A new Covid-19 vaccine from AstraZeneca

The trial results were positive, but the AstraZeneca share price barely moved on the news. The muted response is likely attributable to the company’s ‘no profit’ policy for its vaccine launch. The vaccine, AZD1222, was tested using two separate dosing regimens.

The first dosing regimen consisted of a half then full dose one month apart and showed a 90% efficacy. Patients in the second dosing regimen received two full doses one month apart and showed a 62% efficacy. The combined results showed a 70% overall effectiveness.

While this would be considered a breakthrough a few months ago, in comparison to the 95% efficacy of Pfizer’s and Moderna’s vaccines, AZD1222 appears underwhelming. However, it has a distinct advantage over both.

The vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna require cold storage conditions of -70°C, and -20°C, respectively. AstraZeneca’s vaccine can be stored for up to six months at a temperature of 2°C–8°C.

Maintaining sub-freezing temperatures in transit is a complicated and expensive process, making the availability of the vaccine in poorer nations minimal. By not requiring less demanding storage temperatures, AZD1222 may prove to be the most viable vaccine candidate for mass distribution.

A biotech stock opportunity

The vaccine was developed and manufactured with help from Oxford Biomedica (LSE:OXB) as part of a supply agreement signed in September. I’ve discussed the biotech stock in previous articles. As a quick reminder, Oxford Biomedica is a gene and cell therapy group. It offers a proprietary platform, LentiVector, that allows pharmaceutical companies to develop new drugs at a significantly reduced cost.

The supply agreement is active for 18 months. The biotech company is responsible for the manufacturing of AZD1222 until the end of 2021 unless the contract is extended.

Initially, the firm received an upfront payment of £15m from AstraZeneca. It expects to generate an estimated £35m from this contract alone by the end of 2021. This represents a huge growth opportunity for the company. The combined £50m revenue represents nearly 80% of the total revenue achieved in 2019 pre-Covid-19.

With this added boost and the continual growth of its LentiVector platform, I’ve forecasted total revenue for 2021 to be in the £100m–£120m range – almost double what it is today.

However, it is essential to remember that this additional revenue is only temporary and may cease to exist after 2021. Still, it does grant a significant boost in available capital for the business to reinvest and increase the value of its platform for its clients.

The bottom line

AstraZeneca’s noble non-profit stance is a social victory. However, Oxford Biomedica is the real financial beneficiary of AZD1222’s successful trials. The Covid-19 vaccine still requires regulatory approval, but AstraZeneca has already begun the filing process with multiple regulatory bodies around the world.

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Zaven Boyrazian owns shares in Oxford Biomedica. The Motley Fool UK has no position in any of the shares mentioned. Views expressed on the companies mentioned in this article are those of the writer and therefore may differ from the official recommendations we make in our subscription services such as Share Advisor, Hidden Winners and Pro. Here at The Motley Fool we believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors.

This new approach to developing medicines from living organisms rather than chemical bases has allowed the pharmaceutical industry to make giant leaps. But its uses are not limited to just medicine. Biotechnology companies have developed pest-resistant crops, biofuels for vehicles, and even gene cloning.

This diverse range of applications and continual discoveries have created an enormous opportunity for these two biotech companies, in an industry expected to reach $500bn by 2026.

Oxford Biomedica – A hidden industry leader?

Oxford Biomedica (LSE:OXB) specialises in gene and cell therapy. This segment of the biotechnology sector is relatively new, with only eight FDA-approved treatments on the market today. However, by 2025 it’s expected that 10-20 new therapies will be approved — every year.

Why do I think Oxford Biomedica is a leader? It’s simple. Developing gene and cell therapies is a costly process that most pharmaceutical companies would deem too risky to pursue. However, this stock has developed a proprietary platform called LentiVector.

It allows Oxford Biomedica to utilise its expertise to assist large pharma companies in developing new drugs. The firm charges bioprocessing and development fees for clients using the platform. This approach to drug development is considerably cheaper for clients and subsequently reduces the investment risk.

Attracting the likes of Novartis and Bristol Myers Squibb, the platform has become a centre point for bio-drug development. What’s more, is even after completion and approval of a new treatment, Oxford Biomedica continue to receive royalties from each sale. Needless to say, this business model creates an incredible stream of recurring revenue and cash flow – a key requirement for explosive returns.

Bioventix – An industry diagnostics expert

Bioventix (LSE:BVXP) operates in a different segment of the industry. It designs and manufactures specialised antibodies for blood testing machines. Today blood tests are used to diagnose almost every disease — including Covid-19.

This continual rise in demand has drastically increased the price of antibodies. To put it in perspective, Bioventix currently sells between 10-20 grams each year at around £4m.

Currently, the supply does not meet the demand, and while this won’t be the case forever, it may not matter over the long term.

Just like Oxford Biomedica, Bioventix works directly with large pharma companies to sell or develop new antibody solutions. The firm also continues to receive royalties on each subsequent sale of a product designed with its antibodies. Almost 70% of the revenue stream originates from these multi-year royalty payments.

Growth stocks with a recipe for explosive returns?

With one business diagnosing the problems, and the other finding treatments, they capture a large portion of the industry pipeline. Combined, the companies amount to a $1.12bn market cap, thus there is a lot of room for growth.

I’ve owned shares in Oxford Biomedica for many years, and recently I’ve bought more. Bioventix is a far smaller company, but it’s looking ever-more promising in my eyes. Fused in one portfolio, I believe these biotech growth stocks have the potential to create explosive returns for myself and other shareholders.

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Zaven Boyrazian owns shares in Oxford Biomedica. The Motley Fool UK has recommended Bioventix. Views expressed on the companies mentioned in this article are those of the writer and therefore may differ from the official recommendations we make in our subscription services such as Share Advisor, Hidden Winners and Pro. Here at The Motley Fool we believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors.

I’ve liked Oxford BioMedica (LSE: OXB) for some time as a ‘blue sky’ candidate — a company that isn’t currently making any profits, but looks like it has strong potential. Since I last looked at the gene and cell therapy researcher in February, the share price has gained another 48%, and it added a couple of percent Tuesday after the firm announced its latest success.

Novartis has received approval for its CAR-T cell therapy, Kymriah, for the treatment of various kinds of lymphoblastic leukaemia and lymphoma, and Oxford BioMedica is “the sole manufacturer of the lentiviral vector that encodes the CD19-directed chimeric antigen receptor in Kymriah.” I’m not going to pretend I know what that means, but Oxford BioMedica signed an agreement last year for the supply of lentiviral vectors to Novartis. The company says it could potentially receive more than $100m for this over three years, coupled with currently undisclosed royalties — and I do know what that means.

First-half results from Oxford BioMedica are due on 13 September, and what I’ll mostly be checking is the firm’s current liquidity and its potential for some actual profit this year. Forecasts suggest around £9m in pre-tax profit, though at this stage that’s not a long way above zero and I’ve seen early blue sky profits like this subsequently reversed. 

The company had £14.3m in cash at 31 December 2017, and enjoyed a £20.5m placing in March, so funding is still vitally important. But as long as that looks good, I still see an attractive growth candidate here.

Beating oil?

UK Oil & Gas (LSE: UKOG) has followed a typical oil explorer trajectory. The potential hydrocarbon wealth at the Horse Hill operation near Gatwick, which the firm shares with a number of other prospectors, led to a pile-in from investors in mid-2017. But as is often the case, the excitement turned out to not have considered all the risks, and early flow tests encountered difficulties.

As I said when I last looked at UKOG at the end of June, the company’s new planned flow tests could make a big difference. The balance between funding the exploratory work and the timescale to actual commercial pumping tends to be critical for small operators, especially those not making any profit.

In early August we had the results, with implied stable daily pumped rates of 401 and 414 barrels of oil from the firm’s Portland tests, which continued for six hours and two hours respectively. The report also told of “solution gas rates of around 41,000 cu ft per day.“

Chief executive Stephen Sanderson described this as “excellent short-term high-rate test results,” pointing out that “potential future near-term cash flow from the Portland is very important to UKOG.” And that is critical — the long-term potential (with long-term testing set to happen soon) won’t be achieved if the company doesn’t make it financially.

I reckon the signs are indeed turning positive for UKOG, but right now my money would be on Oxford BioMedica — it looks like considerably lower risk to me, but still with serious growth potential. 

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Alan Oscroft has no position in any of the shares mentioned. The Motley Fool UK has no position in any of the shares mentioned. Views expressed on the companies mentioned in this article are those of the writer and therefore may differ from the official recommendations we make in our subscription services such as Share Advisor, Hidden Winners and Pro. Here at The Motley Fool we believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors.

That was largely due to a profit warning in September, released along with first-half results. The results themselves weren’t bad, but early revenue growth at the independent hospital group had been driven by NHS referrals, and those were slowing.

There’s a drop in EPS of 23% expected for the year just ended in December 2017, with results due on 2 March. January’s pre-close update confirmed previous guidance, and told us to expect revenue between £929m and £932m, with underlying EBITDA in the range of £149m to £151m.

Net debt stood at around £465m at 31 December, which is a little over three times the mid-point EBITDA estimate. I generally prefer that multiple to come in at around 2.5 times or less, but for a company that’s still a small fish in a big pond with potentially plenty of room to grow, I’m not too disturbed.

Growth opportunities

Spire only floated in 2014, and I expect new growth companies to go through early periods of volatility before their genuine potential settles down. And I’m encouraged by current forecasts.

Though pared back a little from earlier predictions, mooted EPS growth of 7% for 2018 and 11% for next year would drop the P/E to around 12. The modest dividend (currently set to yield 1.6%) is very well covered, and should soon ramp up.

Despite the recent fall, I see Spire Healthcare as having attractive long-term prospects.

Gene Therapy

I was a bit more fortunate in my upbeat stance on Oxford Biomedica (LSE: OXB) last March, and the share price has doubled since I gave it the nod. Priced at 11.5p as I write, the shares don’t yet command anything in the way of P/E valuations as there’s been no profit yet.

The 2017 year is expected to have brought in a pre-tax loss of around £11.6m, but that looks set to change with only a £6m loss forecast for 2018 and a tiny profit by 2019.

The “leading gene and cell therapy group” is in a very exciting area of medical research which is really only in its infancy. It’s risky trying to guess which companies will come to dominate the field, but there are so many potential treatments out there that there must be scope for many competitors

Important deal

Thursday’s news boosted Oxford Biomedica’s prospects, with the firm announcing “a major new collaboration & licence agreement with Bioverativ Inc. for the development and manufacturing of lentiviral vectors to treat haemophilia.“

Bioverativ will gain access to Oxford’s LentiVector and manufacturing technologies, in a deal which is worth a $5m upfront payment coupled with “various milestone payments, potentially worth in excess of $100m” and royalties. I wonder if those Oxford Biomedica forecasts will be upgraded now?

I see Oxford Biomedica as a ‘picks and shovels’ operator in the gene and cell therapy business, offering technology that can be used for a variety of genetic therapies. Whichever treatments are eventually successful, companies which offer the development platforms should do well.

The market response has been a 7.5% share price rise (at the time of writing), but the full potential of this latest development might not have been fully understood. Oxford Biomedica looks a strong long-term buy to me.

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Alan Oscroft has no position in any of the shares mentioned. The Motley Fool UK has no position in any of the shares mentioned. Views expressed on the companies mentioned in this article are those of the writer and therefore may differ from the official recommendations we make in our subscription services such as Share Advisor, Hidden Winners and Pro. Here at The Motley Fool we believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors.

Potential growth shares come in all shapes, and don’t always tick the same boxes. Here are two I think have serious long-term potential.

Advertising on the up

M&C Saatchi (LSE: SAA) might not be an obvious candidate for growth investors, who are often looking for explosive growth over a short period.

But the advertising agency’s record is impressive, with EPS having climbed from 15.1p in 2012 to 21.07p for the year ended in December 2016. That’s an overall rise of 40% over four years, and a 13% gain in 2016 alone.

As a result, the share price is up 136% in five years, while the FTSE 350 index has gained just 32% over the same period — and anything that beats the index by such a large margin definitely falls under my definition of growth.

Forecasts do suggest a slowing of earnings growth with just 9% on the cards for this year, to give a PEG of 1.8, which is high enough to fly above the limit that most growth investors look for. But to me that just hides a steady long-term growth prospect.

Revenue in 2016 grew by 26% to £225.3m (and up 19% at constant currency), with operating profit up 24% to £23m. And it’s not just the UK, where Brexit could signal a few tough years for the industry — Saatchi saw big revenue gains in the Americas, the Middle East, Africa, Asia and Australasia.

Chief executive David Kershaw called the year outstanding, adding that “we are confident that we will continue to make good progress in 2017 and beyond.“

The dividend was raised by 15% to 8.29p per share, and while a yield of 2.3% on today’s share price is not a huge income, it’s a nice annual bonus to be added to any future share price growth.

Jam tomorrow?

Oxford Biomedica (LSE: OXB) shares have lost 59% over two years to 5.3p, so you might wonder what growth I see there. I could point out that we’ve seen a bit of a recovery of late, and that the price is actually up 68% from its recent low in October 2016, but that’s only part of the picture.

The bigger picture is one of ‘growth tomorrow’, hopefully, as Oxford Biomedica is a small biotech firm specialising in gene and cell therapy. It is not making any profits yet — and isn’t expected to this year nor next either, though the forecast loss per share should drop considerably in 2018.

The key to the firm’s 2016 results announcement was not in its finances, though it appears to have enough cash for now, especially after fundraising £17.5m during the year. But the key is in the collaboration agreements it has with other firms making use of its “world-leading lentiviral vector delivery platform for gene and cell therapy” (to use the words of chief executive John Dawson).

The firm’s collaboration with Novartis for what it calls a “blockbuster potential product” is said to be progressing well and is “close to market“, and collaborations with Orchard Therapeutics, Immune Design and others have been expanded with a new research and development collaboration with Green Cross LabCell.

The company’s own proprietary developments, which target conditions including Parkinson’s, cancer tumours and corneal graft rejection, also appear to be progressing well, though they’re mostly at relatively early stages of development.

Oxford Biomedica is a classic blue sky investment right now, but I think we’re looking at a future growth star.

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Oxford BioMedica’s results for the six months to 30 June show that the company is making encouraging progress. Its contract with Novartis is progressing well and contributed to 184% growth in sales during the period. There are also multiple confirmed purchase orders through to the second quarter of 2017 and Oxford BioMedica’s capacity expansion of its bioprocessing and laboratory facilities are now complete.

A collaboration with Green Cross LabCell has also been signed. This will identify and develop gene modified natural killer (NK) cell-based therapeutics. Green Cross has also taken an equity stake in Oxford BioMedica as part of a £10m placing. The funds will be used to progress its discovery and pre-clinical projects, as well as develop valuable intellectual property relating to the LentiVector platform.

Looking ahead, Oxford BioMedica is forecast to remain lossmaking in the next two years. As such, it would be unsurprising for there to be a further fundraising in the medium term following today’s placing announcement as well as the £7.5m placing in February 2016.

Lower risk?

Clearly, Oxford BioMedica has a bright long-term future and its strategy is sound. However, given the uncertainty faced by investors at the present time it may be prudent to buy stocks with lower risk profiles, but which also have excellent long-term growth prospects. One such company is GlaxoSmithKline, which is exceptionally well-diversified and is forecast to grow its bottom line over the next two years.

For example, GlaxoSmithKline’s earnings are due to rise by 27% in the current year and by a further 7% next year. This has the potential to boost investor sentiment – especially at a time when GlaxoSmithKline trades on a price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of just 16.8. Its three-part business model also means that it has a very stable outlook compared to pharmaceutical peers. GlaxoSmithKline’s consumer goods division offers relative stability, while its vaccines and pharmaceutical potential is high due in part to its large and well-diversified product pipeline.

Of course, GlaxoSmithKline also offers a high yield. It stands at 5% at the present time, while Oxford BioMedica offers no dividend. This is understandable since Oxford BioMedica is a relatively small business focused on growth and in turning a profit in the near future. However, with cash returns and other asset classes offering disappointing income options, a 5% yield could prove to be popular among investors and may lead to high demand for GlaxoSmithKline’s shares over the coming years.

As such, while Oxford BioMedica has potential, GlaxoSmithKline is a much better buy right now. Its mix of growth potential, low risk and income return make it one of the most enticing stocks in the FTSE 350.

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Gene technology

Look at Oxford BioMedica (LSE: OXB). The shares spiked 8.7% this morning, on no news, though as I write the gain stands at 2.7% with the price at 4.25p.

Oxford BioMedica operates in the field of gene therapy, so there’s plenty of potential, and I think there are good reasons to expect good things here. Although there are no profits yet, the company has been issuing a stream of positive news — the most recent of which was approval from UK regulators for its newest development facilities. And the firm’s LentiVector delivery platform sounds very promising.

With the shares having fallen 68% since their March 2015 peak, I see the biggest risk to shareholders now being future dilution. The firm burned £14.9m in operational costs last year with a further £16.7m in capital expenditure, and the £9.4m cash on the books at 31 December had to be boosted by a £7.6m share placing in February. But it’s a measured risk, and it could be profitable.

Oil rising

There are better understood risks at Premier Oil (LSE: PMO), whose shares are up 4.3% to 73.3p so far today, ahead of first-half results due on Thursday. The recovery in the price of oil since the start of August has helped too, as that’s a key measure of Premier’s potential ability to deal with its big debt burden — and that’s the thing that outweighs most other considerations at the moment.

Cheap oil did enable Premier to snap up E.On’s North Sea assets at a knockdown price, and as they’re productive they’re already adding to the bottom line. The month-by-month deferral of testing of the firm’s financial covenants while it’s in discussions with lenders, coupled with a recent promising Bagpuss well result, suggest to me that it’s in nobody’s interest to force Premier into default and that a debt deal will be struck.

The shares are on a price to book value ratio of around 0.7 at the moment, and that’s based on current oil prices. A sustained recovery is going to make that even more attractive, and I’m happy to keep holding Premier Oil shares.

Another ARM?

Processor designer Imagination Technologies (LSE: IMG) shares are up 3.7% to 208p today, and are now up 90% since their 2016 low point in January. Are people hoping for a takeover approach after ARM Holdings was snapped up by Japan’s Softbank? If they are, I think they could be making a mistake, as Imagination Technologies doesn’t have the same track record of meteoric growth. In fact, after several years of declining earnings resulting in a reported loss in the year just ended, the firm is very much in a turnaround phase.

In Imagination’s full-year report last month, chief executive Andrew Heath spoke of a “particularly challenging” year, but also of a “significant restructuring of the business” which from here on “will be an IP licencing business“.

There’s definitely potential here, but on a forward P/E of 38, I think I’d hold fire for now.

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A key reason for Blinkx’s larger loss last year was its restructuring. This included a number of one-off costs such as a goodwill impairment of over $50m, although Blinkx has been able to reduce its annualised operating costs by over $40m. And with it having a debt-free balance sheet and $78m in cash, Blinkx seems to be well-placed to move forward with its wholesale restructuring.

Looking ahead, Blinkx is confident of delivering profitability in the current financial year. If it’s able to do so then its share price is likely to rise significantly as investor sentiment will most probably improve dramatically. However, while the company’s strategy seems to be sound and core operations now account for over 70% of operations, it may be prudent to await evidence of profitability before piling-in.

Risky but rewarding?

Also rising significantly today are shares in Oxford BioMedica (LSE: OXB). They’re up by around 9%, with the gene and cell therapy group announcing details of the appointment of a sole corporate broker today. Of course, Oxford BioMedica’s shares have traded higher since the recent release of data from two clinical studies that demonstrated dose-dependent gene expression with the company’s LentiVector delivery platform.

Clearly, this is excellent news for the company and investor sentiment has been firmer since its release. And with the company’s results showing that it has a sound strategy in terms of broadening its partnerships and investing in its facilities and headcount, Oxford BioMedica could deliver improved share price performance following its 48% decline in the last year. However, with it expected to be lossmaking in each of the next two years and therefore requiring significant amounts of cash, there may be better options available elsewhere for risk-averse investors.

One to watch

Meanwhile, shares in Intelligent Energy (LSE: IEH) have slumped by around 7% after it announced that it has agreed the terms of a £30m gross fundraising through the issue of convertible loan notes. The full amount has been secured from the company’s largest shareholder Meditor, with Intelligent Energy permitted to seek additional qualifying investors to subscribe for up to a maximum of £15m of the convertible loan notes.

If Meditor’s convertible loan notes are converted then it will give the company a stake of between 58.9% and 72.2% in Intelligent Energy. As such, this will require shareholder approval since it would give rise to certain obligations under the takeover code.

With Intelligent Energy’s future relatively uncertain and investor sentiment being rather weak, there seem to be better risk/reward opportunities available elsewhere. Certainly, Intelligent Energy’s restructuring could improve the company’s long-term outlook, but for now it appears to be a stock to watch rather than buy.

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Clearly, this is a time of major change for Lonmin as it seeks to implement an updated strategy in response to exceptionally difficult trading conditions. As part of this, it is restructuring its business and also seeking to cut costs; both of which are likely to have a positive impact on Lonmin’s bottom line over the medium to long term. And with Lonmin having the capital through which to effect its new plan following last year’s fundraising, its future seems to be brighter than it was just a handful of months ago.

This increased confidence plus a more stable commodity price environment has led to a rise in Lonmin’s share price of 99% since the turn of the year. This rapid increase could continue, although Lonmin remains a relatively high risk play and may only be of interest to less risk averse investors.

Also rising today are shares in Oxford BioMedica (LSE: OXB), with them being up over 11% despite no significant news flow having been released by the company today. In fact, the gene therapy specialist has not released an update since 7 March when it announced a new and expanded collaboration with Immune Design Corp. Since then its shares have fallen by around 6% but looking ahead, the company has clear potential to deliver profitability.

The challenge for investors, though, is that profitability may still be a long way off. And in the meantime Oxford BioMedica is in a cash burn phase which could require further fundraisings following its £8.1m placing in February. As such, and while Oxford BioMedica has a bright long term future in a very appealing space, it may only be worth a closer look for less risk averse investors.

Meanwhile, shares in mobile payments company Bango (LSE: BGO) have risen by 12% today despite a lack of news flow. Despite this, its shares have still fallen by 60% since the turn of the year even though Bango’s full-year results have showed that it is making progress. For example, it experienced significant growth in end user spend, with the company also doubling the rate of spending through the Bango payment platform. And with a stable cost base, it seems to be well-positioned to move towards profitability.

Of course, the market seems to be somewhat downbeat on Bango’s prospects judging by its recent share price fall. While today’s upward movement could indicate a change in sentiment, it may be prudent to await confirmation of this over the medium term before piling in.

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Up until yesterday, shares in Aminex (LSE: AEX) were down 28% over 12 months, echoing the slump among smaller oil and gas explorers. But a morning spike today of 18% has lifted the shares to 1.45p, after the company reported first gas from its Kiliwani North field in Tanzania.

Production from the field, in which Aminex should have a 51.75% stake after a recent partial disposal, is expected to reach a production level of around 4,000 to 5,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day gross over the next 90 to 100 days — and Aminex expects to receive $10m to $15m per year from the Tanzania Petroleum Development Corporation for it.

Cheap assets

I’d hoped I was close to the bottom when I bought Premier Oil (LSE: PMO) shares at 99p back in September, but the subsequent fall to just 19p reinforced the lesson that no matter how far a share has fallen, there’s still another possible 100% to go. But since then, Premier pulled off what I think was a bit of a coup in snapping up E.ON’s North Sea assets for $120m — it should be cash generative, and will surely be seen as a bargain price in a few years’ time.

Premier shares have more than double since that 19p low, to 44p today (I’m only 55% down, whoopee!) and I see it as a risky but good prospect. The big downer is the company’s net debt, which stood at more than $2.2bn at 31 December. But unlike some others, Premier does not seem to be facing any prospect of its lenders pulling the plug — in fact, they have agreed to loosen Premier’s fianancial covenants until mid-2017, while the company is focusing on debt reduction.

My timing stank, but I’m happy to hold.

Pharma prospects

Oxford Biomedica (LSE: OXB) shareholders won’t be too chuffed when they look back on the 57% price drop they’ve suffered over the past 12 months, but they can perhaps take a little heart today from seeing a 5.7% rise to 5.55p — perhaps in anticipation of full-year results due on 28 April.

The company specializes in gene therapy and cell-based medicine, which is surely the future for many of today’s health problems and is likely to be a field which generates lots of tasty profits. But the problem, as with any other new technology still in the startup “blue sky” days (and I’m minded of fuel cell research, which has been touted for years but is still in its infancy) is that we really don’t know when the big commercial breakthroughs will come and who will profit from them.

Oxford Biomedica is still in the cash-burn phase, has no forecasts for profits yet, and launched a new share placing to generate needed working capital as recently as February — and we really don’t know how much further dilution there’ll be before we see those first profits. There are definite possibilities here, but it’s unquantifiable right now and is not one for me.

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Alan Oscroft has no position in any shares mentioned. The Motley Fool UK has no position in any of the shares mentioned. We Fools don't all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors.