Pharmaceutical company stock Ormed “Today (Sunday) jumped more than 40% in Tel Aviv to a price that embodies the company worth about NIS 1 billion, after a similar rise on the Nasdaq on Friday. To, Nadav Kidron, to shareholders last week.
In the letter, the management mentioned Ormed To investors, that the company’s large phase III trial of swallowing insulin is expected to yield results in January 2023. In addition, the company is also developing an oral vaccine against corona, as well as a swallowing drug to treat fatty liver disease.
Ormed shares have lost about 63% in the past year, and until the sharp rises of the weekend. The current increases reduce the sharp decline to about 35%. The declines, like the rises, were not due to any dramatic event in the company. Although the main increase in the company’s share between 2020-2021 was due, among other things, to its entry into the corona field, compared to other companies that abandoned activity in this field, Ormed’s swallowed vaccine is still relevant and still under development.
Thus, the movement in the company’s stock is probably more related to market trends. Between 2020 and 2021, the biomedical sector on the NASDAQ swelled against the backdrop of the corona eruption, but at the end of 2021 it began a rapid dive and many companies lost 70% -80% of the peak, with most of them having changed nothing substantial. Prices of shares in the field are now jumping, although usually not by tens of percent as in the present case.
About 80% of doctors will prescribe the insulin product to patients
In his letter, CEO Kidron said that the company has $ 169 million in cash, which will be enough to complete a Phase III trial.
Nadav Kidron, CEO of Ormed / Photo: PR
In a survey conducted by the company among physicians on behalf of IQVIA, it examined how the product is expected to be accepted in the market. This is a significant test for a product that has entered as a new solution in a market that already has many solutions in the field of insulin. About 80% of doctors said they would probably prescribe the product to their patients. The actual registration depends on other factors, such as the recommendation of the union of doctors in the field, and the willingness of insurance companies to pay for the product.
Precedent treatment for fatty liver
As mentioned, in addition to the insulin product, Ormed is also developing a product for the treatment of fatty liver disease, and a Phase II trial in this area is expected to yield results by the end of the current quarter. Several companies are trying to develop treatments for the disease, which is part of the metabolic syndrome (along with obesity, high blood pressure, diabetes and heart disease) and has no treatment today. This field has so far been saturated with difficulties and failures, but it is also a great opportunity.
As for Ormed’s vaccine for corona, it should be given by ingestion, and encompass a number of variants, and is currently in a preliminary trial in South Africa. The recruitment of patients for this trial progressed slower than expected but the company added another clinical site and has now completed the recruitment. The results are expected before the end of the year. Beyond Corona, the company is interested in developing more vaccines in the same method.