A tale of 4 biotech companies

The rollercoaster rides of 4 biotech stocks on the ASX today

Mike King

Mike King is a Fool.com.au Investment Analyst and Writer. He caught the investing bug more than a decade ago, at a time when the U.S. had invaded Iraq and fear reigned in the markets. His initial success as the markets took off encouraged his passion and thirst for knowledge. With 13 years behind him at one of Australia's largest domestic banks, Mike's passion for stocks led him to join a boutique funds management firm, where he stayed for four years. A seven-year stint in equity research at one of the largest investment banks in the world followed that, giving Mike a thirst to pursue his passion further. Mike holds a Diploma in Applied Finance and Investment and a Graduate Certificate in Financial Planning. His passion is to help retail investors invest better, and that passion was one of his primary reasons for joining The Motley Fool Australia in late 2011. Mike has written thousands of articles since joining, including for Fairfax Media, Yahoo!7, Ninemsn and has also appeared on ABC's The Business. You can see all of Mikes' holdings here

Published June 1, 2015 3:55 pm AEST

A day in the life of a biotechnology company and an investor in said company can run the gamut from exhilaration to downright despair.

Case in point. Today we have a number of biotech stocks soaring on the ASX after positive news was released by their respective companies. On the other hand, we have a struggling micro-cap company Tissue Therapies Limited (ASX: TIS) sinking more than 24%.

Tissue Therapies is developing VitroGro ECM, a product that can help treat acute and chronic (hard to heal) wounds, including ulcers and burns. Today the company announced that the European Medicines Agency's (EMA) Scientific Advice Working Party (SAWP) has accepted the company's revised plan for pre-clinical and clinical development of VitroGro ECM. Unfortunately, it also means further delays cost and clinical risk as Tissue Therapies will now have to conduct another clinical trial.

For a company with a market cap of just $14 million, and not much cash in the bank, that means the risk of having to raise more capital has just jumped.

Opposing Tissue Therapies, we have Sirtex Medical Limited (ASX: SRX) which announced positive results with one of its clinical trials in the treatment of liver cancer. The results should mean more sales of the company's Sirflox product and higher earnings, so it's no wonder shares spiked 14% higher to $30.37.

Prana Biotechnology Limited (ASX: PBT) also saw its shares soar by 19% to 21.5 cents after positive news. The company has received orphan designation for its PBT2 therapy used in the treatment of Huntington's disease from the European Medicines Agency (EMA). Huntingon's disease is rare, affecting less than 5 people in 10,000, hence the orphan drug designation which usually applies to rare diseases and their treatments. Orphan drug designation means 10 years market exclusivity for Prana as well as other benefits – a big step ahead.

Regeneus Ltd (ASX: RGS) is another biotech stock soaring on the ASX today, jumping 24% to 18 cents. Last week, Regeneus received ethics approval to commence its first-in-human trial of a personalised therapeutic cancer vaccine. RGSH4K is designed to harness the body's own immune system to fight cancer cells, which would be huge news if proved successful.

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