Listed Biotechnology Companies in 2004 – 2010

Valutech tracks 110 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.

2010
In January, it was expected that there would be a downward trend across the board to consolidate the rises of theprevious year, but this only happened towards the end of the month. Speculation caused temporary rallies in a number of low cost stocks as a result of deals or trials announced, namely Anteo Diagnostics, Viralytics, Pharmanet and Patrys. There was also a significant rally in Mesoblast stocks. It remains to be seen whethere any of these rallies can be retained. A number of stocks declined because they had risen too far in the previous year. These included BPH Corporate, SciGen, Xceed Capital and Biota. Rockeby Biomedical was delisted and a number of other companies are likely to follow suit in coming months. Average movement in January was up 5.0%

In February, prices were affected by half yearly financial reporting. At the upper end of the market, this clearly affected prices with CSL and ResMed up more than 10% but there were noticeable declines with Cellestis, IDT (down 33%), Mesoblast, Probiotec (down 32%) and Sirtex. Unilife is progressing well with its move to the US. The effect was more pronounced in mid stocks with declines by Circadian, Chemgenex (down 23% with trial results ambiguous), Novogen (down 20%), Progen and Uscom. Hexima went against the trend (up 16%). CBio bombed on debut with a 64% decline. Of the low end stocks, major movers were Brainz (up 62%), Healthlinx (up 125%) and Virax (up 110%) mainly as a result of speculation. Noticeable declines were CathRx down 35%, Holista down 33% and Medic Vision down 35%. Exits from the biotechnology industry are occurring with the delisting of Cytopia following acquisition by Canadian company, YM Biosciences, Narhex going into administration, agreement to wind up Polartechnics and announcement that Incitive would be changing to a resource company. Average movement since beginning of 2010 is up 5.6%.

Of the expensive stocks in 2010, the major winners have been Unilife Corp. up 37% and Mesoblast up 44% and major loser is Probiotec down 28%. Average increase of 1%.

For the medium stocks, the only significant winner has been Somnomed up 16% and losers have been CBio down 63%, IDT down 32%, Chemgenex Pharma down 29%, Novogen down 29%, Circadian down 21%, Cordlife down 21% and Uscom down 21%. Average decline 11%.

For the cheaper stocks, significant winners have been Anteo Diagnostics up 843%, Virax Holdings up 127%, Brainz Instruments up 118%, OBJ up 100%, Pharmanet up 86%, Healthlinx up 67%, Analytica up 59%, Telesso Technologies up 54%, Viralytics up 49%, Aquacarotene up 45% and Actinogen up 40%. Losers have been CathRx down 58%, Medic Vision down 47%, Imugene down 38%, BPH Corporate down 37%, Phylogica down 36%, Xceed Capital down 36%, Biosignal down 35%, Bioprospect down 33%, Biotech Capital down 30% and Living Cell Technologies down 30%. Average increase 12%.

2009
The year was a watershed for the biotechnology industry following the disastrous falls of 2008. Some larger companies finally showed clear evidence of substantial commercialisation and other companies moved closer to generating income. On the other hand a large number of companies disappeared either through acquisition by other companies, delisting or moving into other business sectors. As can be seen in the following graph, the improvements were most noticeable at the more expensive end of the market with almost a 200% average increase with major improvers being growing companies Sirtex, Biota and Cellestis and companies with substantially improved commercial prospects such as Universal Biosensor, Unilife Medical, Alchemia, Pharmaxis, Chemgenix and QRxPharma.

However there was a major shift out of the industry. Arana Therapeutics was acquired by Cephalon and Peplin by LEO Pharma. Cytopia is in the process of merging into YM BioSciences. Other companies disappearing were Advanced Ocular Systems (business change), Ventracor (liquidation), Stem Cell Sciences (acquired), Genesis Biomedical (change of business), Australis Aquaculture (administration), Biosignal (change of business), Diversa (change of business), Life Therapeutics (change of business). Companies in difficulties include Polartechnics ( voluntary administration), Fermiscan (voluntary administration), Agenix (problems with business acquisition in China), Dia-B Tech (Pallane Medical) (underwriting problems), Avastra Sleep Centres (administration), NuSep (merger problems), Rockeby Biomed (delisting), Medic Vision (change of business) and Freedom Eye (change of business).

There were a number of name changes including Metabolic Pharmaceutics to Calzada, Medical Therapies to CellMid, Dia-B Tech to Pallane Medical, Colltech to Holista Colltech, Apollo Life Sciences to Apollo Consolidated, BioPharmica to BPH Corporate, Freedom Eye to FYI Resources, Australis Aquaculture to AAQ Holdings and Cardia Technologies to Cardia Bioplastics.

During the year, concerns about swine flu outbreaks pumped share prices for a number of companies with varying longer term effects. Biota gained substantially, but other companies including Imugene, Rockeby Biomed, BioDiem and Actinogen only gained in the short term. There are also a number of companies in which shareholders have shown considerable faith although commercialisation remains remote. Companies include SciGen, Genera Biosystems, Prima Biomed, Bone Medical, Cellmid and Biopharmica.

Of the expensive stocks in 2009, the most significant winners have been Biota up 619%, Acrux up 359%, Sirtex up 348%, Psivida up 223%, Universal Biosensor up 214%, Pharmaxis up 125%, Cellestis up 87%, (Arana Therapeutics up 69%), Probiotec up 66%, Mesoblast up 36% and Cochlear up 25%. The only significant loser is IDT down 18%. Average gain 161%.

2008
As can be seen in the graph below, 2008 was a catastrophic year for the Australian biotechnology sector and particularly for listed companies. Shares fell by an average of about 55% with major losses in cheap stocks but also in other stocks (see graph and percentages below). The decline was caused initially by the effects of the subprime crisis, recession fears and impacts on margin calls pushing down prices. There was some recovery in August but increasing concerns about recession resulted in significant declines from September onwards.

There were a number of name changes which occurred mainly later in the year: Eiffel Technologies to Telesso Technologies, Avantogen to Acuvax, Anadis to Immuron, BioLayer to Anteo Diagnostics, Life Therapeutics to Arturus Capital, Solbec Pharma to Freedom Eye, Ambri to Diversa and Proteome Systems to Tyrian Diagnostics. Some companies disappeared due to takeover (Perseverance) or by re-domiciling to the US (Heartware). Visiomed and Clinical Cell Culture merged to form Avita Medical, Avexa and Progen are in the process of merging despite opposition by some shareholders and Cytopia. Metabolic Pharmaceuticals attempted to acquire PolyNovo from Xceed Capital but as a result of shareholder opposition, finished up with 60% of the company. Agenix's acquisition of a Chinese company has hit a number of snags. Chemgenex attempted to spin out Verva Pharmaceuticals as a listed entity but this has been delayed due to market deterioration. Many companies experienced difficulties during the year and the drastic lack of finance towards the end of the year resulted in price cutting, down sizing, appointment of administrators over subsidiaries (Anadis) or over the entire company (Apollo Life Sciences) and the offloading of assets.

More detailed information below.

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%.

In November, the pain continued with further declines most notably with Acrux, Antisense, Circadian, CSL, Chemgenex, Fermiscan, Hexima, Peplin, QRx, Starpharma and Stirling. Bucking the trend were Atcor and Analytica and Fluorotechnics as a new arrival with little sign of price decline. Cost cutting and staff reduction announcements were common so were company name changes: Avantogen to Acuvax, Anadis to Immuron, Biolayer to Anteo Diagnostics, Life Therapeutics to Arturus, Solbec to Freedom Eye and Proteome Systems to Tyrian Diagnostics. Also notable were appointment of administrators for Apollo, the rolling of the board of Genetic Technologies and shareholder rejection of proposed acquisition of PolyNovo from Xceed by Metabolic. As an indicator of the rapidly declining situation, 35 companies have less than $1 million in liquidity and 52 with less than $2 million. 17 companies have negative non-cash value and 78 have non-cash value less than $10 million (cf the situation given a few paragraphs above). Average loss to end of November 56%.

Of the expensive stocks so far in 2008, there have been no clear winners. Significant losers have been Pharmaxis down 71%, Psivida down 65%, Sirtex Medical down 63%, Cellestis down 43%, IDT down 31% and Cochlear down 26%. Average loss 33%.

For the medium stocks, there have been no clear winners. Significant losers have been CathRx down 81%, Progen down 70%, Acrux down 66%, Universal Biosensor down 60%, Chemgenex Pharma down 56%, Circadian down 52%, Novogen down 44%, Arana Therapeutics down 28% and Mesoblast down 22%. Average loss 39%.

For the cheaper stocks, the only significant winners have been Analytica up 331%, Uscom up 67% and Atcor Medical up 63%. Losers have been Avastra down 97%, Brainz Instruments down 96%, Rockeby Biomed down 95%, Biosignal down 94%, Neuren Pharma down 94%, Karmelsonix down 92%, Stirling Products down 92%, Agenix down 90%, Ventracor down 89%, Ellex Medical down 88%, Iatia down 88%, Probiomics down 88%, Avita Medical (Clinical Cell Culture) down 87%, Avexa down 86%, OBJ down 86%, Solagran down 86%, Tyrian Diagnostics (Proteome Systems) down 85%, Norwood Abbey down 84%, Life Therapeutics down 83%, Telesso Technologies down 83%, Actinogen down 82%, Optiscan down 82%, QRxPharma down 82%, Advanced Ocular Systems down 81%, Dia-B Tech down 80%, Fermiscan down 80%, Patrys down 79%, Apollo Life Sciences down 78%, Phylogica down 78%, Alchemia down 77%, Cardia Technologies down 76%, Prima Biomed down 76%, Select Vaccines down 76%, Stem Cell Sciences down 76%, NuSep down 74%, Biota down 73%, Living Cell Technologies down 73%, PharmaNet down 73%, Tissue Therapies down 73%, Colltech down 71%, Freedom Eye (Solbec Pharma) down 71%, Genesis Biomed down 71%, Phosphagenics down 71%, Sunshine Heart down 71%, Immuron (Anadis) down 70%, Genetic Technologies down 67%, Xceed Capital down 67%, Cytopia down 66%, BioPharmica down 65%, Genesis R&D down 65%, Virax Holdings down 65%, Biodiem down 64%, Benitec down 63%, Bioprospect down 63%, Biotech Capital down 63%, Incitive down 63%, Peplin down 63%, Anteo Diagnostics (Biolayer Corp.) down 62%, SciGen down 62%, Cordlife down 61%, Hexima down 61%, Medical Therapies down 60%, Narhex Life Sciences down 60%, Acuvax (Avantogen) down 59%, Diversa (Ambri) down 58%, Neurodiscovery down 58%, Australis Aquaculture down 57%, Medic Vison down 57%, Brain Resource down 56%, Medigard down 55%, Polartechnics down 54%, Cryosite down 53%, Genera Biosystems down 52%, Viralytics down 52%, Starpharma down 51%, BioMD down 50%, Bone Medical down 49%, PharmAust down 48%, Bionomics down 46%, Imugene down 43%, Cell Aquaculture down 39%, Prana Biotech down 38%, Healthlinx down 37%, Metabolic Pharma down 37%, Biotron down 33%, Resonance Health down 33%, Clinuvel Pharma down 30% and Unilife Medical down 30%. Average loss 58%.

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, 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 and Resmed 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 Wed, 10 Mar 2010
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