Neuralstem Inc.
Description
Neuralstem Inc. (CUR) is a biotechnology company engaged in the research, development and commercialization of treatments for central nervous system (CNS) and neurodegenerative diseases. Neuralstem’s lead development programs are currently focused on amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and spinal cord injuries (SCI) (link). The company’s technology is uniquely positioned to develop unlimited amounts of stable neural stem cell (NSC) (link) line from human hippocampus (link). The company’s sourcing process enables those cells to self-propagate about 60 times, meaning that more than one billion-billion of progeny cells can be created from one cell. Neuralstem was founded in 1996 and its headquarters are in Rockville, Maryland, USA.
Strengths and weaknesses analysis / Fundamental analysis:
Strengths:
- Neuralstem (CUR) is in the advanced stage in stem cell technology and is a lead mover in the treatment of MDD,
- It has broad patent protection for its key developments,
- A partnership or license deal for the MDD products is expected late 2013/early 2014,
- It has multiple phase-II trial-ready applications,
- CUR’s application deal with unmet medical needs,
- CUR can achieve multiple applications with one development.
Weaknesses:
- The pricing of therapies at USD 100,000+ generates issues such as: a) non-reimbursement risk, and b) natural customer-segmentation by purchase power,
- Due to anticipated patient and doctor apprehension, the initial take-up and market penetration is expected to be below the company’s estimates,
- Stem cell development is still at an early stage. CUR’s applications are covering domains where much bigger companies with more significant resources have failed,
- The molecule selection process could be inadequate for FDA approval, which would terminate the research program,
- The company’s stem cell lines, although not of embryonic origin, could be a major point of concern for further FDA approvals, clinical studies and tests.
- Similar developments are underway at competitor companies and CUR may be exposed to litigation risks for infringing other companies’ patents,
- The company relies on a strong partnership for its marketing and sales,
- CUR is a typical start-up company with recurring financing issues until the initial product launch,
- R&D failures in the pharma industry are a common event; CUR is no an exception to that.
Company profile, investment opportunity and asset management integration:
| Metric | Rating |
| Operational risks: | Well above |
| Expected growth: | Well above |
| Long term value creation: | Above average |
| Positive competitive advantage: | Average |
| Management excellence: | Average |
| Financial strength: | Above average |
| Investment orientation: | Group “Best-in-Class” Biotechnology |
Price ranges:
| Buy: | Only for customers |
| Sell | Only for customers |
| Stop-loss: | Only for customers |
| Fair-value: | Only for customers |
Link to the base report of CUR: Neuralstem Inc Analyse de base_EN.pdf