Polarityte Inc / BioTech Discussion

[GJ]

This thread was split from the regenerative medicine thread, because it began to go off topic. Here's the original post:

I'm fairly pumped about this company (PolarityTE), who just got registered/approved by the FDA for their skinTE technology.  Basically they have proven total scarless skin regeneration  (all layers + hair).  They will be starting trials on more extreme cases by the end of the year.  Their roadmap also includes nerve/capillary/fat/bone regeneration in the coming years.

https://globenewswire.com/news-release/2017/10/03/1140038/0/en/PolarityTE-Announces-FDA-Registration-of-Lead-Product-SkinTE.html

Biotech is growing fast lately!

I looked up that company on the Nasdaq, and they lose $26 per share. o.O

[jusken]

I looked up that company on the Nasdaq, and they lose $26 per share. o.O

My knowledge on investments is extremely poor, but i'm still invested in hope!  Given that they have no commercial products yet, could that be why?

The science looked good on their animal models though... I've been seeing their name come up a few times in the last few months.

[Lazlo]

I looked up that company on the Nasdaq, and they lose $26 per share. o.O

What does lose 26 dollars per share mean?

[kavan]

I looked up that company on the Nasdaq, and they lose $26 per share. o.O

I noticed 4 things:



1: [Poor general medical condition or any pathology that would limit the blood supply and compromise healing, as well as nonvascular surgical sites, should be considered when selecting patients for SkinTE™, as such conditions may compromise successful outcomes or lead to sub-optimal results.]

Non or slow healing wounds are most problematic in people with medical conditions that limit blood supply. Hence a real 'breakthrough' would be something that helps the patients WITH conditions that limit good wound healing.


2:[ If clinically successful, the PolarityTE™ platform will provide medical professionals with a truly new paradigm in wound healing and reconstructive surgery by utilizing a patient's own tissue substrates for the regeneration of skin, bone, muscle, cartilage, fat, blood vessels and nerves.]

With statement; 'IF clinically successful...', that seems to imply at this point in time, it has not demonstrated as such.


3:[But on December 1st of 2016, Lough and Swanson were catapulted instantaneously from coveted Plastic Surgery resident positions to the CEO and COO of Majesco Entertainment Co. (Nasdaq:COOL) in hopes that a merger between a 31-year-old failing gaming company and their own revolutionary technology would provide the field of medicine with the ability to regenerate new tissue — skin, bone, muscle, etc. Lough and Swanson are taking a huge gamble because the culture in the medical community is that you don’t leave to try a start-up and then come back if it doesn’t work.  Indeed, in 92% of the last 100 life science start-ups to go public, the MD inventor of the flagship product didn’t work for the company....ref= https://www.forbes.com/sites/innovatorsdna/2017/08/08/polarityte-will-this-biotech-be-the-next-amazon-or-tesla/#38b4ee40363a ]

WHAT? merging a failing gaming ENTERTAINMENT company with medical technology???

4: [Institutions that own COOL; 'Cambridge Investment Advisors'] seem to own the MOST shares.

However, this 'Cambridge' is located somewhere near a corn field in Iowa and NOT where the cutting edge scientific institutions, (MIT, Harvard, MGH) with leaders in tissue regeneration.


I guess the OBVIOUS about this 'breakthrough' is the 'info' is written for the investor and not the scientist. IDK. Can't claim to have read in total everything about this 'breakthrough'. BUT it does look like they are using STEM CELLS which researchers already know will help in wound healing and regeneration.

[GJ]

What does lose 26 dollars per share mean?

It means for every share of stock they have issued, they have lost $26 per those shares.
Look here: https://finance.google.com/finance?q=cool&ei=u_bWWcDtGoi_jAGZ-KCIAg

EPS: -26.30. They've issued 6.23million shares, which if you multiply that means they are losing a lot of money and are essentially worth zero by all traditional metrics. Many times speculators will keep the stocks from being zero, because if a drug is approved bioTechs can sore, or other times the company will buy back their own shares to keep a floor under the price.

The company's chart shows they've been around since 2001 at least. Stock was once $500, now it's $27 with negative earnings.

[kavan]

It means for every share of stock they have issued, they have lost $26 per those shares.
Look here: https://finance.google.com/finance?q=cool&ei=u_bWWcDtGoi_jAGZ-KCIAg

EPS: -26.30. They've issued 6.23million shares, which if you multiply that means they are losing a lot of money and are essentially worth zero by all traditional metrics. Many times speculators will keep the stocks from being zero, because if a drug is approved bioTechs can sore, or other times the company will buy back their own shares to keep a floor under the price.

The company's chart shows they've been around since 2001 at least. Stock was once $500, now it's $27 with negative earnings.

and just LOL to 'Cambridge investments' holding most of the stocks where THAT 'Cambridge' is in some corn field in Iowa and not where the smart people or movers and shakers in bio-engineering come from.

[jusken]

The skepticism in here is good, I think a lot of this stuff is all marketing.

Non or slow healing wounds are most problematic in people with medical conditions that limit blood supply. Hence a real 'breakthrough' would be something that helps the patients WITH conditions that limit good wound healing.

I think they're trying to go straight to market with what they have, which is regenerating skin tissue in people with burns/scars.  They're starting later this year with burns/more extreme cases.

With statement; 'IF clinically successful...', that seems to imply at this point in time, it has not demonstrated as such.

They have finished small and large animal trials successfully.  Normally I wouldn't be too excited by this, as this is the stage most treatments get to, but since it's moving so fast and isn't a drug I'm more into it.

and just LOL to 'Cambridge investments' holding most of the stocks where THAT 'Cambridge' is in some corn field in Iowa and not where the smart people or movers and shakers in bio-engineering come from.

(It's Utah btw ) I could be wrong, but a good treatment doesn't have to come from anywhere in particular.  From what I understand, large investors usually buy up the small start ups before you even hear about them - not everything starts in silicon valley.  The video game company merger thing is a bit weird, but I always try to remember that a search company (Google) also just started a large Biotech company (Calico) and no one even batted an eye.

Again, this company might be nonsense - but the speed at which this company is moving is exciting to me.  There's a surge of Biotech rallying this year (bubble?), so it's interesting to watch and there are a lot of possibilities.  The problem in the past is how slowly things were going...

[Lazlo]

Intersting. Will be very cool to see what happens to this.

GJ, thanks for the finance lesson. I need your guidance in such matters.

[kavan]

Cambridge investments was listed as major share holder. (I'm from Cambridge and went to schools and colleges there.) So, I was trying to see where in Cambridge it was. Bio-tech firms are often kind of close to MIT campus on Kendall square side. I think the main company marketing their 'break through' is in Utah but the company called 'Cambridge' investments owning most of the shares is in Iowa.

It's like this:  If a bio tech firm is actually in Camb. MA, they often have an MIT or MGH connection or at least there is a lot of overlap. Even if an investment firm in bio tech stuff is there. But the major share holder was in a corn field (well maybe an apple orchard) somewhere in Iowa.

Anyway, big name in tissue regeneration is Dr. Vacanti at MGH https://hsci.harvard.edu/people/joseph-vacanti-md.  There are other names. But if you don't have way to know 'who's who' in that field, it's hard to make heads or tails of these start ups because a good marker is WHO is involved.

Not totally sure but I just tend to think what ever their 'proprietary breakthrough' is, is probably from PRIOR stem cell research where there are tons of papers on wound healing methods or just something they can claim as a breakthrough to investors who don't have much of a science background.  Basics of wound healing is good debridement and MOIST healing. Add some stem cells or maybe some platelet rich plasma and your good to go. That said, not too sure this outfit is on the verge of any true breakthrough.

The skepticism in here is good, I think a lot of this stuff is all marketing.

I think they're trying to go straight to market with what they have, which is regenerating skin tissue in people with burns/scars.  They're starting later this year with burns/more extreme cases.

They have finished small and large animal trials successfully.  Normally I wouldn't be too excited by this, as this is the stage most treatments get to, but since it's moving so fast and isn't a drug I'm more into it.

(It's Utah btw ) I could be wrong, but a good treatment doesn't have to come from anywhere in particular.  From what I understand, large investors usually buy up the small start ups before you even hear about them - not everything starts in silicon valley.  The video game company merger thing is a bit weird, but I always try to remember that a search company (Google) also just started a large Biotech company (Calico) and no one even batted an eye.

Again, this company might be nonsense - but the speed at which this company is moving is exciting to me.  There's a surge of Biotech rallying this year (bubble?), so it's interesting to watch and there are a lot of possibilities.  The problem in the past is how slowly things were going...

[GJ]

I'm going to split this thread since it's going way off topic.

[jusken]

Cambridge investments was listed as major share holder. (I'm from Cambridge and went to schools and colleges there.) So, I was trying to see where in Cambridge it was. Bio-tech firms are often kind of close to MIT campus on Kendall square side. I think the main company marketing their 'break through' is in Utah but the company called 'Cambridge' investments owning most of the shares is in Iowa.

It's like this:  If a bio tech firm is actually in Camb. MA, they often have an MIT or MGH connection or at least there is a lot of overlap. Even if an investment firm in bio tech stuff is there. But the major share holder was in a corn field (well maybe an apple orchard) somewhere in Iowa.

Anyway, big name in tissue regeneration is Dr. Vacanti at MGH https://hsci.harvard.edu/people/joseph-vacanti-md.  There are other names. But if you don't have way to know 'who's who' in that field, it's hard to make heads or tails of these start ups because a good marker is WHO is involved.

Not totally sure but I just tend to think what ever their 'proprietary breakthrough' is, is probably from PRIOR stem cell research where there are tons of papers on wound healing methods or just something they can claim as a breakthrough to investors who don't have much of a science background.  Basics of wound healing is good debridement and MOIST healing. Add some stem cells or maybe some platelet rich plasma and your good to go. That said, not too sure this outfit is on the verge of any true breakthrough.

Interesting stuff, good to know.

I'm not sure how useful looking at this as a medical breakthrough is. There are a lot of similar companies working on similar problems, and it's unlikely that they're doing something totally novel in terms of research.  A lot of science is out there that has been waiting on human testing.  I believe this is the first to go to human trials with the aim of regrowing layers of skin/hair, though I'm just an enthusiastic outsider. This sounds like hopeful news for someone suffering bad skin afflictions - or possibly tangential therapies?

Perhaps it's just the most well marketed?  This is definitely a good time to market for Biotech given the recent surge and obviously that means a lot of potential quackery.

GJ: maybe include my initial post so it includes the link?

[GJ]

GJ: maybe include my initial post so it includes the link?

It was already in there, but you bring up a good point, and so I did ad a description how this was split from the other thread so people aren't confused.

BTW, the reason I split it is I'd like that Regenerative Medicine thread to be easy access where people can just come in and find things instead having to sift through a lot of discussion/tangents.

BioTech is interesting...I hope they can regrow papilla and teeth. It's odd nature gave us the ability to regrow things like fingernails and toenails but not teeth/gums, which are way more important. 

[kavan]

Interesting stuff, good to know.

I'm not sure how useful looking at this as a medical breakthrough is. There are a lot of similar companies working on similar problems, and it's unlikely that they're doing something totally novel in terms of research.  A lot of science is out there that has been waiting on human testing.  I believe this is the first to go to human trials with the aim of regrowing layers of skin/hair, though I'm just an enthusiastic outsider. This sounds like hopeful news for someone suffering bad skin afflictions - or possibly tangential therapies?

Perhaps it's just the most well marketed?  This is definitely a good time to market for Biotech given the recent surge and obviously that means a lot of potential quackery.

GJ: maybe include my initial post so it includes the link?

Oops. I must have been the one who went on a tangent.

Ken, are you an investor or someone hopeful for advancements in this venue?  There is a lot of stuff about stem cells from fat being used in a bunch of different regeneration modalities. If it's cosmetic skin repair, there is already different kinds of fat grafting and platelet rich plasma and 'stromal cells' out there in use for things like that.

[jusken]

Definitely not an investor, don't know enough about it.

I've been looking into bone/tissue advancements.  After jaw surgery, my teeth and gums in particular have black triangles/bone loss.  I also looked into fat grafting for a couple years because of the embarrassment being so gaunt (particularly in the face) has caused me.  I've come to the conclusion that the current treatment modalities are fairly arcane.  Grafting in general is just very unpredictable, as well as being highly limited in where it can treat (resulting in only a partial correction).

I have a few companies I've been following, this one popped up several months ago and is going to human trials.  If you have any others that I don't know about, I'm definitely interested!

[GJ]

After jaw surgery, my teeth and gums in particular have black triangles/bone loss.

That's me, you, and Lazlo at the least.

It's bad how that happens. I think it's mostly the orthodontics, and they don't tell you this going into it. I really hope they can regrow bone/papilla within the next decade. The George Bush years were really lean for stem cell based BioTech because he had to pretend to be against stem cells to keep certain voters. Stem Cell behavior and technology are pretty amazing.