Update Note Focuses on Company's Announcement of Reverse Stock Split and Adjusts Target Price to $26.00
NEW YORK, NY / ACCESSWIRE / May 15, 2015 / SeeThruEquity, a leading independent equity research and corporate access firm focused on smallcap and microcap public companies, today announced that it has issued an update note on Aethlon Medical, Inc. (OTCQB: AEMD). On April 8, 2015, Aethlon announced a reverse stock split of 50:1 and also that it had submitted an initial listing application with the NASDAQ Capital Market. The split became effective on April 14, 2015, and we are adjusting our price target to reflect this change. Other than per share data, we are not updating forward estimates at this time. We will review our target and estimates following the release of 1Q15 results.
Aethlon Medical, Inc. ("Aethlon") is a medical device company focused on creating innovative devices that address unmet medical needs in cancer, infectious disease and other life-threatening conditions.
The note is available here: AEMD Company Note. SeeThruEquity is an approved equity research contributor on Thomson First Call, Capital IQ, FactSet, and Zack's. The report will also be available on these platforms.
Highlights from the note are as follows:
Reverse split a key step in NASDAQ application process
While we generally hold the view that stock splits do not affect the intrinsic value of a company, we do note that in the case of Aethlon, the reverse split was undertaken in conjunction with an application to list shares on the NASDAQ Capital Markets. Aethlon's 50:1 reverse split became effective April 14, 2015, and as such the company's common shares outstanding decreased from 332mn to 6.7mn. Aethlon does not meet all of the NASDAQ listing requirements, so it is unclear whether the company's application for listing on the NASDAQ Capital Markets will be accepted, but we do believe the split is a key step in the process. We anticipate hearing more about the application from Aethlon in the future, as a NASDAQ Capital Markets listing would be a positive event for the company if it takes place.
Noteworthy developments keep pipeline moving
Aethlon has also disclosed several noteworthy events in its drug development pipeline since our last update. On April 9, the company made further progress penetrating the Ebola market as it announced that it had made a Humanitarian Use Device (HUD) submission to the FDA to support potential market clearance of the Aethlon Hemopurifier(R) as a treatment for Ebola virus. Also, on May 13, Aethlon disclosed that the Medical Device Bureau of Canada had approved a clinical study to treat up to three Ebola-infected individuals with the Hemopurifier. As we noted in our initiation and subsequent research notes on Aethlon, the Hemopurifier is a first-in-class device that selectively targets the rapid elimination of circulating viruses and tumor-secreted exosomes that promote cancer progression. The Hemopurifier is able to capture a broad-spectrum of some of world's deadliest viral pathogens, including Dengue hemorrhagic fever (DHF), Ebola hemorrhagic fever (EHF), Lassa hemorrhagic fever (LHF), H5N1 avian influenza (Bird Flu), H1N1 swine flu virus, the reconstructed 1918 influenza virus (r1918), West Nile virus (WNV) and Vaccinia and Monkeypox (MPV).
The company has also made progress on the cancer front, announcing a collaboration with Thomas Jefferson University to advance a "liquid biopsy" that could improve the diagnosis and monitoring of head and neck cancer patients on April 2, 2015. The company also reported that it had reached a clinical trial agreement with UC Irvine to monitor exosome levels and changes in circulating exosome concentration associated with tumor treatment and the association of longitudinal changes in circulating exosome concentrations with response to treatment.
Adjusting price target to reflect split
Primarily due to the reverse stock split, we are updating our price target for Aethlon to $26.00 from our prior target of $0.74. We expect to review our price target and forward estimates again following 1Q15 results.
Please review important disclosures on our website at www.seethruequity.com.
About Aethlon Medical, Inc.
Aethlon Medical creates medical devices that target unmet therapeutic needs in infectious disease, cancer and neurodegenerative disorders. The company's lead product is the Aethlon Hemopurifier(R), a first-in-class device that selectively targets the rapid elimination of circulating viruses and tumor-secreted exosomes that promote cancer progression. Exosome Sciences, Inc. is a majority owned subsidiary that is advancing exosome-based products to diagnose and monitor cancer, infectious disease and neurological disorders. Additional information can be found online at www.AethlonMedical.com.
About SeeThruEquity
SeeThruEquity is an equity research and corporate access firm focused on companies with less than $1 billion in market capitalization. The research is not paid for and is unbiased. We do not conduct any investment banking or commission based business. We are approved to contribute our research to Thomson One Analytics (First Call), Capital IQ, FactSet, Zacks and distribute our research to our database of opt-in investors. We also contribute our estimates to Thomson Estimates, the leading estimates platform on Wall Street.
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Contact:
Ajay Tandon
SeeThruEquity
info@seethruequity.com
SOURCE: SeeThruEquity