OPT (Opthea)

[John.S]

Hi All,

Long term fan / reader? of the share trader community mainly of the NZX threads. First time posting.

I came across this Biotech company in August and bought in after lots of reading mainly into the research papers and phase trials run by the company, thought it might of interest to the community too for keeping an eye on.

Short version: the ASX company is involved with R&D of thier patentented drug OPT-302. The drug targets Wet-AMD and Diabetic Macula Edema (DME). These two conditions are a growing issue with a global aging population. The company's point of difference / moat is they target a different pathway (VEGF C/D) for treatment as compared to the current products (VEGF-A & VEGF-B route). Their product is to be used in conjunction with existing products and has compelted their Phase 1 and 2 studies.

Phase 3 will be starting first quarter next year. They recently met with the FDA and EMA last week to agree on how phase 3 will run. They have $26M in the bank, and phase 3 will likely cost $160M for which they are looking at potenitally financing through debt rather than partering with one of the big players. By going in it alone, they will be in a strong position when it comes time to commerical negotiations.


Interesting background reading:

Youtube video summarising what the company has been up to.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6U9xPEoUzHg

Last week's meeting with the FDA / EMA successful.
https://www.globenewswire.com/news-r...n-Wet-AMD.html
Opthea Reports New Data of OPT-302 in Diabetic Macular Edema at the 2020 Annual Meeting of the American Society of Retina Specialists
https://www.globenewswire.com/news-r...ecialists.html

Interview between Opthea's CEO and Alan Kohler (Eureka Report 4/08/2020)
https://www.opthea.com/wp-content/up...t_15-12-02.pdf

[John.S]

Well for those that are following this one.

Out from left field, yesterday OPT announced they are looking at a potential dual listing on the NASDAQ to raise capital for Phase 3. Not sure how this affects OPT, a capital raise on the ASX was one possibilty along with debt financing.

https://www.globenewswire.com/news-r...ed-States.html


Still happy with the science behind the research, but I'm guessing whether they raised capital on the ASX or NADAQ makes no real difference to the company. At least it is a potential dual listing (rather than a delisting off the ASX) which makes holding from NZ easier as I'm with ASB Securities.