OncBioMune Pharmaceuticals Inc (OTCMKTS:OBMP) is a micro-cap stock in the prostate cancer space that has recently caught our eye. The stock is trading thin at this point and this is likely creating more of a discount value in the market. However, traders and investors may be about to spot the opportunity here given the company’s recent announcement. The gist is another advancement toward getting its new Phase 2/3 trial of ProscaVax for prostate cancer off and running, and we will get to that in more detail in a moment. But first, a little background is useful.
First off, the biotech space is very interesting right now. The threat of a Hillary Clinton presidency, and all the drug pricing regulations there implied, put a major hurt on the space for months into the US election. And it would appear that tax loss selling has served to hold them down following the election. Stocks like Opko Health Inc (NASDAQ:OPK), MannKind Corporation (NASDAQ:MNKD), Novavax Inc (NASDAQ:NVAX), Amicus Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:FOLD), Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD), and the iShares NASDAQ Biotechnology Index (ETF) (NASDAQ:IBB) ETF have all become interesting plays trading a market discount in this process. But OBMP stands out to us as a major sleeper opportunity.
OncBioMune Pharmaceuticals Inc (OTCMKTS:OBMP) is a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company that develops cancer immunotherapy products.
The company has proprietary rights to a breast and prostate patent vaccine; and a process for the growth of cancer cells and targeted chemotherapies. Its lead product is ProscaVax that is in the planning stage of a Phase II clinical trial for the treatment of prostate cancer.
The company also has a portfolio of targeted therapies. OncBioMune Pharmaceuticals, Inc. is headquartered in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
24 Months to a $7.1 Billion Market
The company just announced that it has been advised that approximately 30 patients have been pre-screened to participate in the Phase 2/3 trial of ProscaVax for prostate cancer in Mexico. The trial is being conducted through a Joint Venture between OncBioMune and the Company’s Mexico-based acquisition target, Vitel Laboratorios, S.A. de C.V.
According to the company’s recent release, in the study, “ProscaVax, OncBioMune’s lead experimental therapeutic cancer vaccine, will be evaluated for safety and efficacy in PSA (prostate specific antigen) recurrent prostate cancer in hormone-naïve and hormone-independent patients. OncBioMune has been further advised that administration of ProscaVax to trial participants is expected to commence shortly after the first of the new year… The trial is scheduled to enroll 50 patients in the Phase 2 portion. Patients will receive six vaccines of ProscaVax, a combination of the tumor-associated antigen PSA with the biological adjuvants IL-2 and GM-CSF. Under the guidance of regulatory authorities, the Phase 3 portion will enroll 50 additional patients and commence 12 months after the Phase 2 begins. Patients in this portion of the trial will receive six vaccines as well as additional booster regimen of ProscaVax. The trial’s endpoints will be reduction in PSA progression and increased immune responses post-vaccination.”
Here’s why this might be such an interesting opportunity right now, and why this is such big news: Contingent upon clinical results meeting expectations in demonstrating safety and efficacy, OncBioMune intends to seek commercialization of ProscaVax in Mexico through a Preliminary Marketing Authorization, which has the potential to happen in as little as 24 months from the commencement of the Phase 2 study, according to OncBioMune’s Mexican advisors.
That’s a very short time horizon to revenues on a drug. It’s far more rapid than the US market will generally allow. And it’s needed – it has a huge home in the marketplace: Prostate cancer is the most frequently diagnosed type of cancer in male patients over 50 years in age in Mexico. Annually, in excess of 300,000 Mexican men are diagnosed with prostate cancer and more than 5,000 deaths result from the disease. Today’s treatments for patients with biochemical progression are similar to that in the United States with limited improvement in overall survival. It is also a $7.1 billion market in the making.
OBMP has benefitted from a jump in recent trading volume to the tune of 24% beyond what we have been seeing over the larger time frame. This is particularly important given a float in play of just 19M shares (which creates some potential for a supply-shock squeeze if the market starts to get a hold of this story).
