MaxCyte

And yet another commercial licence agreement

Update | 21 November 2019

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MaxCyte has signed another multi-product clinical and commercial licence agreement, this time with Vor Biopharma after signing a similar deal with Editas last month. This licence agreement will allow Vor Biopharma to use MaxCyte’s ExPERT flow electroporation instruments to develop and commercialise up to five oncology therapies. The lead therapy is VOR33, and uses engineered haemopoietic stem cells to allow acute myeloid lymphoma (AML) patients to be better treated. The strength of MaxCyte’s technology in enabling novel cell therapies to be developed is also highlighted by the initial data from Vertex/CRISPR Therapeutics with CTX001 in the treatment of beta-thalassaemia and sickle cell disease. We continue to value MaxCyte at £195m (341p/share), but there is now more upside potential.

Year-end: December 31201720182019E2020E
Sales (US$m)14.016.720.925.2
Adj. PBT (US$m)(9.9)(8.9)(16.6)(16.2)
Net Income (US$m)(9.9)(8.9)(16.6)(16.2)
EPS (USc)(20.4)(17.3)(29.5)(28.3)
Cash (US$m)25.314.413.34.0
EBITDA (US$m)(9.1)(8.1)(15.4)(14.8)
Source: Trinity Delta Note: Adjusted numbers exclude share-based payments and exceptionals.
  • Vor Biopharma is the new partner Vor Biopharma is an immuno-oncology company based in Boston with blue chip investors. Under the terms of the licence agreement, Vor Biopharma will be able to use MaxCyte’s ExPERT platform during clinical development and subsequent commercialisation of up to five engineered cell therapies, including VOR33. No financial terms have been disclosed, but we estimate them to be in line with other deals so that each of the five programmes will be worth c $10m to MaxCyte at the point of entering clinical development.
  • An alternative approach to treating haematological cancer The new biologic and cellular treatments in development, such as bispecific antibodies and CAR-T therapies, are so potent that their potential use is limited by “on-target, off-tumour” effects. The lead programme VOR33 is in preclinical development, and consists of engineered haematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) that lack CD33 (but are otherwise normal) replacing an AML patient’s own healthy HSCs, so that they can then tolerate CD33-targeted therapies, as described in a recent PNAS paper.
  • Initial data from Vertex/CRISPR highlights value of ExPERT platform The initial data from the ex vivo cell therapy treatment CTX001 for severe haemoglobino-pathies confirm the strength of MaxCyte’s technology. Data from just two patients have been reported, but in both very high levels of erythrocytes expressed the desired foetal haemoglobin (99.8% and 94.7%). This shows that the ExPERT technology can transfect cells for CRISPR modification efficiently and reproducibly.
  • Share price fails to recognise MaxCyte’s worth We continue to value MaxCyte at £195m or 341p/share, with the core business excluding CARMA worth £111m. MaxCyte has grown sales at a CAGR of 24% since 2014. At H119, pre-commercial milestones were worth >$450m from >45 programmes with clinical and commercial licences, and two more deals covering 10 programmes have since been signed.

Update

21 November 2019

Price112.5p
Market Cap£64.6m
Enterprise Value£49.7m
Shares in issue57.3m
12 month range107.5-200.0p
Free float72%
Primary exchangeAIM
Other exchangesNA
SectorHealthcare
Company CodeMXCT.L
MXCS.L
Corporate clientYes

Company description

MaxCyte uses its patented flow electroporation platform to transfect a wide array of cells. Revenues arise from sale and lease of equipment, disposables and licence fees; with an impressive client list. Additionally, a novel mRNA mediated CAR technology, known as CARMA, is being explored in various cancers, including solid tumours.

Analysts

Mick Cooper PhD
mcooper@trinitydelta.org
+44 (0) 20 3637 5042

Lala Gregorek
lgregorek@trinitydelta.org
+44 (0) 20 3637 5041

Exhibit 1: Summary of financials
Source: Company, Trinity Delta  Note: Adjusted numbers exclude exceptionals. No new commercial licensing deals are included in our forecasts.

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