Liminal BioSciences Inc. PFSCF

Primary Symbol: LMNL

Healthcare Biotechnology

Liminal BioSciences is a biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery and development of novel, small molecule drug candidates for the treatment of patients suffering from fibrotic or inflammatory diseases that have a high unmet medical need. Liminal BioSciences operates on an integrated basis from our talent hubs in Laval, Quebec, Canada, and Cambridge, UK. Our common shares are listed for trading on the Nasdaq Global Market.

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Liminal BioSciences Inc.

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Post by francois21on Aug 14, 2013 9:18pm

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Post# 21671413

interesting comments from Beacon

Event:

ProMetic announced this morning that it plans to develop and commercialize Alpha 1-Antitrypsin (AAT) as its second plasma derived orphan drug product. This follows on the heels of plasminogen.

Analysis:

Using its proprietary PPPS technology (ie. its resin/filtration), ProMetic has the capability to capture AAT in much higher yields (+220%) than existing techniques
Typically, there are 1.3 grams of AAT per litre of plasma. Existing technology’s capture rate is 0.2 grams (15% capture rate). PLI has exhibited the capability to capture 0.7 grams (54% capture rate)
The net result is that PLI needs significantly less plasma to generate the same amount of AAT. This will make ProMetic the lowest cost producer of AAT by a wide margin.
AAT is used to treat AAT deficiency (Type 1). Symptoms could include shortness of breath similar to asthma.
There are an estimated 100,000 people affected by Type 1 AAT deficiency in the US alone.
Through the orphan drug designation, there is a clear pathway for re-imbursement, which stands at ~$120,000/year/patient. Given the estimated market of ~$750 million, that would imply that only ~7,000 of those 100,000 patients seek treatment.
Therefore, the company believes the actual market potential is much larger than $750 million as more patients seeks care.
Given its anticipated low-cost position, we believe revenue potential will only be capped by capacity. Through its Laval plant, and through Hematech’s Taiwan plant, management believes it will have capacity to generate revenue of $150+ million.
The timeline to production is that PLI anticipates filing the IND in 2014 with market entry in 2016/2017.. The FDA calls for a cross-over pharmacokinetic bioequivalence study (PPPS ATT versus a commercial brand).

Impact:

This is the second announced orphan drug in ProMetic’s pipeline, after plasminogen.
As we have discussed, plasminogen (Type 1 deficiency) is a potential $60+ million market opportunity with an anticipated market entry in 2015
AAT is a much larger market (at least 3x larger) with anticipated market entry in 2016/2017
If plasminogen could generate EPS of ~$0.10/share, AAT’s contribution could be significantly higher than that.
As ProMetic builds its pipeline of orphan drugs, we believe it will start to get the “benefit of the doubt” valuation as the market starts to discount the potential value of that pipeline. Consequently, as the market digests this news, we believe the shares could move significantly higher.