Prima BioMed (ASX: PRR) is an Australian health care company focused on technologies in the fields of cancer immunotherapy and immunology. Prima’s lead product is the CVac (tm) ovarian cancer therapy treatment. It has completed two successful clinical trials and is progressing toward eventual commercialisation in the United States, Australia, Europe, and globally. The Company’s broader, long term goal is to develop commercial cancer treatment technologies and programs for global markets.
In The Australian, Prima BioMed CEO Martin Rogers wrote an article about current and past market conditions for public biotech companies and the strong opportunity for biotech companies to succeed.
In describing the shifts that have poised biotech companies for success, he wrote,
"Major pharmaceutical companies are looking at tens of billions of dollars in loss in revenue as their drugs come off patent and become generic...[Big Pharma] companies are using their high levels of cash and looking at the biotech sector to acquire, instead of develop, the next raft of new blockbuster drugs.
This shift in thinking by big pharma cannot be underestimated.
Companies need new products to continue to grow and be profitable, but instead of creating these products themselves they are effectively outsourcing this job to the biotech sector, giving the entire sector a massive shot in the arm."
Recent success stories like Acrux and Mesoblast "should make market watchers and investors think twice about dismissing the biotech sector and consigning it to the too-hard basket."
He continued,
"Prima BioMed is one of the biotech companies that has been on the stock exchange for a decade. It completed a $41m capital raising in the middle of last year, to fund late-stage clinical studies. Successful results from the phase III study will see the company well placed to achieve commercialisation in important global markets...
It takes a lot of time and effort to become an overnight success, but the Australian biotech sector has never been better placed to become just that this year, and investors to be rewarded considerably."