Sell Something! Do Something! As you know, for over ten years I have been concerned that Bioasis wasn’t doing any preclinical work with the objective of proving xB3 and taking it into clinical trials. I contended then and I was right that trying to do licensing deals and even doing them would end up with everything being secret and that Bioasis would not be in control of its own story, wouldn’t even have a story at all without in-house work. I was right - period!
Most recently, Ladenburg Thalmann and their clients made a mighty play for Bioasis, almost certainly because they wanted xB3. They took almost two years to put it together, maybe longer. There is nothing else of real value in Bioasis except xB3. The fact that Dr. Deborah Rathjen and Dr. Mario Saltarelli were joining the LT/Biodexa gang is proof enough that xB3 works and that all of those players wanted it.
About six or seven years ago, when it was becoming obvious that deals weren’t going to get done and that Bioasis wouldn’t be able to raise enough money to start an internal program, I started suggesting that Bioasis should sell an xB3 program outright. At the time, I suggested selling the xB3 rights to all lysosomal storage diseases (LSDs) for a single payment of, say, US$30 million, no royalties, no milestones. The idea was to give something up to get Bioasis financed and on the way to human clinical trials without causing any serious dilution. Under such a deal, the buyer would have to make a submission to the FDA for IND approval within 2 or 3 years or the IP would revert to Bioasis.
Well, Bioasis just got its LSDs back from Chiesi. Ellipses clearly wanted xB3-001 but that secret deal literally fell off the table onto the floor in June of last year in Vancouver. (I contend that the Ellipses deal would never have gotten done until Bioasis shareholders lost the company to Ladenburg Thalmann and Biodexa sold xB3 into private hands.)
The point is, Dr. Deborah Rathjen, Dr. Mario Saltarelli, Ladenburg Thalmann, Midatech/Biodexa, Steven Boyd’s Armistice Capital and Ellipses all wanted xB3.
They all wanted it! Why? Because it’s worth billions in annual revenue! And they were getting it for free, I suspect, because there were deals lined up that would have paid the buyers back once xB3 was in their private hands. That was likely the plan for Ellipses until the deal leaked and then couldn’t be touched!
So...
Why can’t the board of directors take charge of Bioasis and offer the LSDs, xB3-001 or some other xB3 IP rights for a fire sale price of $10 million to $20 million, no milestones and no royalties? It would cash Bioasis up, get the debts paid off, drive the share price up, and then allow the advancement of whatever internal program that has the highest return for the lowest cost. After that, all that would be needed to do is to show that Bioasis is in the same business as Denali with comparable or better technology.
I don’t believe, for instance, that xB3-001 can’t be sold, all in, for 15 or 20 million. It's worth it if it saves Bioasis.
My guess is that you’ll hear that Rathjen has tried everything. Well, the board hasn’t tried everything. Rathjen’s still there. She has utterly failed. Get rid of Rathjen. Bring in somebody with some connections and who knows WTF he or she is doing. Give them a 10% commission on the sale of an xB3 program or property.
And then get this effing thing back on track - with the shareholders still owning the company!
You’re being robbed! Do something!
jd