by Spekulator at Wall Street Wires
An introduction. I am an active investor into smaller companies where I see (a) genuine value (b) good management (c) an unusual or groundbreaking product. Mostly a,b and c have to be present and correct, but I will make exceptions. I am invested into companies listed on Nasdaq, London main market, AIM and some NEX stocks (formerly ISDX or PLUS Markets).
I have been asked to add some stories to Wall Street Wires as my particular brand of publishing has caught the eye of many a publisher over the years.
So today, I am asking a question. One company in particular is in my sights at the moment as a company that is undervalued and has an unusual, groundbreaking product that will save lives.
I am talking about Advanced Oncotherapy (AVO.L), a London AIM listed company developing a groundbreaking proton beam therapy machine to treat cancer. Lets call them AVO – most people do. The AVO technology has been developed by ADAM, a spin-off company that AVO bought from CERN, the Hadron Collider people. Let that sink in for a moment. The most advanced, atom-splitting, Higgs-Bosun particle busting company around has a medical spin-off owned completely by AVO. Both ‘a’ and ‘c’ receive a resounding tick.
Proton therapy for cancer has been around for a few years. It can be summed up as follows. If conventional radiotherapy is likened to throwing a blanket of radioactive beams over a patient to treat a tumour, then proton therapy is a needle of beams going directly to the tumour without affecting the tissue around it. Particularly important for growing children. Several well publicised cases have seen young lives saved and improved through this treatment.
The problem though is the size of the machine and housing required to insulate and treat safely. AVO is developing a LIGHT machine, which in comparison is the size of a bus versus a soccer field. In a March update, the AVO CEO Nicholas Serandour said the first LIGHT system “is expected to be capable of treating superficial tumours in Q3 2018.” That’s just over a year away. AVO is developing its own exclusive treatment centre in Harley Street, London to be completed by Q1 2019. That’s just under 2 years away. Sound good so far.
There have been some problems with financing. I have watched the news this year as the company has had to go cap in hand to institutions to borrow money, sometimes at a punitive rate. This is due to delays in developing the LIGHT machine, something that as a technology investor I am used to.
I have also read with surprise the vicious attacks that some so-called investor websites have been making on the company and the AVO management team, blaming them for the fall in share price, for which it seems the investor websites can partly be blamed for bringing about. Do they have any vested interest there? I wonder?
The AVO management team led by Nicholas Serandour and Michael Sinclair have attracted some leading medical practitioners to the board. These people have reputations, (in some cases legends) to protect among their peers. Clearly they (as do I) see the potential this company has to revolutionise the whole process of radiotherapy. Therefore ‘b’ also gets a tick.
Each LIGHT machine will sell for around $40m. The company has the funding now in place to take it through to complete the first LIGHT machine and the Harley Street Centre. Yet it has a stock market value of just £13m. At 17p per share, investing into AVO should deliver a handsome profit over the next few years. Plus once the machine is treating patients it will save lives. Think about that.
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