Just thought I'd remind everyone that Cytopia has Australia's largest global licence and collaboration partnership with Novartis for JAK3 drugs worth up to approx $280 million.
Granted Cytopia will need a cash injection within 9 months to further progress promising trials but at 6 cents per share the stock is a great buying opportunity IMO.
Cytopia has new generation drugs for multiple indications in Phase 1 and 2 trials and another trial (JAK2) about to start. One trial is for orally administered drugs instead of standard intravenous which would have massive marketing appeal if successful.
Cytopia still has approx $7m in the kitty yet Cytopia's current market cap is $5million. Therfore the market is ascribing absolutely $0 to Cytopia's patents, drug development pipeline, drug discovery proprietry, and the Novartis licencing deal.
Directors and Chairman own 25% of company between them so you know that they are working their butts off to get the CYT share price back to a fair level. IMO I believe they will pull of the merger with PGL and get all of its cash. They would also have Plan B and C ready if that fails I reckon.
Please sell me more at 6 cents.
SMH Business Day article below:
Cytopia presses Progen for board change. March 11, 2009 - 1:19PM Cancer treatment developer Cytopia Ltd continues to push for a new board at Progen Pharmaceuticals Ltd, which it says should consider merging with Cytopia to form "a strong, cancer-focused biotechnology company".
Cytopia's move follows Progen's announcement on Monday that it and drug peer Avexa Ltd had agreed to terminate talks on their own proposed merger, after it became apparent that it would not be approved by the required percentage of Progen shareholders.
Cytopia and some other minority shareholders in Progen had opposed the Progen-Avexa merger and had called for the election of a new Progen board.
Calling off the merger, Progen also announced that it would conduct a $40 million share buyback at $1.10 per share, representing 60 per cent of the Progen share register.
Progen previously had advocated a share buyback at $1.10, but capped at $20 million, which Cytopia had said was insufficient to satisfy the number of shareholders who wanted to leave Progen.
Cytopia said on Wednesday that many Progen shareholders had wanted to leave the company via a return of capital since July 2008, when a Phase III clinical trial for Progen's PI-88 compound in the treatment of liver cancer had been terminated.
"(Progen) Directors were well aware of these demands in July 2008, yet in December 2008 chose to deny shareholders this opportunity and instead pursued an unattractive merger with only a limited share buyback," Cytopia said.
"The cost for this failed exercise is likely to be well over $1 million, including a $0.5 million break fee, consultancy, legal and court costs."
Cytopia said all Progen shareholders should have the choice of a return of capital, subject to Progen maintaining sufficient net cash reserves.
"The Progen board has partly capitulated to shareholder demands by increasing the share buyback proposal to $40 million and advising of its newest strategy to consider various other investments with the remaining cash," Cytopia said.
"This about-face by the Progen board is still short of the mark."
The Cytopia shareholders' group has called for a meeting of Progen shareholders for March 27 to consider resolutions calling for the removal of all current Progen directors and the appointment of three new directors.
Cytopia said the Progen board had failed to satisfy its investors and no longer had the support of shareholders.
"Cytopia encourages all Progen shareholders to vote at the meeting to be held on March 27, 2009, and replace the current board with the new directors who will act fairly and in the best interests of shareholders and the company," Cytopia said.
"This will include addressing a broad-based share buyback.
"The new directors also are being nominated on a platform of considering a merger with Cytopia to deliver a strong, cancer-focused biotechnology company.
"But a merger could only occur after shareholders have made their will known in relation to a share buyback."
Progen shares were 0.5 cent higher at 91 cents at 1215 AEDT on Wednesday. Cytopia was untraded at 5.8 cents.
Cytopia holds a stake of less than one per cent in Progen.
