Analysts at HC Wainwright repeated their 'Buy' rating on Predictive Oncology Inc and $5 price target, noting that the company’s artificial intelligence (AI) platform has executed “important early steps” and demonstrated “promising predictive capability".
Minneapolis, Minnesota-based Predictive Oncology’s subsidiary Helomics announced initial results in August last year showing that its AI-driven models of genomic data can predict cancer outcomes.
Working on data from the 100,000 Genomes Project (100KGP) in Genomics England’s National Genomic Research Library (NGRL), Helomics developed an AI-driven model that can predict survival rates for ovarian cancer patients post-treatment.
“Using a machine learning approach to extract key genomic features from nearly 500 ovarian cancer participants in the 100KGP, the AI model was able to predict survival rates post-treatment, with close to 70% accuracy,” the Wainwright analyst said in a note to clients.
“We believe AI models Helomics generates have potential to improve treatment paths for ovarian cancer and drive the development of new therapies. We look for the company to sign contracts of meaningful economic value in 2022 for initial evaluation of Helomics’ AI-driven capabilities.”
Separately, Wainwright also focused on Predictive Oncology's third-quarter financial results and noted that they were marked by revenue generation in all three of the firm's segments — Helomics, Skyline, and Soluble Biotech.
More specifically, Helomics reported $2,164 in revenue during the quarter, Skyline $282,675, and Soluble $27,653, amounting to $312,492 in consolidated segment revenues.
“Near-term, we look for Soluble, a provider of soluble and stable formulations of proteins, to anchor generation of a stable stream of revenues. In the long-term, we look for accelerated growth in Helomics, which represents 46% of our valuation of Predictive Oncology,” added the analyst.
“As a reminder, with its proprietary, multiomic tumor profiling platform, one-of-a-kind database of historical tumor data (137 types of tumors and more than 15 years of treatment outcome data spanning more than 150,000 clinical cases), and its PeDAL active learning asset, Helomics builds high-value predictive models of tumor-drug response, which we think has wide potential application in anticancer drug development.”
The analyst at HC Wainwright said Predictive Oncology’s potential for accelerated revenue growth is sorely "underappreciated".
“Look for the signing of an initial contract with an oncology-focused company to be a positive catalyst in 1H22. We reiterate our Buy rating and $5 PT,” said the analyst.
Shares of Predictive Oncology recently traded at $0.81 on the tech-dominated Nasdaq.
Predictive Oncology is a knowledge-driven company focused on applying artificial intelligence to develop personalized cancer therapies, which can lead to more effective treatments and better patient outcomes.
Contact the author Uttara Choudhury at uttara@proactiveinvestors.com
Follow her on Twitter: @UttaraProactive