Listed Biotechnology Companies in 2004 – 2008

Valutech tracks almost 120 listed companies in Australia which carry out biotechnology-related activities. This link provides a snapshot of the industry.

The following information has been obtained from Valutech databases and the comments offered reflect the views of the company. These views are not based on whether we regard certain stock as worth investing from a speculative point of view. Rather, they represent our assessment as to whether there is technical and commercial substance in the companies reviewed. For investment advice, we recommend that investment analysis reports be studied and potential investors reach their own views.

2008
January was dominated by the effects of the subprime crisis and concerns about a recession in the US which affected the market as a whole. More established stocks were more affected than the speculative stocks with falls of around 20% but up to 40% in the short term. Some recovery occurred towards the end of the month. All $1 plus stocks fell except for Novogen, CSL and QRx with the main losers being Universal Biosensor, Pharmaxis and Cellestis. Average loss was 14%. For the mid stocks, all fell with major ones being Biota, Alchemia and Cytopia. Average loss was 17%. For cheaper stocks, 75% fell and 14% rose. Average loss was 12%.

In February, there was a further decline in stocks with more expensive stocks falling further, medium stocks stabilising and cheaper stocks continuing their slide. Eiffel Technologies changed its name to Telesso Technologies following a consolidation, Perseverance was acquired and ceased its listing and Visiomed Group merged into Clinical Cell Culture. Only share really bucking the trend was Antisense Therapeutics up 76% whilst notable failure was Avastra down 68%. Average loss was 19%.

In March, share price declines continued although less so in the more expensive stocks (see below) and there were indications at the end of March that some of the more reliable stocks were recovering. Perseverance and Visiomed disappeared from the register and Eiffel changed to Telesso. Lack of investment capital for some stocks has resulted in a number of companies appearing to be in difficulty including Life Therapeutics, Apollo Life Sciences, Anadis, Brainz, Colltech, Narhex Life Sciences, PharmAust, Stem Cell Sciences and Xceed Capital. Some companies are offloading assets including Apollo, Anadis and Agenix. Credit must be given to companies that are unaffected by the market malaise, notably CSL, Biota and Antisense Therapeutics. Average loss 29%.

In April, Opes Prime collapse continued to affect general sentiment with cheap to medium stocks remaining down but there was some recovery in the more expensive stocks although there was some reversal towards the end of the month. Key improvers remain Novogen, Clinuvel and Antisense with serious declines in Pharmaxis, CathRx, Solagran, Avastra, Apollo and Life Therapeutics. Questions of survivability of a number of companies remains. Average loss 30%.

In May, the hoped for recovery did not arrive and most shares languished as the Opes Prime fallout and concerns about inflation affected the market. Exceptions were Cell Aquaculture, Cogstate, Heartware, Hexima and Psivida. Average loss 29%.

In June, shares continued to languish as a result of general market downturn with the cheaper stocks being harder hit. Those defying the trend were Acrux, Cell Aquaculture, Chemgenex Pharma, Somnomed and Unilife. Average loss 36%.

In July, the decline in the share prices of the sector continued with the mid-priced shares in particular being hit with most notable being Progen , Circadian and Fermiscan. Others declining were Biota, CSL, IDT, Novogen, Sirtex, Agenix, Genetic Technologies and Karmelsonix. Increases occurred with Cordlife, Mesoblast and Psivida. Notable was proposal by Metabolic Pharmaceuticals to acquire PolyNovo Biomaterials. Average loss 38%.

In August, there was a noticeable improvement in the more expensive stocks (see below) with recoveries by Cochlear, CSL, Mesoblast, Novogen, Pharmaxis and ResMed. However, both the cheaper and medium stocks continued to languish. Average loss 38%.

In September, the international credit crisis had a major effect with recovery in expensive stocks stalling, decline in cheap stocks continued and a small recovery in medium stocks occurred. The difficult situation in a number of biotech companies was exacerbated with 26 having less than $1 million in liquidity and 44 with less than $2 million. 10 companies have negative non-cash value and 61 have non-cash value less than $10 million. Notable improvements in the month were Clover and Sunshine Heart up 50% while notable losers were Arana (down 20%), Alchemia (30%), Acrux (20%), Avexa (40%), Chemgenex (30%), Novogen (30%), Peplin (20%) and Psivida (45%). Average loss to end of September 42%.

In October, the world melt down in markets had a major impact on stocks with all categories down. For some companies, the difficult outlook meant introduction of price cutting regimes and staff reductions (Alchemia and Ventracor), others went into administration (Apollo Life Sciences) or sold off key assets (Brainz Instruments). Significant price drops occurred with Brain Resources, Biota, Chemgenex, Hexima, Optiscan, Patrys, Psivida and Ventracor. Among this, the listing of Fluorotechnics went well. Average loss to end of October 52%.

Of the expensive stocks so far in 2008, there have been no clear winners. Significant losers have been Pharmaxis down 68%, Psivida down 66%, Sirtex Medical down 57%, Mesoblast down 41%, Cochlear down 33%, Cellestis down 32% and IDT down 32%. Average loss 32%.

For the medium stocks, there have been no clear winners. Significant losers have been Progen down 75%, CathRx down 74%, Biota down 66%, QRxPharma down 66%, Hexima down 64%, Universal Biosensor down 63%, Acrux down 59%, Chemgenex Pharma down 47%, Circadian down 44%, Novogen down 43% and Arana Therapeutics down 29%. Average loss 51%.

For the cheaper stocks, the only significant winners have been Atcor Medical up 63%, Analytica up 63% and Cogstate up 46%. Losers have been Rockeby Biomed down 95%, Avastra down 94%, Brainz Instruments down 91%, Agenix down 90%, Karmelsonix down 89%, Probiomics down 88%, Stirling Products down 88%, Advanced Ocular Systems down 87%, Avita Medical (Clinical Cell Culture) down 86%, OBJ down 86%, Ventracor down 86%, Iatia down 84%, Norwood Abbey down 84%, Polartechnics down 84%, Solagran down 84%, Actinogen down 83%, Biosignal down 83%, Telesso Technologies down 83%, Fermiscan down 82%, Optiscan down 81%, Dia-B Tech down 80%, Cardia Technologies down 79%, Ellex Medical down 79%, Patrys down 79%, Apollo Life Sciences down 78%, Avexa down 78%, Life Therapeutics down 78%, Colltech down 76%, Phylogica down 76%, Select Vaccines down 76%, Tyrian Diagnostics (Proteome Systems) down 76%, Alchemia down 75%, Tissue Therapies down 73%, NuSep down 72%, Neuren Pharma down 71%, Imugene down 70%, BioPharmica down 69%, Biotech Capital down 69%, Phosphagenics down 69%, Solbec Pharma down 69%, Stem Cell Sciences down 69%, Peplin down 68%, Cytopia down 67%, Diversa (Ambri) down 67%, Xceed Capital down 67%, Genera Biosystems down 66%, PharmaNet down 64%, Virax Holdings down 64%, Genesis Biomed down 63%, Incitive down 63%, Biodiem down 62%, Living Cell Technologies down 62%, Prima Biomed down 62%, Genesis R&D down 60%, Genetic Technologies down 60%, Narhex Life Sciences down 60%, Cordlife down 57%, Sunshine Heart down 57%, Australis Aquaculture down 56%, Bioprospect down 56%, Benitec down 55%, PharmAust down 52%, Cryosite down 51%, Neurodiscovery down 50%, Anadis down 49%, Viralytics down 46%, Cell Aquaculture down 45%, Medical Therapies down 44%, Brain Resource down 42%, BioMD down 40%, Starpharma down 39%, Bionomics down 38%, Unilife Medical down 38%, Avantogen down 34%, Biolayer Corp. down 33%, Resonance Health down 33%, Clinuvel Pharma down 32%, Healthlinx down 31% and Medigard down 30%. Average loss 56%.

2007
In early 2007, there was a silly season in which a number of stocks recorded speculative jumps resulting in speeding tickets from the ASX. By the end of February, some semblance of sanity returned to the market but significant jumps which have been retained include the speculative jump (up 71%) in Benitec shares associated with a sublicensing arrangement with Pfizer, a 100% increase in Solagran shares, a 108% increase in Avexa shares associated with high expectations for apricitabine, a 58% increase in Avastra shares associated with optimism about a change of direction and a 106% increase in Fermiscan shares followed by a loss returning to the level at the beginning of the year. Noticeable has been the proposed merger announced in May between Peptech and EvoGenix resulting in Arana Therapeutics, the 82% fall in Metabolic shares with trial results indicating that its lead compound is not commercially viable and a subsequent fall with discontinuation of clinical trials on pain drug, the 78% fall for Chemeq as a result of litigation which has resulted in the company going into administration/receivership and the sharp 45% fall by Clinical Cell Culture and continuing decline following revision of revenue outlook. This resulted in a proposal for merger with another listed company, Visiomed Group. Vision Systems was delisted in February. There was a noticeable weakening of the more fragile stocks in May and this continued through to August when all stocks were affected. In September, there was some recovery by the more expensive stocks. Panbio was suspended in December as a result of approval for take over by Inverness. Major winners and losers noted below.

While the first six months of the year saw a resurgence in share prices of a number of biotechnology companies, there was a significant downturn after June. Over the last six months of 2007 the major winners were Living Cell Technologies up 160% and Panbio up 126%. In the same period, there were a number of significant losers, those being Metabolic down 69%, Clinuvel down 61%, Actinogen down 56%, Pharmanet down 56%, Fermiscan down 55%, Life Therapeutics down 53%, Neuren Pharma down 50% and NuSep down 50%,.

Of the expensive stocks in 2007 winners have been Solagran up 242%, Acrux up 84%, Chemgenex up 75%, CSL up 67%, Sirtex up 67%, Pharmaxis up 42%, Universal Biosensors up 32%, Cochlear up 29% and IDT up 21%. Significant losers have been Progen down 57%, Novogen down 52%, QRxPharma down 45%, Mesoblast down 30%, Arana Therapeutics down 29%, Biota down 24% and Circadian down 22%.

For the medium stocks, winners were Cordlife up 124%, Panbio up 105%, Avexa up 80%, Bionomics up 79%, Brain Resources up 70% and Avastra up 22%. Significant losers were Ventracor down 45%, Stem Cell Sciences down 42% and Australis Aquaculture down 31%.

Of the cheaper stocks, main movers were Karmelsonix up 243%, BioProspect up 105%, Bone Medical up 95%, Living Cell Technologies up 92%, Unilife up 53%, Polartechnics up 52%, Visiomed Group up 42%, Eiffel Technologies up 41% and Healthlinx up 33%. Significant losers were Metabolic down 95%, Life Therapeutics down 79%, Clinical Cell Culture down 77%, Uscom down 73%, Advanced Ocular Systems down 70%, Anadis down 66%, Brainz Instruments down 66%, Biolayer down 65%, PharmAust down 65%, Colltech down 64%, NuSep down 64%, Psivida down 63%, Apollo Life Sciences down 60%, Chemeq down 60%, Phylogica down 60%, Ambri down 58%, Prima Biomed down 58%, Genetic Technologies down 57%, Virax down 56%, Neuren Pharma down 55%, Actinogen down 53%, Atcor Medical down 53%, Clinuvel Pharma down 52%, Genesis Biomed down 52%, Narhex Life Sciences down 52%, Pharmanet down 50%, Perseverance down 47%, Imugene down 45%, Medical Therapies down 45%, Stirling Products down 45%, Viralytics down 44%, Aquacarotene down 42%, Analytica down 41%, Cogstate down 41%, Incitive down 41%, Sunshine Heart down 39%, Medic Vision down 38%, OBJ down 38%, Norwood Abbey down 36%, Resonance Health down 35%, Tissue Therapies down 35%, Optiscan down 33%, Probiomics down 33%, Biodiem down 32% and Neurodiscovery down 31%.

Of the expensive stocks, significant movers were Fermiscan (new listing) up 247%, Universal Biosensors (new listing) up 124%, Vision Systems up 125% (takeover by Danaher virtually complete), CathRx up 108%, Progen up 108%, Mesoblast up 55%, CSL up 54%, GroPep up 50% (takeover by Novozymes - delisted), Pharmaxis up 43%, Sirtex up 35%, Circadian up 35%, Cochlear up 27% and ResMed up 21%. The only significant loser was Novogen down 48%.

Of the mid stocks, the main movers were Evogenix up 118%, Clinuvel Pharma up 113%, Ellex Medical up 106%, Phylogica up 88%, Metabolic up 79%, Zenyth Therapeutics (takeover - now delisted) up 74%, Australis Aquaculture up 42%, Peplin up 30%, Optiscan up 28% and Uscom up 25%, and losers were Alchemia down 33%, Cytopia down 25%, Neuren Pharma down 25%, Brainz Instruments down 20% and Tissue Therapies down 23%.

Of the cheap stocks, the winners were Cardia Technologies up 217%, Polartechnics up 138%, Avastra up 132% (company redirection), Prana Biotech up 100%, Solagran up 97%, Cogstate up 91%, Sunshine Heart up 40%, Compumedics up 39%, BioMD up 38%, BresaGen up 38% (takeover almost complete - shares suspended), Imugene up 38%, Phosphagenics up 39% and Virax up 31%. Losers were Norwood Abbey down 88%, Somnomed down 88%, Select Vaccines down 83%, Resonance Health down 78%, Advanced Ocular Systems down 77%, Healthlinx down 71%, Chemeq down 70%, Acuron down 66%, Psivida down 65%, Biodiem down 62%, Atcor Medical down 60%, Biopharmica down 58%, BioLayer down 57%, Clinical Cell Culture down 57%, Dia B Tech down 56%, Avantogen down 54% (suspended), Solbec Pharma down 54%, PharmaNet down 53%, Stirling Products down 53%, Bone Medical down 52%, Benitec down 49%, Agenix down 48%, Prima Biomed down 46%, Unilife Medical down 44%, Visiomed Group down 43%, Eiffel Technologies down 39%, Incitive down 33%, Rockeby Biomed down 32%, Aquacarotene down 31%, PharmAust down 31%, EQiTX down 30%, OBJ down 30% and Viralytics down 30%.

2005
In 2005 there was a strong early trend downwards among both the cheaper stocks and the medium stocks with some signs of recovery after mid May, particularly in the medium and dearer stocks but there was a decline at the end of August and then a clear improvement in selected stocks in October. The more expensive stocks generally have been balanced between improvers and losers.

Highlights in 2005 have been the improvements in sales and profitability by Resmed, Cochlear, CSL, GroPep and Vision Systems, the rapid rise of Pharmaxis, Biota, Life Therapeutics, OBJ, Mesoblast, Cochlear, Resmed, Peplin, Alchemia, Heartware, Ellex Medical, Evogenix, CSL and SciGen shares and the entry into provisional liquidation of AVT Plasma. However there have been worrying falls by Select Vaccines, Acuron, Polartechnics, Avastra, Compumedics, BioProspect, Antisense Therapeutics, Benitec, Virax Holdings, Avantogen, Cardia Technologies, Metabolic Pharmaceuticals, Prana Biotechnology, Uscom, Epitan, Eiffel Technologies, Narhex Life Sciences, Somnomed, Colltech, Cryptome Pharma (now HealthLinx), Probiomics, Stirling Products, Sunshine Heart, Genesis R&D, Living Cell Technologies, Analytica, Cogstate, Proteome Systems, Unilife Medical, Clover, Agenix, BioMD, Circadian and Psivida,.

Of the more expensive stocks, major movers have been Pharmaxis up 174%, Biota up 173%, Life Therapeutics up 127%, Mesoblast up 89%, Cochlear up 81%, ResMed up 62%, Alchemia up 51%, CSL up 45%, GroPep up 44% and Vision Systems up 31%, recovery has occurred with Cellestis and Ventracor while losers have been Circadian down 45%, Progen down 39%, Peptech down 22%, IDT down 21% and Ventracor down 20%.

Improvers in the mid stocks have been Peplin up 52%, Ellex Medical up 49%, Cytopia up 35% and BioDiem up 25% and newcomers Heartware up 50%, Brainz Instruments up 30% and Neuren Pharmaceuticals up 33%. Recoveries have occurred with Australis Aquaculture, Biotech Capital, Chemgenex and Zenyth Therapeutics and losers have been Uscom down 66%, Metabolic down 64%, Chemeq down 44%, Bone Medical down 44%, Psivida down 43%, Starpharma down 36%, Norwood Abbey down 25%, Acrux down 25% and Tissue Therapies down 24%.

At the low end of the market, the improvers have been OBJ up 108%, SciGen up 48%, Cell Aquaculture up 40%, Evogenix up 36%, Biopharmica up 33%, Avexa up 30% and SSH Medical (now BioLayer Corp) up 30% and there have been significant recoveries by Bionomics, Biotron, Bresagen, Cogstate, Cygenics, Imugene, Meditech Research, Optiscan, Phosphagenics, Phylogica, Psiron, Rockeby Biomed and Xceed Biotechnology but losers have been Select Vaccines (77%), Acuron (76%), Polartechnics (75%), Avastra (74%), Compumedics (73%), BioProspect (72%), Antisense Therapeutics (71%), Benitec (70%), Virax Holdings (67%), Avantogen (66%), Cardia Technologies (66%), Prana Biotechnology (64%), Epitan (63%), Eiffel Technologies (60%), Narhex Life Sciences (60%), Somnomed (60%), Colltech (59%), Cryptome Pharma (58%), Probiomics (58%), Stirling Products (58%), Sunshine Heart (58%), Genesis R&D (54%), Living Cell Technologies (53%), Analytica (52%), Cogstate (52%), Proteome Systems (51%), Unilife Medical (51%), Clover (50%), Agenix (47%), BioMD (47%), Ambri (44%), Solbec Pharma (44%), Cygenics (43%), Biosignal (42%), EQiTX (42%), Premier Bionics (39%), Dia-B Tech (38%), IATIA (38%), Meditech Research (35%), PANBIO (31%), Imugene (30%), Resonance Health (30%), Solagran (30%), Prima Biomed, Visiomed Group, Clinical Cell Culture, PharmaNet, PharmAust, Medigard, Rockeby Biomed and Medical Therapies.

2004
For 2004, the overall trend was one of lethargy and disinterest with most minor stocks remaining level or drifting down, a growing trend to mid range companies and a move to the more established companies which have recorded increases of 20% or more. There seemed to be a strong movement away from the speculative stocks to the security of the more established stocks. We also noted two significant gaps developing between the stocks valued at less than $120 million, stocks valued around $140-200 million and those more than $260 million as a result of the shift to the more secure companies.

Notable developments were the merger talks between Peptech and Agenix (discontinued ), the entry of BresaGen into voluntary administration (relisted December), the entry of Environmental Solutions into receivership, the mergers with US companies (Benitec, Chemgenex (AGT Biosciences), Life Therapeutics (Gradipore)), the sale of Axon and the push by other companies such as Avantogen (then Australian Cancer) and Bionomics into the US market and the mass of floats that have taken place including Australis Aquaculture, Avastra, Biosignal, Biopharmica, Cygenics, Living Cell Technologies, Bone, Xceed Biotech, Regenera (now Advanced Ocular Systems), Genepharm, Avexa, Sunshine Heart, Acrux and Proteome Systems.

Of the more expensive stocks, Progen almost tripled in price, Cellestis was up 90% based on expectations of future sales in the US and Japan, and Psivida rose 130% based on good international promotion. There was also a recovery by CSL (up 55%). Cochlear, Circadian, Metabolic, Resmed, Sigma and Vision Systems also increased 20% or more. Significant falls occurred with Chemeq (80%), Novogen (25%), Sirtex (40%) and Ventracor (35%) associated with a dawning shareholder perception of reality.

Of the midrange stocks, new entries did well with Australis up 50%, Living Cell up 70%, Pharmaxis up 90% and Stirling up 60% (although Proteome Systems fell heavily). Other improvers were Alchemia up 35%, Anadis up 85%, Epitan up 35% and Virax up 55%. Significant falls of more than 30% occurred with Agenix, Biodiem, Benitec (50%), Cygenics, Genesis R&D, Norwood Abbey (55%), Peplin(45%), Polartechnics (50%) and Unilife (65%).

For the cheaper stocks, only 7 out of 48 increased. Increases occurred with Australian Cancer (55%), Cardia, Iatia (100%), Phosphagenics (75%), Perseverance, Solagran (40%) and Xceed Biotech. Falls of 30% or more occurred with Ambri (50%), AVT (65%), Bresagen (65%), Cogstate (50%), Clover (40%), Cryptome (45%), Cryosite (35%), Eiffel (50%), Genesis Biomed (30%), Medigard (60%), Meditech (40%), PanBio (40%), Prima Biomed (60%), Rockeby (75%), SciGen (30%) and Visiomed (60%).

Companies are listed according to their ASX code and can be accessed through the links below.

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Last revised Sat, 22 Nov 2008
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