ValiRx Plc (LON:VAL) – CORP: Development update
Market Cap: £8.6m; Current Price: 22.5p
From yesterday: Update on lead programmes: VAL201 and VAL401
- ValiRx announced that its lead compound, VAL201, is completing the dose escalation part of its Phase l/ll Clinical Trial. To date, VAL201 has demonstrated safety and tolerability and no significant adverse effects.
- For the expansion phase of the trial (i.e. effectively the phase II component), further clinical trial centres, in addition to UCLH, are being opened in order to extend the availability of test patients.
- This phase will continue during 2016, as described in the approved protocol. During the latter part of the trial, the primary and secondary outcomes will be further refined and results relating to the applicability and efficacy of the treatment will be expanded.
- Regarding ValiRx’s second pipeline programme, VAL401, the company also announced that protocols and associated files have been drafted for submission to appropriate regulatory authorities and ethics committees. The trial is to be entitled: "A Phase II study to assess the efficacy, safety and tolerability of VAL401 in the treatment of patients with locally advanced or metastatic Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC) after failure of at least one prior chemotherapeutic regimen".
- The preparatory clinical process is proceeding according to timetable and it is anticipated that the trial will begin recruitment during the earlier part of 2016.
NORTHLAND CAPITAL PARTNERS VIEW: VAL201 is currently undergoing clinical testing in a Phase l/ll study to assess the safety and tolerability of the treatment in patients with locally advanced or metastatic prostate cancer. Prostate cancer remains a major unmet medical need. VAL201 has been shown pre-clinically to treat hormone-dependant and refractory prostate cancer. Positive data from this flagship clinical trial would likely result in a significant re-rating of the company’s share price. ValiRx’s second candidate, VAL401, is about to enter the clinic. The candidate is a reformulation of a generic drug which has over two decades of clinical use in the treatment of mental disorders. The drug has been reformulated for the treatment of lung cancer, given pre-clinical data supporting this new indication. Due to its established safety profile, ValiRx hopes that regulators will fast-track the programme straight into phase 2 trials. Should regulators agree to fast-tracking VAL401 straight into Phase 2 trials, ValiRx’s clinical pipeline would be considerably strengthened.
DiamondCorp (LON:DCP) – BUY: Lace update
Market Cap: £28.7m; Current Price: 7.6p
290m level development resumes
- Following the completion of back-filling on the 290m level and installation of steel sets over a 10m section of the tunnel, development tunnelling has resumed. This was completed around two weeks ahead of schedule.
- Tunnelling on the 290m level is now progressing in the competent and high grade K4 kimberlite.
- Forecasts and price target under review, BUY rating maintained.
NORTHLAND CAPITAL PARTNERS VIEW: It is positive to see that DiamondCorp is now back on track with the development of the Lace Diamond Mine and we will update up forecasts to reflect the delay caused by the unstable ground conditions. These teething issues are relatively unimportant compared to the scale of high margin production expected over the life of the mine.
Premier African Minerals (LON:PREM) –SPECULATIVE BUY*: Darwin update
Market Cap: £4.7m; Current Price: 0.6p
Early release of second tranche of Darwin Loan approved
- Premier African Minerals and Darwin Strategic have agreed to bring forward the second tranche of the 7 Loan Notes (£157,500) from the 09/10/15 financing.
NORTHLAND CAPITAL PARTNERS VIEW: These funds will be used for additional working capital to support the expedited underground development of the RHA Tungsten Project. A full corporate update is expected during the coming week.
Sunrise Resources (LON:SRES) – SPECULATIVE BUY*: Share price movement
Market Cap: £1.2m; Current Price: 0.2p
Knows of no reason for the share price recent weakness
Management advises that it is not aware of any undisclosed reason for the recent weakness in the share price and draws attention to October’s exploration update where high grades of silver were hit in all three Phase 1 drill holes at the Company’s Bay State Silver Project in Nevada and that high grades were also intersected outside the known vein system, indicating the potential for additional discoveries.
FY results are expected next month.