Arecor is a revenue-generating clinical-stage drug developer. Its proprietary Arestat formulation platforms are the basis of an in-house and partnered pipeline of enhanced products with lower development risks and less onerous regulatory approvals.
Momentum continues to build across Arecor’s pipeline and 2023 should see the first Arestat-based product, AT220, approved and entering a multi-billion market. Partner Hikma has confirmed it will progress AT307 through to commercialisation, with several milestones expected over the coming 18 months. Two new formulation collaborations have been signed, and one has been extended. The diabetes franchise remains in the spotlight with changing US insulin market dynamics. Insulins AT278 (ultra-concentrated, ultra-rapid) and AT247 (ultra-rapid, pump-optimised) have highly promising profiles that should be ideally placed for emerging diabetes needs. AT278 is in a second Phase I trial, with key data expected in Q423. Arecor’s formulation expertise underpins both the in-house clinical pipeline and the partnered Specialty Hospital Products programmes. Our updated valuation is £176m, or 575p per share.
| Symbol | Primary exchanges |
| AREC | AIM London |
Avacta is a UK-based biopharmaceutical company developing novel cancer immunotherapeutics and high performing diagnostics, based on its two proprietary platforms: Affimer and pre|CISION.
Avacta’s two proprietary platforms, Affimer proteins and pre|CISION, are central to its plans to create novel diagnostic and therapeutic products. Recent operational and strategic developments during 2022 lay the foundations for unlocking value from its Therapeutics and Diagnostics divisions. Further data from lead asset AVA6000 should confirm the clinical utility of pre|CISION, with a wider portfolio being readied to exploit the platform’s tumour-specific activation. An M&A-led growth strategy, leveraging both internal capabilities and the Affimer platform, should create a self-sustaining Diagnostics business. News flow over the next 18-24 months provides multiple value-inflection points. Our valuation is £641m, equivalent to 228p/share.
| Symbol | Primary exchanges |
| AVCT | AIM London |
ANGLE is a specialist diagnostics company. Its proprietary Parsortix technology can capture and harvest very rare cells, including CTCs (circulating tumour cells), from a blood sample. The FDA approval for its clinical use to guide precision cancer care will open up further multiple commercial opportunities.
ANGLE successfully navigated a number of regulatory and clinical hurdles during 2022, including breakthrough FDA product clearance for Parsortix, and highly positive ovarian cancer data. Key elements are now largely in place to help deliver on Parsortix’s significant potential within the evolving liquid biopsy field. To realise this, ANGLE is pursuing a multi-pronged strategy to make Parsortix broadly available to industry and patients. The near-term focus is on growing the Pharma services business, attracting industry partnerships for downstream analysis, and completion of the remaining LDT development work. Any one of these could be transformational if successfully executed, and together should lead to multiple layers of future revenue growth. Our updated DCF-based valuation is £253m, equivalent to 97p per share.
| Symbol | Primary exchanges |
| AGL | AIM London |
Allergy Therapeutics specialises in the diagnosis and treatment of allergy. The existing European business generates c £80m annual sales. Near-term R&D efforts are focussed on the Pollinex Quattro platform, whilst in the medium-term the VLP platform is highly promising.
Allergy Therapeutics has quantified the potential near-term revenue impact from the voluntary UK manufacturing pause. Whilst this is only expected to last around six weeks, FY23 revenues are expected to be 13-18% below current consensus expectations. This is unfortunately due to the interruption occurring during the peak production period, which is undoubtedly disappointing given management guidance of a return to near double-digit growth in FY23. This setback puts increasing pressure on the pipeline to deliver next year, with important readouts expected for both VLP Peanut and Grass MATA MPL; both are expected to initiate key clinical trials this year.
| Symbol | Primary exchanges |
| AGY | AIM London |
Redx Pharma specialises in the discovery and development of small molecule therapeutics, with an emphasis on oncology and fibrotic disease. It aims to initially progress them through proof-of-concept studies, before evaluating options for further development and value creation. Existing earlier-stage collaboration partners include AstraZeneca and Jazz Pharmaceuticals.
Redx Pharma has an impressive portfolio of ROCK programmes, with a clear focus on serious and debilitating fibrotic diseases. The lead compound, RXC007, is a next-generation ROCK2 inhibitor in Phase IIa trials for IPF (idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis). Top-line results, expected in H124, should provide invaluable data on its clinical, and commercial, potential and guide future studies. RXC008, a highly novel GI-targeted ROCK inhibitor, is progressing towards IND/CTA submission by end-2023 for fibrostenotic Crohn’s disease. A second clinical asset, RXC004, a porcupine inhibitor for Wnt-ligand dependent solid tumours, is completing Phase IIa studies in combination with a CPI with the results from these important trials expected by end-2023. Cash of £34.6m (end-March 2023) provides a runway into Q1 2024, beyond RXC007 Phase II data. Our updated rNPV-based valuation is £363m, or 109p/share.
| Symbol | Primary exchanges |
| REDX | AIM London |
Futura Medical is a R&D-driven small pharma with a novel proprietary transdermal delivery system, DermaSys, and a lead programme, MED3000, approaching commercialisation for erectile dysfunction.
During 2022 Futura Medical successfully delivered on several key MED3000 related events, including the highly positive FM71 longer-term clinical data, which are needed to enter the US market and importantly reinforced MED3000’s differentiated and rapid onset of action. In addition, a number of commercial deals were executed, notably the European and UK deal with Cooper Consumer Health. The next steps are EU launches (due to start during H123), FDA marketing clearance (potentially by end Q223), and securing a US partner. These should be the final elements in converting MED3000 into a revenue generating OTC product for ED, transforming Futura Medical’s prospects. Pending visibility on both US and European launches, our updated model conservatively does not include any near-term MED3000 related revenues. Our Futura Medical valuation is now £270m, equivalent to 94p per share.
| Symbol | Primary exchanges |
| FUM | AIM London |
Scancell is a clinical-stage immuno-oncology specialist that is developing two innovative and flexible antibody (AvidiMab and GlyMab) and two therapeutic vaccine platforms (Moditope and ImmunoBody) with the potential to treat various cancers.
Scancell is a clinical stage immunology specialist. It has two promising oncology vaccine platforms, Moditope and ImmunoBody, and two antibody technologies, GlyMab (anti-glycans) and AvidiMab, with the potential to treat many solid cancers, either as monotherapy or in combination. Modi-1, the first Moditope programme, is progressing in a Phase I/II trial targeting hard-to-treat tumours with results due through 2023. The lead ImmunoBody programme, currently SCIB1, is in a Phase II study in metastatic melanoma. The broad acting GlyMab antibodies are generating exciting preclinical data, which led to a partnering deal with Genmab. Further such deals are expected. AvidiMab technology will be increasingly employed to enhance avidity and potency. Our rNPV valuation is £300.1m, equivalent to 36.7p per share.
| Symbol | Primary exchanges |
| SCLP | AIM London |
HUTCHMED, a Hong Kong-based biopharmaceutical company, is on track to become a global leader in the discovery, development, and commercialisation of innovative, highly selective oral tyrosine kinase inhibitor therapies for oncology and immunological indications.
HUTCHMED’s transition into a sustainably profitable global biopharma continues to gather momentum, as evidenced in FY22 results, with growing commercial traction in China and pipeline progress with key assets. Global ambitions are now being addressed with partners. Positive fruquintinib FRESCO-2 data, completion of US FDA rolling filing, and execution of a global ex-China commercial and development deal with Takeda brings first launch of a HUTCHMED product outside of China even closer. The $400m Takeda upfront will boost the balance sheet and the prospect of further downstream economics enables HUTCHMED to focus on progressing its priority late-stage assets which, with plans to secure further strategic partnerships, should drive near-term value. Our HUTCHMED valuation is US$5.5bn (US$32.01 per ADS), £4.6bn and HK$43.2bn (534p or HK$49.94 per share).
| Symbol | Exchanges |
| HCM/0013 | NASDAQ/AIM London/SEHK |
MaxCyte has a patented flow electroporation platform, which can transfect a wide array of cells. It generates revenues from the sale and lease of equipment, disposables and licence fees from an impressive client list. Key programmes with several clients are gaining greater visibility and approaching material value-inflection points. These will trigger a stream of milestone fees.
MaxCyte’s H122 total revenue of $21.2m grew 56% year-on-year, with core Cell Therapy and Drug Discovery revenues up 46.5% to $19.2m, prompting management to increase FY22 guidance to c 30% core business revenue growth. Guidance for the inherently lumpier programme-related revenues from Strategic Platform Licences (SPLs) remains at c $4m for FY22. First regulatory filings for the most advanced SPL asset, CRISPR Therapeutics’ exa-cel (CTX001) should occur in Q422, meaning a first approval decision could come as early as 2023. With the prospect of future commercial launches, a growing number of SPL partners (now 17) and clinical progress across the SPL stable, MaxCyte is investing in people, processes, products, and infrastructure to support this, to further consolidate its leading position in non-viral cell delivery and engineering, and to expand into new markets. Our updated valuation is £980m ($1.27bn) or 964p/$12.53 per share.
| Symbol | Primary exchange |
| MXCT/MXCT.L | NASDAQ/AIM London |