NEW YORK, NY / ACCESSWIRE / September 3, 2015 / SeeThruEquity, a leading independent equity research and corporate access firm focused on small-cap and micro-cap public companies, today announced it has initiated coverage on Cynata Therapeutics, Ltd. (ASX: CYP) with a 12 month price target of $AUD 1.55. Cynata is also quoted in the U.S., OTC: CYYNF.
The report is available here: CYP Initiation. SeeThruEquity is an approved equity research contributor on Thomson First Call, Capital IQ, FactSet, and Zack's. The report will be available on these platforms. The firm also contributes its estimates to Thomson Estimates, the leading estimates platform on Wall Street.
"Cynata is an emerging regenerative medicine company with an innovative and potentially transformative approach to the manufacturing of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) for therapeutic use. There is a growing global acceptance of the vast market potential for medical applications of stem cells, with Transparent Market Research (TMR) projecting the global market for stem cells to reach $119.5Bn by 2019E," commented Ajay Tandon, CEO of SeeThruEquity. "We are initiating coverage with a target price of $AUD 1.55."
Headquartered in Melbourne, Australia, Cynata is an emerging regenerative medicine company with an innovative and potentially transformative approach to the manufacturing of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) for therapeutic use. There is a growing global acceptance of the vast market potential for medical applications of stem cells, but current methods of production using donor-derived sources of MSCs have constrained supply and made mass production of MSCs uneconomical and often impractical. With what has the potential to be a revolutionary advancement in the stem cell field, Cynata has developed a new platform technology, Cymerus(TM), which uses induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) in a unique process that promises near-infinite scale of vibrant and robust MSCs –at a fraction of the cost of conventional donor-derived methods. Cynata validated its unique process at Madison, Wisconsin-based Waisman Biomanufacturing earlier this year, and we see several catalysts ahead for the company as it engages strategic partners around the world in pursuit of off-the-shelf commercialization of therapeutic MSCs - a potentially game-changing development in the field.
Highlights from the Initiation Report are as follows:
Compelling risk reward opportunity in stem cells
Unlike many emerging biotechnology companies with a promising therapeutic product line requiring numerous costly clinical trials in order to prove therapeutic efficacy for a specific indication, we see Cynata's novel stem cell production platform Cymerus(TM) as having less risk because the potential clinical utility of MSCs has already been established in a variety of therapeutic applications. Cymerus(TM) employs science that was invented by stem cell pioneer Dr. James Thomson, and his colleague, Dr. Igor Slukvin, who was a co-founder of Cynata. The company's in-licensed technology includes several issued US patents as well as a broad estate of issued and pending patents. Importantly, Cynata validated the Cymerus(TM) technology platform at a US-based GMP facility, Waisman Biomanufacturing - a key accomplishment for the company, in our view. Over the next year we expect the company to complete a targeted Phase I clinical study intended to confirm the effectiveness of Cymerus(TM) stem cells for therapeutic use, which we believe will be for patients affected by graft-versus-host disease (GvHD), an indication for which the therapeutic benefits of MSCs has already been established.
Strategic partnership discussions offer significant potential
Following the validation of the Cymerus(TM) platform technology, Cynata should be in an attractive position to engage strategic partners to assist with the commercialization of Cymerus(TM) for various medical applications. We see the partnership route as a prudent and capital-efficient path toward commercialization. Cynata management has already indicated publicly that it has held strategic partner conversations with a number of pharmaceutical companies, and the company expects to make an announcement by the end of 2015E about its first partnership. We note that the stem cell industry has experienced increased deal activity from multinational corporations, including the recent $307mn acquisition of Madison, Wisconsin-based Cellular Dynamics (ICEL) by Japan-based FujiFilm, as well as a $205mn licensing partnership between Cleveland, OH-based Athersys and Japanese pharmaceutical company Chugai, in which Athersys will receive a $10mn upfront license payment, up to $45mn in development and regulatory milestones, and $150mn in potential sales milestones, in addition to royalties, for Japanese commercialization rights to MultiStem, Athersys' off-the-shelf regenerative therapy currently undergoing a Phase 2 trial for stroke recovery.
Initiate coverage with a price target of $1.55
Our analysis indicates a fair value estimate of $1.55 per share for Cynata. If achieved, the target represents potential upside of 229.8% from the recent price of $0.47. We view Cynata as a innovative company in the biotechnology industry offering a compelling risk reward trade off as it seeks to commercialize a potentially game changing proprietary stem cell production technology.
Please review important disclosures on our website at www.seethruequity.com.
About Cynata Therapeutics, Ltd.
Cynata Therapeutics Ltd (ASX: CYP) is an Australian stem cell and regenerative medicine company that is developing a therapeutic stem cell platform technology, Cymerus(TM), originating from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, a world leader in stem cell research. The proprietary Cymerus(TM) technology addresses a critical shortcoming in existing methods of production of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) for therapeutic use, which is the ability to achieve economic manufacture at commercial scale. Cymerus(TM) does so through the production of a particular type of MSC precursor, called a mesenchymoangioblast (MCA). The Cymerus(TM) MCA platform provides a source of MSCs that is independent of donor limitations and provides a potential "off-the-shelf" stem cell platform for therapeutic product use, with a pharmaceutical business model and economies of scale. This has the potential to create a new standard in the emergent arena of stem cell therapeutics and provides both a unique differentiator and an important competitive position.
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. The company does not conduct any investment banking or commission based business. SeeThruEquity is approved to contribute its research to Thomson One Analytics (First Call), Capital IQ, FactSet, Zacks, and distribute its research to its database of opt-in investors. The company also contributes its estimates to Thomson Estimates, the leading estimates platform on Wall Street.
For more information visit www.seethruequity.com.
Contact:
Ajay Tandon
SeeThruEquity
info@seethruequity.com
SOURCE: SeeThruEquity
