In today’s briefing:
- Sun Pharmaceutical (SUNP IN): Checkpoint Acquisition Does Not Check All the Boxes
- Pre-IPO Huge Dental Limited – The Business and the Concerns Behind
- Ainos, Inc – Partners AI Nose to Give Robots the Ability to Smell
- China Bans Illumina’s Gene Sequencers Amid Escalating Trade Sanctions
- LTRN: M&A Illuminates GBM Value
- Prestige Consumer Healthcare, Inc. – Initiating Coverage
- CING: April Pre-NDA Meeting
Sun Pharmaceutical (SUNP IN): Checkpoint Acquisition Does Not Check All the Boxes
- Sun Pharmaceutical Industries (SUNP IN) (SPIL) announced the plan to acquire Checkpoint Therapeutics (CKPT US), a commercial stage immunotherapy and targeted oncology company, for ~$200M.
- In December, Checkpoint has received FDA approval for its maiden drug, Unloxcyt (cosibelimab), for the treatment of certain type of skin cancer. Unloxcyt has peak sales estimate of $1.6B.
- SPIL’s offer for Checkpoint seems compelling and provides superior risk-adjusted value. However, the acquisition will not be near-term value generator for SPIL, which doesn’t have good track record for acquisition.
Pre-IPO Huge Dental Limited – The Business and the Concerns Behind
- Since HUGE ranks in the first tier among domestic brands, the import substitution would be the main logic to continue driving the performance growth based on its strong cost effectiveness.
- If HUGE wants to achieve success in non-advantageous areas in the future, reducing price to compete for more market share could be an essential means. VBP is also a challenge.
- Comparable companies include Sinocera Functional Material, Yantai Zhenghai Bio-Tech, Angelalign, Modern Dental Group, Topchoice Medical. We think valuation of HUGE could be higher than peers due to higher profitability.
Ainos, Inc – Partners AI Nose to Give Robots the Ability to Smell
- Integrating AI Nose into robots. Ainos entered a strategic partnership with ugo, a leading Japanese robotics company, to integrate AI Nose into service robots, enhancing robotic solutions to improve industrial safety, public security, environmental monitoring, and healthcare support.
- Under the collaboration, the AI Nose technology will be licensed to ugo, with the companies working together to design and validate AI Nose-enabled ugo robots for multiple industries.
- Partners with leading Japanese robotics company. ugo (pronounced “you-go”) develops and commercializes next- generation avatar robots, with conventional and autonomous capabilities.
China Bans Illumina’s Gene Sequencers Amid Escalating Trade Sanctions
- China has banned Illumina, the U.S. genomics giant, from exporting gene sequencing machines to the country, escalating sanctions imposed last month when the company was added to Beijing’s Unreliable Entity List.
- The move is expected to accelerate domestic alternatives in the gene sequencing industry.
- Illumina, a dominant player in the global gene sequencing industry, has been a major supplier in China since entering the market in 2005. It once held a near-monopoly in the country’s gene sequencing sector before Chinese rival MGI Tech Co. Ltd. emerged in 2015 as a competitor. Since then, the two companies have battled for market share in China while engaging in global patent disputes.
LTRN: M&A Illuminates GBM Value
- Lantern Pharma uses AI & data to identify drug responders, uncover mechanism of action & rescue failed drugs.
- It is developing LP-300 for non- & never smoker NSCLC in the Harmonic trial.
- Secondary candidates include LP-100 for mCRPC and LP-184 and LP-284 which are in clinical development for multiple biomarker-defined tumors and hematological cancers, respectively.
Prestige Consumer Healthcare, Inc. – Initiating Coverage
- We are initiating coverage of Prestige Consumer Healthcare, Inc. (PBH), a leading provider of over-the-counter (OTC) health and personal care products.
- Our initial FY25 EPS estimate is $4.50, up 6.7% from $4.21 in FY24.
- This is in line with consensus of $4.50 and management guidance of $4.50. Our FY26 EPS estimate is $4.80 (up 6.9%) and slightly above consensus of $4.79.
CING: April Pre-NDA Meeting
- Cingulate is developing its Precision Timed Release (PTR) technology to deliver ADHD drugs to improve onset & efficacy of previously approved products.
- It licensed rights to manufacturing a 3-layer tablet that releases dexmethylphenidate (CTx-1301) over the active day.
- CTx-1301 provides immediate onset, eliminates the need for a booster dose, reduces diversion & simplifies dosing among other benefits.
💡 Before it’s here, it’s on Smartkarma
Sign Up for Free
The Smartkarma Preview Pass is your entry to the Independent Investment Research Network
- ✓ Unlimited Research Summaries
- ✓ Personalised Alerts
- ✓ Custom Watchlists
- ✓ Company Data and News
- ✓ Events & Webinars
