, more effective treatment for patients and enhanced value for payers.

A successful approach

AstraZeneca is applying Personalised Healthcare approaches to 70% of the drug projects in its pipeline and across all therapy areas including Oncology, Neuroscience, Infection, Respiratory, Inflammation & Autoimmune (RIA), Cardiovascular and Metabolic (CVMD) diseases.

"A personalised healthcare approach is good for both patients and for our business," said Ruth March, VP, Personalised Healthcare and Biomarkers. "If a treatment targets patients that are more likely to respond it's more likely to succeed in the market, reach the patients and benefit them. Our own research tells us that drug projects with a companion diagnostic are more than twice as likely to survive in our pipeline."

AstraZeneca works with a broad range of external diagnostic companies to access the best technology and capabilities to develop companion diagnostic tests alongside our medicines. We also have a number of strategic partners and alliances with world-leading research institutes, including the University of Cambridge, Cancer Research UK, The Sarah Cannon Research Institute and Karolinska Institutet.

[mirabeau] 01/4/2014 08:09

This year HZD have released 7 pieces of contract-collaboration news. That's almost 2 per month. I expect this rate of news issuance to be maintained...I hope!!

M

[mirabeau] 31/3/2014 20:11

Thursday, 30 January 2014 10:14 Tony Quested

Jackpot in Japan shows yen for Horizon cell technology

Horizon Discovery CEO Darrin Disley

A Japanese medical university has bought revolutionary cell lines technology from Cambridge UK personalised medicines torchbearer Horizon Discovery in a deal that could stack up to more than half a million dollars for the business.
Horizon refuses to discuss figures, merely describing the deal as significant and large-scale.

It is indicative of a strategy by CEO Darrin Disley and a greatly reinforced global sales team to push into fresh territories and also identify new disease areas in addition to its strength in cancer.

The company is generating unprecedented levels of cash from commercialising its products and services which are playing a lead support role in translational genomics and the development of medicines to fit an individual's unique genetic make-up.

The Japanese agreement covers a limited use label licence for academic use of 250 of Horizon's X-MAN™ genetically defined, isogenic cell lines, and demonstrates the global recognition of the company's in vitro disease models.

Horizon's X-MAN isogenic cell lines accurately model the disease-causing mutations found in patients with cancer – and increasingly other diseases.

Horizon creates these cell lines using its precision genome-editing GENESIS™ platform, consisting of rAAV, ZFN and CRISPR technologies, to engineer specific disease-related mutations.

These models help researchers understand how complex genetic diseases manifest themselves in patients. They can also reduce the cost of bringing to market new personalised therapies by streamlining many aspects of drug development including target identification, target validation, assay development, drug screening, lead optimisation and biomarker-driven clinical trial design.

Kam Dhaliwal, VP Sales, Horizon Discovery, said: "This is a very significant deal for Horizon Discovery covering a large number of cell lines and representing a large investment by the university.

"We are delighted that our distribution partnership in Japan with Summit Pharmaceuticals International is proving so productive. Summit has proven to be extremely effective in opening the Japanese market for Horizon and we anticipate further adoption of our products and services in Japan in the future."

The director of the Translational Research Centre at the university commented: "Horizon's X-MAN cell lines offer a unique and valuable resource for the study of specific, disease-related mutations. We are looking forward to applying the X-MAN technology in our research projects."

[mirabeau] 31/3/2014 18:47

AstraZeneca expands personalised drug partnership with Horizon

Companies will research drug targets for targeted cancer treatments

AstraZeneca (AZ) has signed a deal with UK genomics company Horizon Discovery to research genetic drug targets for personalised cancer treatments.

The deal adds to an existing collaboration between the two companies that saw AZ and Horizon sign a $75m deal in April 2013 to research Horizon's HD-001 – an investigational programme targeting a kinase enzyme that has been shown to be mutated in a number of cancers.

The latest collaboration expands the companies' efforts in targeting genetic mutations and covers a set of genotypes that Horizon will investigate using its siRNA platform before being validated through further tests and assays.

Horizon will receive an undisclosed upfront payment from AZ and is eligible for subsequent milestone payments up to $88m if AZ goes on to develop compounds discovered by Horizon. AZ may exercise exclusivity over any validated targets.

Susan Galbraith, head of the oncology innovative medicines unit at AZ, explained that the agreement was part of the more collaborative approach to research the company has take since Pascal Soriot became CEO in 2012.

"AstraZeneca's strategy of collaborating with innovative organisations like Horizon allows us to broaden our oncology research efforts and complement our own internal capabilities," she said.

Other recent oncology agreements made by AZ since Soriot's appointment include a research alliance with Cancer Research UK; a cancer biomarker deal with Oxford Cancer Biomarkers; a drug licensing deal with nano-engineering firm Bind Therapeutics; and a collaboration to develop messenger RNA therapeutics with Moderna Therapeutics.

The location of Horizon is also beneficial to AZ as the company is based in Cambridge – the city that AZ picked last year to be its new global headquarters and research hub after announcing it was downsizing its bases in Cheshire and London.

[mirabeau] 31/3/2014 08:36

I see this stock as a 'picks and shovels' stock. It certainly isn't a pharma company but a company that provides the tools with which pharma companies do 'their stuff'

[mirabeau] 31/3/2014 07:44

The company have around £42m in cash, and no debt, which leaves the mkt cap for the operation at around £95m.

They have over $200m in contracted milestone payments in the pipeline plus they are signing deals and collaborations on a 2 a month basis. The technology is world leading and patented..there's real value there as well

[malhashemi] 31/3/2014 06:30

Bought into this. Fundamentally very sound: diverse clients base as well, advanced R and D and patents too, and hence I was attracted to it.However, valuation is quite high (vs 6mn in revenues), so they have their work cut out to increase those revenues significantly in coming years to justify the multiple.I invested in Clinigen early on (but sold out too soon) so clearly these types of companies can sustain a high valuation, but nonetheless I have taken a valuation risk with this one.Just a side note it was reported that the IPO was six/seven times oversubscribed, hence pricing came in at high end.

[mirabeau] 30/3/2014 15:42

Horizon Discovery establishes two new Centres of Excellence in Cambridge

Horizon Discovery

Leading researchers Steve Jackson and David Rubinsztein to apply rAAV gene editing technology in studies of oncology and neurodegenerative disease.

"The increasing number of research groups of this calibre working with our genome editing technology is very exciting for Horizon."

Cambridge Enterprise portfolio company Horizon Discvoery has established two new Centers of Excellence (CoEs) for gene editing at the University. The new Centers are at the Wellcome Trust/Cancer Research UK Gurdon Institute with Professor Steve Jackson FRS, and the Cambridge Institute for Medical Research with Professor David Rubinsztein.

Professor Jackson aims to establish Horizon's rAAV genome editing technology (GENESIS™) as a core technology within his lab at the Gurdon Institute for generating isogenic cell models of cancer. They will focus on generating cell lines with specific mutations in genes involved in DNA repair and DNA damage signalling, to study their relationship to cancer progression.

Professor Rubinsztein's lab will apply GENESIS to generate isogenic cell line models for the study of autophagy (degradation of unnecessary or dysfunctional cellular components), which has been a focus since their discovery that autophagy regulates the levels a set of specific proteins that cause many neurodegenerative diseases.

"The increasing number of research groups of this calibre working with our genome editing technology is very exciting for Horizon," said Dr Rob Howes, Principal Scientist, Horizon. "We are delighted to welcome both the Gurdon Institute and Cambridge Institute for Medical Research to our Centers of Excellence network and look forward to working with them on developing the cell lines."

The new human isogenic cell lines generated by the CoEs will be exclusively licensed to Horizon in return for future product royalties. Horizon will also have an exclusive option to license new intellectual property developed. This forms part of Horizon's strategy to generate at least 2,500 new X-MAN™ (gene X- Mutant And Normal) models of cancer, neurodegenerative, and cardiovascular disease. These models support drug discovery researchers in their efforts to understand how complex genetic diseases manifest themselves in real patients, and help rationalise many aspects of drug development, reducing the cost of bringing personalised therapies to market.

These centres become part of the larger Horizon Centers of Excellence network, which includes institutions including UCL, Yale University, the National Cancer Institute, Washington University in St Louis and the National Cancer Centre, Japan.

Horizon sponsors an online community portal, www.rAAVers.org, for scientists working with rAAV-mediated and other forms of genome editing.

[mirabeau] 29/3/2014 15:04

Biotech booms as Horizon Discovery secures £69m through IPO

Dylan Baker, Editorial Assistant

Friday March 28th, 2014

Horizon Discovery float on London Stock Exchange and secure £68.6m

Horizon Discovery has secured £68.6m to fuel global growth through an Initial Public Offering on London's Alternative Investment Market.

The Cambridge-based company, founded in 2005 by Dr Chris Torrance and Professor Alberto Bardelli, has been backed by investors DFJ Esprit.

The IPO, which was oversubscribed, gave the company a market capitalisation of £120m.

DNA
A platform for gene-editing

The biotech company combines a long scientific heritage in translational research with a world-leading gene-editing platform.

The technology is becoming widely used in genomics research and the development of personalised medicines targeted to specific genetic drivers of diseases like cancer.

In 2013, Horizon Discovery featured in both Deloitte's 50 Fastest Growing Technology Companies and in the Government's Future Fifty Programme.
Biotech on the rise

Biotech is set for an exciting 2014.

In September, Google chief executive Larry Page announced he would be venturing into biotech via a mysterious new venture to extend the human life span.

The sector will be buoyed by a successful IPO, particularly after King, the creator of Candy Crush Saga, had a rough first day trading on the New York Stock Exchange.

Vishal Gulati, new venture partner at DFJ Esprit, said:

Horizon's flotation shows UK public markets are opening up for world class science and technology based companies, a sector in which Britain leads.

[mirabeau] 29/3/2014 10:09

Dr Darrin M Disley, CEO at Horizon Discovery, said: "We are delighted to have extended our relationship with AstraZeneca's Oncology team with this latest agreement. Horizon is uniquely placed in the translational genomics field for investigation of synthetic lethality, as our X-MAN isogenic disease models incorporate patient-relevant genetic context, and allow large scale, timely and systematic screens for the first time. Combined with our high-throughput RNAi and bioinformatics technology platforms, we have a powerful offering."

Dr Susan Galbraith, Head of the Oncology Innovative Medicines Unit at AstraZeneca, commented: "AstraZeneca's strategy of collaborating with innovative organizations like Horizon allows us to broaden our oncology research efforts and complement our own internal capabilities. Partnering Horizon's excellent capabilities in synthetic lethal screens and validation with our strong oncology discovery and development expertise offers real potential to address the need for novel cancer therapeutics, and ultimately to make a difference to patients."

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[mirabeau] 29/3/2014 10:06

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Touching base with Dr. Susan Galbraith, AstraZeneca: On the innovation of oncological medicine

Monday, 24th March 2014

Dr. Susan Galbraith is Vice President of Oncology and head of the Oncology Innovative Medicine unit at AstraZeneca, working on early development of targets for cancer treatments.

OBR's Susanna Lönnqvist had the pleasure of speaking with her about today's issues in oncology research and personalised treatment.

What are the main goals of the Oncology Innovative Medicine unit?

Our goals are the discovery and development of small molecule drugs and to [provide] clinical proof of concept to support their move into pivotal Phase III trials. We have a strong presence with approved and late stage clinical programmes in breast, lung and ovarian cancer but of course there are plenty of areas concerning other cancer types where we are active; for example research on DNA damage, inhibitors of the Ras-Raf MAPK and PI3 Kinase pathways, and on hormonal treatments of cancers, in particular resistant ER-positive breast cancers. We also have exciting programmes with epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) signalling inhibitors as a target for treatment of EGFR mutated lung cancers.

[It] is important to remember that we go where the science leads us. An example of this is the finding that an MEK-inhibitor, selumetinib, increases or restores the uptake of radioiodine in advanced thyroid cancer tumours. This means that patients that were previously unresponsive to the standard treatment of these kinds of tumours [can] regain the ability of uptaking radioiodine, targeting the cancerous cells in the thyroid gland. When a finding like this is realised, you pursue it.

Our MedImmune pipeline has several really exciting programmes in immune-oncology – a breaking area of novel medicines for cancer. We also have many external collaborations with partners. Recent examples include our collaboration with Cancer Research UK on their Stratified Medicine Initiative and trials which give access to several of our early clinical programs together in one trial. [This is in conjunction with] the Institute Gustave Roussy in Paris and the INCa Network (French National Cancer Institute), [and works] towards the goal of personalised treatments.

What are the biggest challenges for personalised cancer treatments?

The main one is the segmentation of the disease as cancers are highly heterogeneous and we are just starting to understand how much different cancer sites within an individual may differ and evolve from one another. Thanks to the newest sequencing technologies we can begin to understand the genetics behind the molecular complexity of different kinds of cancers and how that complexity evolves and changes during the life of a cancer patient.

Our goal is to then be able to translate this knowledge into practical, high quality tests that can be used for diagnostics, so patients can receive the medicine most likely to work for them. The more practical aspect of this is also challenging; to be able to do research and develop new targets there is a need for tissue access, which can be a limiting factor. When tests and protocols are developed there is a need for an infrastructure to handle high quality testing, and this includes education of personnel.

The educational aspect includes patients as well; it is crucial to be able to convey the basic science behind a study in a meaningful way so that the patients understand why they participate. But we are changing medicine with targeted therapies – the understanding of which combinations of targets and treatments will make a difference make these very exciting times to be working in.

What is your favourite part of your current position?

There are a few! First of all it is fantastic when you get data on something completely new, that you get to see a new mechanism and that something works, as was the case with the example on thyroid cancer I mentioned earlier. Then there are the individual stories from patients who have participated in studies, and who can give direct feedback on the impact it has had on their lives, which is of course inspiring. I also enjoy the opportunity to meet and work with great scientists within AstraZeneca and with the external scientists we collaborate with – there is always something to learn.

Can you tell us about the move of AstraZeneca from Manchester to Cambridge, and when this will be actualised?

Actually we have scientists moving to the Cambridge area already in 2014 and the move will be completed in 2017. We look to be a part of a strong biotechnology community, and to increase collaborations with academic groups which was part of the rational of moving. [In just a few days] we are hosting a symposium together with Cambridge Cancer Center and MedImmune, to bring together scientists from the three branches to discuss and share ideas on key cancer research topics.

What advice would you give a young scientist aiming to go into pharma?

An excellent scientific training is essential, of course, and to be innovative. This is a business driven by innovation, so to be curious is important. You will find yourself in a collaborative environment, so learning to be cooperative and to listen carefully to those around you will be to your benefit. Working in this field is great since you are in a strong collaborative environment with all the possibilities to test your ideas.

Could this be translated to what you look for when hiring?

Yes, all of it – We look for an excellent scientific training. We also want people to be passionate, curious, and open to new ideas!

More on Dr. Susan Galbraith: After completing medical training at Manchester and Cambridge Universities and as an oncologist in London she finished her PhD and moved to the US to join Bristol-Myers Squibb in Princeton. In 2007 Susan became Vice-President of Oncology Discovery Medicine and Clinical Biomarkers at BMS. She returned to the UK three and a half years ago to join AstraZeneca.

[mirabeau] 29/3/2014 09:50

AstraZeneca and HZD are developing an alliance on the personalised medicine front or 'patient in a test-tube' technology. AZ are now repositioning themselves in this sector and focusing on Oncology and cancer far more




From left: Richard Vellacott, senior vice president, finance and operations of Horizon Discovery, Shaun Grady, vice president of business development operations of Astra Zeneca, Darrin Disley, CEO of Horizon Discover and Nic Rumsey, director of Carisbrooke Developments, developer of Haverhill Research Park

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Mr Rumsey said: "I am delighted for Horizon Discovery.

"It has become a significant success for the Cambridge life science cluster.

"A leader in genome editing and a pioneer of personalised medicine, Horizon has posted phenomenal growth in 2013.

"Haverhill Research Park is happy to have sponsored the award in order to champion the best BioMedTech companies in Cambridge and the wider region."

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[mirabeau] 28/3/2014 18:46

These are deals signed off by Horizon so far in 2014. 7 in total or around 3-4 pcm. More to come I suspect with Horizon employing more staff to cover Europe and expand their business:-

17/02/2014
Horizon Discovery Signs Supply and Distribution Agreement with Sirion Biotech GmbH
Agreement adds custom and off-the-shelf shRNA and cDNA expression capabilities to... (more)

12/02/2014
Horizon Discovery Signs Distribution Agreement with Haplogen
Horizon will market and distribute haploid gene trap mutant collection to its global... (more)

10/02/2014
Horizon Discovery Launches GENASSIST Line of Kits and Reagents for Gene-Editing, utilizing CRISPR Technology
New CRISPR-ready cell line kit and validated RNA guide service to enable easier,... (more)

30/01/2014
Horizon Discovery Signs Large-Scale License Agreement for its X-MAN Cell Lines in Japan
Agreement covers use of 250 of Horizon's X-MAN genetically defined isogenic... (more)

16/01/2014
Horizon Discovery and Transgenomic Announce Collaboration for Validation Control and Development of Genetic Diagnostic Tests
Transgenomic will use Horizon's genetically defined reference standards in... (more)

14/01/2014
Dr. Ian Gilham Appointed Chairman of the Board for Horizon Discovery
Cambridge, UK, 14 January 2014: Horizon Discovery (Horizon), a leading provider of... (more)

07/01/2014
Horizon Discovery Announces Oncology Research, Collaboration and License Agreement with AstraZeneca
Cambridge, UK, 07 January 2014: Horizon Discovery (Horizon) and AstraZeneca have... (more)

[mirabeau] 28/3/2014 08:10

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AstraZeneca have already signed over $200m worth of collaboration deals with Horizon and AZ's move to Cambridge close to Horizon's HQ will only accelerate that relationship..I reckon there's far more to come from this partnership

[simon gordon] 27/3/2014 19:39

CNBC Europe video:

Horizon Discovery prepares for IPO

Thu 27 Mar 14

Darrin Disley, CEO of Horizon Discovery, says the company will be a "safe place" for investors' money when the company floats in London.

[mikeja] 27/3/2014 16:41

Cheers Nurdin.If this were quoted on Nasdaq valuation would probably exceed $1bn.