Acuvax Ltd
Acuvax Ltd, the listed parent company (ASX: ACU) is the flagship asset of the group. It primarily derives value for shareholders through leading operations of its product development and commercialisation subsidiaries. Now that the company has been reorganized, with a rational cost and expense base and a strong and demonstrated ability to generate major revenue deals with larger overseas partners, additional value accretion of assets should benefit shareholders. Also, as a Public Company, investors now have liquidity with which to buy and sell their shares. As is common in the biotechnology industry, some holdings will be held in private investee companies possessing promising technologies, and as a listed entity ACU can simultaneously access capital from public markets as well as help shareholders access that value with liquidity. The company also intends to re-activate its ADR program to make the company more accessible to overseas investors.
The December 2006 re-organisation of the business replaced the prior management team with a new group well experienced in driving commercial licensing transactions and revenue generating partnerships with larger players in the USA market. The principal revenue deal at present is via the wholly owned subsidiary, ACT USA, controlled by ACU. On March 15, 2007, ACT entered into a strategic partnership agreement with Medingen Group of New York, to sub-license a line of nutraceutical products previously known as Revisys, which are being subsequently re-branded ‘Encore,’ and which have attracted considerable interest in the market. These are over-the-counter branded medical nutritional supplements which are used to enhance health and well being. Under the terms of the licensing agreement, ACU granted exclusive worldwide rights to market and distribute these products via Medingen Group, for a fee equal to 50% of net sales. The Directors have seen great progress and interest from major players in this space and expect this asset to progress well.
A major shareholder in the parent company is Chopin Opus 1, a Cayman-Islands based investment company (affiliated with Richard Opara, MD, the former Chairman of ACU) that controls approximately 85% of the outstanding shares. This high equity stake resulted from the strong financial commitment to developing the oncology technologies, especially RP101, until recent commercialization.
