Espace MicroCaps is glad to invite you to its first thematic panel on life sciences investing at the Bier Markt Montreal on Tuesday, February 21 at 5:00pm. Our events are the perfect occasion to improve your investing skills, discover new investment opportunities in the Canadian microcap space and network with likeminded investors.

The evening will start with a short Q&A session with a guest speaker, Hogan Mullally, a smart investor from the life sciences field. He will share his investment criteria and philosophy with us and then two companies he picked in the space, Nuvo Pharmaceuticals Inc. (TSX: NRI) and Fennec Pharmaceuticals Inc. (TSX: FRX), will present.

Where: Bier Markt Montreal, 1221 René-Lévesque W, Montreal

When: Tuesday, February 21 at 5:00pm (please arrive before 5:25pm for the first presentation)

Cost: FREE

The first 75 participants to register and to show up at the event before 5:25pm will receive a 10$ coupon for a free drink of their choice. No coupons will be given after 5:25pm. A poutine bar will be offered to all attendees (new in 2017!) and appetizers will be served during the cocktail as well.

To reserve your spot: Eventbrite – Espace MicroCaps 5to7 Cocktail

The presenting companies have been hand-picked by our guest speaker based on the attractiveness of their business model, market opportunity and fundamentals.

 

Expert speaker: Hogan Mullally, Founder & President of SectorSpeak Inc.

Short bio: Hogan Mullally has been working in the Canadian life science sector for the past 18 years. He started his career working in pharmaceutical sales & marketing, spending a combined 6 years with Fournier Pharma and 3M Pharmaceuticals.  He then joined Winnipeg-based, Medicure Inc., as Director of Investor Relations. It was during his tenure at Medicure, while also completing a MBA in finance, that Hogan began actively following and investing in life science companies.

In 2008, Hogan left Medicure, and incorporated an independent investor relations advisory firm, SectorSpeak Inc., focused on assisting Canadian based life science companies interact with the capital markets.  As a consultant, he has built an excellent reputation within the Canadian and US capital markets for aligning himself with high-quality companies, but also providing honest and straight forward commentary on the state of affairs of the Canadian life sciences sector.

With the success of his advisory business, Hogan has been increasingly able to focus on his true passion, investing in micro / small cap companies.  During his 18 years working as both an employee and consultant to dozens of life science companies, he has witnessed the success and, all too often, the failure of micro / small cap Canadian life science companies, and through that has developed an excellent sense of what to look for when investing in the sector.

 

Nuvo Pharmaceuticals Inc. (TSX : NRI)

About: Nuvo is a commercial healthcare company with a portfolio of commercial products and pharmaceutical manufacturing capabilities. Nuvo has three commercial products that are available in a number of countries; Pennsaid 2%, Pennsaid and the heated lidocaine/tetracaine patch. Pennsaid 2% is sold in the U.S. by Horizon Pharma plc (NASDAQ: HZNP) and is available for partnering in certain other territories around the world. Nuvo manufactures Pennsaid for the global market and Pennsaid 2% for the U.S. market at its FDA, Health Canada and E.U. approved manufacturing facility in Varennes, Quebec.

The opportunity: Nuvo is a profitable and growing pharmaceutical company trading at a reasonable valuation. It boasts a solid balance sheet with over $17M in cash and short-term investments, and no debt. Most of the company’s revenues are derived from selling Pennsaid 2% in the U.S. market via their partner Horizon Pharma. The company is actively pursuing out-licensing opportunities in other countries for this product and currently conducting a Phase III clinical trial to gain access to the E.U., Canadian and Australian markets. Management also focuses on M&A opportunities where they think they can add value on the manufacturing side. The Varennes facility not being at full capacity, an acquisition where Nuvo can bring the manufacturing in-house could be very accretive to earnings.

 

Fennec Pharmaceuticals Inc. (TSX : FRX)

About: Fennec Pharmaceuticals is a specialty pharmaceutical company focused on the development of Sodium Thiosulfate (STS) for the prevention of platinum-induced ototoxicity (hearing loss) in pediatric patients. Platinum-based therapies are commonly used to treat cancer in children but frequently lead to partial or complete hearing loss, resulting in developmental challenges and delays. It is believed that Fennec’s drug, STS, shuttles platinum compounds out of the body before it causes hearing loss, while still allowing the chemotherapy to have its anti-tumour effects. STS has received Orphan Drug Designation in the US in this setting.

The opportunity: STS has already been studied in a large hearing loss Phase III study in children, demonstrating its protection against hearing loss.  A second Phase III study is currently ongoing in over 100 children with localized hepatoblastoma receiving cisplatin (platinum-based) therapy, and data is expected in Q4 2017.  If the study is successful, the drug has an excellent chance of being approved in key geographies, like Europe and the US.  Also interesting to note is that STS may qualify for a FDA pediatric priority review, which has an estimated value of US$200M. Fennec has a great capital structure, a modest valuation and some validating investors, making it an interesting late-stage research & development company.

 

We look forward to seeing you on February 21.

Philippe and Mathieu

Disclosure: Philippe and Mathieu do not own shares in any of the companies mentioned in this article.