In Patrimony, renowned author Philip Roth writes of his seeing the x-rays of the tumor in his father’s brain, “the tumor invading the brain….my father’s brain, what prompted him to think the blunt way he thought, speak the emphatic way he spoke, reason the emotional way he reasoned, decide the impulsive way he decided.” It is shocking to Roth to envision the ways the tumor would change someone he loved. Similarly, America watched sadly as beloved Senator Edward Kennedy battled his brain tumor - a malignant glioma.
It is this type of brain cancer that microcap, ImmunoCellular Therapeutics, is trying to tackle. And its listing on NYSE MKT will make its work more widely understood.
The National Cancer Institute estimates that 22,910 adults (55% of men and 45% of women) were diagnosed with brain and other nervous system tumors last year, with an alarming 60% ending in death. The most aggressive form of brain cancer - glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) (also called glioblastoma) -- is a fast-growing glioma that accounts for about 15% of all brain tumors and primarily occurs in adults between the ages of 45 and 70.
“We are trying to bring breakthrough technology to patients who are in dire need,” says CEO Andrew Gengos.
ImmunoCellular Therapeutics focuses on glioblastoma, a brain cancer where the prognosis for patients is poor. After surgery, chemotherapy and radiation patients are expected to live about a year more before succumbing to the disease. ImmunoCellular is trying to improve the odds by using a vaccine approach that encourages the patient’s own immune system to attack the cancer.
THE CHALLENGE
From early research through approval and first commercial sales can take 10 to 15 years, explains Gengos, during which time a company is burning through capital in the hope that treatment candidates successfully pass through all phases of testing.
Consequently, the amount of capital needed for such projects is large, and not typically accessible solely in a VC financed model, says Gengos. He is heartened by the amount of biotech IPOs in the past year and believes it bodes well for the industry.
As a public company, the focus must be on building shareholder value signaled to the market through the release of good news based on positive clinical trial data, which can potentially lead to regulatory approvals in major markets and opportunities to start selling a product. Investors will be looking for such positive news, and it is important to be as forthright as possible, advises Gengos, as management credibility is an important component of communications.
ImmunoCellular hopes to drive growth and shareholder value by investing in multiple product development programs. The company’s lead product candidate targets newly diagnosed brain cancer, while additional candidates are aimed at treating recurrent brain cancer and ovarian cancer. Two of these programs are in human testing now and the company will initiate a third program in early 2014. It expects Phase II clinical trial results from its lead cancer vaccine in newly diagnosed brain cancer in the fourth quarter of 2013 or the first quarter of 2014.
MANAGING FOR SUCCESS
Gengos cites several critical success factors for ImmunoCellular and small-cap biotech in general:
1. Sound technology & scientific acumen
“Cancer immunotherapy, as a technology, is attracting considerable attention right now. Using a patient’s immune system to attack the cancer is a compelling approach. Having a sound technology platform and scientists who know how to build products based on it is an advantage.”
2. High quality people
ImmunoCellular’s cancer vaccine technology originates from the research at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles of two renowned neurosurgeons, Drs. John Yu and Keith Black. The management team today includes top talent from the biotechnology industry. “We depend heavily on talent -- talent that we have already and talent that we can attract with continued success. Good management executing well is a must-have.”
3. Access to capital
“Product development over long time frames cannot occur without sustained access to capital.”
NYSE MKT ADVANTAGE
“Going public is not the finish line. You have to grow your investor base. NYSE has given us broad exposure in public capital markets to many different types of investors, both retail and institutional,” says Gengos.
He has been focusing on expanding ImmunoCellular’s investor base to include more institutions because they understand the long-term nature of the investments in the biotech space and they can bring more capital to bear. “It is really important after listing to maintain long-term access to capital,” adds Gengos. “Listing has been good for us, in particular, for the exposure that NYSE has helped us achieve.”
Gengos also cites the intelligence from NYSE specialists as important in understanding the volatility and liquidity of the company’s stock price.
