Motif Bio plc (LON:MTFB) – BUY*: QIDP granted for skin infections
Market Cap: £43m; Current Price: 66.5p; Target Price: 114p (from 103p)
Motif receives FDA QIDP designation for iclaprim in ABSSSI
- Motif announced yesterday that the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) has designated Motif’s flagship development product, iclaprim, as a Qualified Infectious Diseases Product (QIDP) for acute bacterial skin and skin structure infections (ABSSSI).
- The Company requested QIDP designation for iclaprim for two serious and life threatening infections - hospital acquired bacterial pneumonia (HABP) and ABSSSI. QIDP designation had already been confirmed for HABP.
- With QIDP designation in both HABP and ABSSSI, iclaprim is now eligible for 10 years of market exclusivity for each indication, starting from the date of NDA approval.
- We increased our target price to 114p from 103p. Forecasts updated to reflect the recent £22m placing.
NORTHLAND CAPITAL PARTNERS VIEW: Receiving QIDP status for ABSSSI marks yet another milestone for iclaprim, as it doubles the market exclusivity period for the drug once it is approved for this indication. To account for iclaprim’s further improved risk-return profile, we increased our target price from 103p to 114p. Iclaprim is set to fill a major market void. The drug’s safety and efficacy is well supported, having already been tested on over a thousand patients. If approved, the drug could achieve over $1bn/year in sales.
Bloomsbury Publishing (LON:BMY): Q1 update
Market Cap: £122m; Current Price: 163p
In line trading in seasonally quiet quarter
- Q1 trading in line with management expectation with revenue +13%, up 5% on a like for like basis, excluding December’s acquisition of Osprey Publishing. Growth driven mainly by the Children’s & Educational division.
- In Academic & Professional, its Drama Online platform will stream a collection of 20 filmed stage productions of Shakespeare from the Globe theatre from October. The content will also include Stage on Screen’s filmed productions of key set plays and the film version of Maxine Peake’s Hamlet. These follow the release of 350 audio plays from L.A. Theatre Works in July and 350 playtexts from Nick Hern Books in September.
- Illustrated Edition of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone on 6th October. Rights in the illustrations have already been sold in 24 languages.
- Interims due 27th October.
NORTHLAND CAPITAL PARTNERS VIEW: Reassuring trading update on what is seasonally the quietest quarter for the publisher. Bloomsbury has a well-diversified model as evidenced by the progress in the Academic & Professional division but there will continue to be considerable excitement around Harry Potter and the forthcoming launch of the first illustrated book in the series. Trading on 11.9x this year’s EPS and 11.4x FY17 with a yield of 3.9% and 4.0% respectively.