Coiled Therapeutics (LSE:COIL) — Investor Presentation

0:01 Good afternoon, and welcome to the Rockford Therapeutics PLC investor presentation. Throughout this recorded presentation, investors will be in listen only mode. Questions are encouraged and can be submitted at any time by the q and a tab situated in the right hand corner of your screen. Just simply type in your questions and press send. The company may not be in a position to answer every question it receives during the meeting itself. However, the company will review all questions submitted today and publish responses where it is appropriate to do so. Before we begin, I'd like to submit the following poll. And I'd now like to hand you over to Steven West, executive chairman. Good afternoon, sir.

0:32 Thank you, and good afternoon, everyone. Thanks for joining us today on our company update presentation. My name is Steve West. I'm the founder and chairman of Rockford Therapeutics, which is a material biotech company focused on the oncology space. I'm joined here today by our CEO, Adjane Reginald, He's gonna lead the presentation today and go through our growth plans. So without much further ado, I'll pass pass the presentation over to Adjan. Thanks, Adjan. Brilliant. Thanks, Steve. Good afternoon, everybody. So as Steve mentioned, this is an update presentation. So we're going to take you through a quick reminder of the company. So we'll start off with a snapshot. Rockfall was established in in 2020 by by Steve and the other founders.

1:21 And in 2021, they acquired Lyramid, which is an exciting portfolio of therapeutics, which included the antibody MidKind Therapeutics, but also an oligotherapeutic for MidKind. And then in September of last year, Rock four acquired Oncogeny, which added two more families of innovative cancer medicines. One was the cell therapy, and the second was an RNA therapeutics.

1:51 So while the company's had a couple of different acquisitions, both of those have been focused in this highly interesting and and highly valuable market niche of next generation or or highly innovative new cancer medicines. And and the focus of the company remains there, that we're focusing on making medicines that can help patients that have currently very few options. The portfolio is a preclinical portfolio. So what that means is that that all four programs have not reached clinical trials yet in humans. And that's important because that's a significant milestone. It's a significant milestone, of course, because we're getting closer to being able to help people, but it's also a significant inflection point in the valuation typically of cancer companies.

2:42 And the average valuation for a a cancer medicines company that's in the preclinical stage of development is around $70,000,000 $70,000,000 or £55,000,000, and that's based on data, which is pretty, you know, pretty long and large dataset that's going back to 2005 till 2020. So with our four programs, one is an an antibody program against our historical target, which is MIDKINE. The second program is an RNA therapeutic, again, versus mid kind. The third program is a cell therapy where we're looking to enhance the body's own immune system. And then another RNA therapeutic looking at a different target. This one is stat six.

3:30 So all four of those programs have the potential to make it into the clinic. We're developing all four of those programs, and we are looking to reach that preclinical milestone by the end of the year with at least one of those programs. The the reason we're confident that we can reach that milestone is because the leadership team has a track record of of doing exactly that, taking preclinical compounds or pre even actually ideas, you know, in in our previous history. Many of us have have taken a drug from just a good idea to actually into clinical trials, winning regulatory approvals in US, in in Europe, in The UK, manufacturing those medicines, but critically taking them to that that big value driver, which is getting them ready for clinical trials.

4:19 This is a very highly innovative company. A number of the programs were invented by professor Samarthin Evans, who won the Nobel Prize in 2007. And we have our own state of the art laboratory in Stratford Upon Avon, and we have access to a manufacturing facility as well. So Rockford is not a virtual company. It's it's a company with real infrastructure, with a leadership team that has a track record of doing exactly this, taking, very early prospects, and and driving them and develop them to the value inflection point of being able to go into the clinic. And we're able to do that in our own facilities as well as with a network of leading cancer institutes around the world. So we see significant value potential.

5:06 And as I mentioned, the average valuation for a preclinical company in this stage of development is around £55,000,000. Our licensing strategy is a way that we that we realize some of this value. So we focus on developing new medicines, and we we create valuation milestones by completing experiments along the way, but also then by creating licensing deals where in the ecosystem that we work in, small companies like ours typically license to large pharma companies. And as I mentioned, these these licensing deals add to add to the value of the company, but also validate our technology.

5:53 And so that's a snapshot of of of who we are and our strategy and how we execute our strategy. As I mentioned, our leadership team has a depth of experience. So Steve has over twenty five years experience in public companies, in finance, and has a proven track record of growing companies. Professor Sir Martin Evans, as I mentioned, is a Nobel laureate and a very eminent scientist, again, who's been working for more than twenty years in developing medicines as well as being an an eminent scientist in this field for more than fifty years. Professor Ahmed Keating, who's our chief medical adviser, is a physician, MD PhD based in in Canada, who was president of the American Society of Hematology. Ahmed has developed a number of medicines that have gone from being just very early innovation to actually getting into the clinic and completing later stage clinical trials and is very well known in the biotech field both in small companies and in large companies.

6:55 Similarly, one of our nonexecutive directors, doctor Darren Dizzley, was CEO of Horizon Discovery for more than ten years, and he was able to drive that company's increase in valuation from seed funding through an IPO at over 100,000,000 to actually valuations in in excess of 500,000,000. And, again, Darren has a an impeccable academic background as well from University of Cambridge. Doctor Michael Stein is another MD PhD who has a very strong track record in biotech and is based in Oxford. Simon Sinclair, again, is is highly qualified with an MD and a PhD based in Cambridge and is a chief safety officer for Rickett. Jean de Valle is a very eminent patent attorney who has a deep understanding of intellectual property, but is also a biotech CEO and brings to board, again, more experience in in early innovation, but in particular, also how you manage the critical piece of intellectual property.

8:02 This slide talks a little bit about where we've where we've progressed as a group since the acquisition of Oncogeny in 2022. So to remind you, in September 2022, Rock four acquired Oncogeny increased and increased our portfolio from Midkind to including also the cell therapy and the s r n a for stat six. So that full portfolio, we've only had for for less than six months now. So in q four, what we did was we integrated on COILED we also did a portfolio review to figure out what we needed to do with each of these programs to drive value and and to and to create the most attractive programs potentially for licensing, but also potentially for us to take into the clinic ourselves at the end of end of this year.

8:50 Following that strategic process, we then started two things in you know, three things in parallel. We started looking at out licensing partners. We developed our r and d programs, but we also kicked off our internal r and d. So r and d at Rockfall is both internal based on our own laboratories and external using a network of of leading cancer research institutes, which you see here. So the Olivia Newton John Institute, the Lowry Cancer Institute, the Hawkins Laboratory, Sydney University, and as we mentioned, the Keating Lab in Toronto. So our r and d programs have been going since q four. We've already announced significant progress with a couple of these different programs.

9:38 And and as we reach key milestones, like being able to show efficacy in animal models and in in vitro models will will announce that data. Our laboratory here in Stratford Upon Avon is is already up and running. We have people working there, and and that is focused on delivery systems. So often with with new medicines, you need to also figure out how to deliver those medicines to the cancer. So how do you get them safely into a human, and how do you get them to the cancer so that you can actually kill the cancer? And so that's the piece of research that we're doing or that piece of drug development, I suppose, or the research that we're doing here in Stratford Upon Avon. And then finally, in parallel, we started in in October to look at potential outside out licensing partners.

10:28 So who are the best partners for us to consider in terms of taking forward our core programs? So our four core cancer programs. But also, who are the partners that we need to increase the likelihood of those programming programs helping patients. And and in the modern world of cancer therapy, one of the key key additions that you need is diagnostics. So we need to be able to diagnose the patients that will benefit from our medicines accurately and in a way that fits into the existing treatment paradigm. And as we announced last week, we've we were very happy to form a partnership with Randox, which is one of the leading diagnostic companies and certainly the the leading dust diagnostic company in The UK.

11:15 So I'll talk a little bit about that license. So it's an exclusive worldwide license excluding the territory of Japan, and we have you know, we we would like to find a partner for Japan as well. It's for ten years, and it utilizes our mid kind antibody technology. So this is a technology that we've already demonstrated, has the ability to bind very very accurately with cancers that express MIDKIND. We're using that antibody to kill cancer. And here, Randox are using that antibody to to be the active component of medical diagnostic. It's very synergistic. This is a very complementary move for us to find a, you know, a world leading diagnostic company to develop medical diagnostics, to identify patients that have mid kind cancers, and then for us to come along and to be able to help those patients by killing cancers using the antibodies.

12:14 We estimate that the total transaction value will be in excess of £5,000,000, and it it includes collaborative research programs where we're able to identify new cancer medicines and diagnostics. The key strategic value of this this partnership is is fourfold. First of all, it, you know, helps us to keep remain focused on developing medicines because we have a great partner to help us develop these companion diagnostics. This really validates Midkind as a target because, you a company like Randox is willing to commit to identifying patients that have cancers that express MIDKIND. Companion diagnostics like this statistically vastly increase the likelihood of clinical trials and therefore this drug getting to market. It doubles the likelihood of that happening.

13:10 And then lastly, by able by being able to diagnose patients early, we're able to accelerate our clinical trials and dramatically reduce the time and cost of clinical trials. The antibody the MIDCON antibodies are progressing well. We're targeting metastatic cancer. So that's cancer that is the most lethal because it's spread. And what we've been able to demonstrate in breast cancer and in lung metastases is that the antibodies so far has has shown good safety. The reason we've picked these two indications is because even now after, you know, many decades of developing new cancer medicines, the mortality rate is still very high with these cancers. So up to seventy percent of patients, unfortunately, have died after five years.

14:07 And the data shows that the the the prevalence, so the how many of these cancers express MIDKIN is very, very high. So what we're looking to do is to help patients again who who are not getting the best from existing therapies. So by targeting these patients that still have a very high mortality, even with all the advancements in in modern medicine, we're hoping that our MIDKIND therapeutics, and in this case, the MIDKIND antibody program, can improve that life expectancy. And, hopefully, you can see how the diagnostic from Randox is gonna help us because this will help us identify these patients quickly, which means we can treat them more quickly. And and nearly always, if we can treat patients with aggressive, you know, metastatic cancer more quickly, we can improve their prognosis.

14:57 This good safety profile is is commercially very attractive. Now one of the things that there's always a risk with a new medicine, an innovative new medicine is that it's a double edged sword that you you get some side effects as a consequence of having a very good cancer response. We've we've been able to establish a good safety profile early, and that's perhaps increased the even more increased the attractiveness of our antibody programs. The next step for these programs is that we'll move into in vivo clinical studies to demonstrate that the antibody kills cancer in in cancer cells. And then we'll move into toxicology toxicology studies. That's it. Toxicology studies before we we look at filing an IND.

15:49 So this is a view of of where we are in terms of our overall pathway. So you'll see at the top there that our antibody programs are progressing well and are progressing into in vivo efficacy and toxicology. The oligo program is is about one quarter behind. The stat six program is moving into efficacy next quarter, and the the cell therapies are also moving into efficacy next quarter. So, you know, as I mentioned, a very innovative portfolio for products, which is a lot for a small company, particularly a small company of our our very small market cap.

16:36 And, again, as a reminder, typically, a company with a single product, which is in late preclinical development, would have a much, much higher value to potential acquirers. So in summary, with the four programs, Rockfall Therapeutics is very much a material biotech company focused on this next generation of innovative cancer medicines.

17:03 It's extremely well positioned with four fully funded preclinical drug development programs. We've partnered with leading academic centers as we've shown you, which complement our own in house expertise and our and our laboratory infrastructure. We we spent q four really making sure that our strategy was was the best fit for our purpose and establishing the foundations, bringing in the peaky people in r and d. And then now we're focused very much on delivering commercial milestones in q one and q two. In q one, we've already delivered experimental results for the Midkind program and commercial results in terms of this licensing deal that we signed with Randox.

17:52 We're still very much on track to file an IND by the end of the year and in parallel working on licensing opportunities because, frankly, we're getting a lot of interest for our programs. So by attending conferences, by attending meetings, we meet we're meeting a lot of big pharma companies who are your typical partners in the future. And through that, we're attract our programs because we're delivering the results that we've we've talked about are are gaining a lot of attention. So that's a summary. If I could pass you back to Steve now before we jump into q and a. Thanks, Ajan. So I hope everyone followed that. I mean, I think Ajan distills our story very well.

18:37 There's obviously further details on our website,

18:41 which is in the process of being updated. So we'll have a brand new website live next week, so please reference that as well. Please continue to submit questions as we go through the the q and a now. I might dive into the first question actually, Ajam. Sure. Please. If that's okay. Yeah. Yeah. Go ahead. So we've got a a submitted question here. Congratulations on the licensing deal. Can you please tell me whether this may help in preventing an early and unwanted takeover

19:08 bid for Rockford by an outside party? Well, firstly, thanks for the congratulations. We're certainly very happy with the last c deal. It's Yep. One of many that we're we're looking at doing.

19:20 In terms of the takeover bids, that in itself doesn't protect us, but we are very sensitive to anything to do with the takeover, mainly because of our our low market cap. And we think there's a lot of value to come yet before we should entertain any type of takeover bid. So we are very well protected because because of our share capital structure. We we've got less than 50% of our shares in free float, so it's almost impossible for someone to do a hostile takeover bit of us. So we're very much protected on that.

20:02 We have another question. Should I just keep running through these, Ajay? Yeah. Please. Yeah. Go ahead. And I and what I and I might I might throw them over to you when I when I when I get stuck. Next question is do you have any plans to address the current depressed share price? The company last raised money at 14 p, and we're currently well below those levels. Very good question. I think we are, unfortunately, in a

20:31 an environment where biotech stocks generally are depressed. So we're suffering a bit of a depressed share price from that. But I think in terms of our peers in the market, I I think we've managed to maintain our our share price quite well. That said, we do see our current value as being

20:55 undervalued, and we think there's a lot of value to come. And we think as the markets improve, you'll see that translates into an improved share price. And as we deliver on our milestones, which which has outlined in this presentation as well, we should certainly see some see through value here. Yeah. Absolutely. I I think yeah. Just to reiterate that, you know, biotech is is significantly depressed as as normally happens as as risk as sort of global risk and macroeconomics drives biotech is one of the things that is countercyclical to that. We have performed better than our peers in The UK. And as Steve said, we're focused on delivering the the true milestones, you know, the fundamentals.

21:43 The milestones are really what drive value here as we as we deliver those critical data driven milestones, the the value of the company will increase, and and we'd hope the share price to follow that. Ajay. I think the next one's for you, Ajay. What are the next major milestones for the company? Yeah. As we've as we've talked about before on the let me just go back. The slide I squiggled over. For each of these programs, what we're looking to do is to to deliver those tangible results that that potential partners big pharma partners are looking for, which is in vivo efficacy and then toxicology. We've already reported that that the mid kind antibody programs have shown good safety in that first study.

22:32 We'll we're doing the same. We will do the same with each of those other programs. So we'll ex you know, readouts are not months away. They're they're typically weeks away, and we'll have number of readouts. So I think it is really important for people perhaps to to see. This is not a company where we only get news every three months. The you know, there is there is news because there's material movement in how we develop these drugs every few weeks. And the as Steve said, we've got a lot of interest

23:01 because we're delivering against those milestones on schedule and on budget. Thanks, Adrian. Next question is, does the company have any intention on listing on the Nasdaq?

23:15 Again, a good question. We do see a lot of biotech companies listing on the Nasdaq. I think for us, we are certainly too small to be considering anything along those lines at the moment. However, if we deliver as we plan, then, you know, I'd hope we'd have a a material market cap certainly by the end of the year where we can maybe consider listing on the Nasdaq, but it'd have to be for the right reasons.

23:43 And I think those main reasons are you could there's a whole new set of investors over in in The US with very deep pockets. So it would be the next next step in our in our growth plans, I think, if we do consider to do that. Yep. I think that's right. I think and Nasdaq is is the is the main market for biotech. There there are hundreds of large institutional funds in Nasdaq, but you need to have a we'd need to have grown and and completed the first phase of our for our of our evolution for that to be sensible and and in the best interest of all shareholders. But, of course, if that's appropriate, I think we'd consider it steep. Yeah.

24:30 Next question is, does the board plan on introducing institutional investors to the company? Absolutely, yes. We we do plan on doing that. I guess we are a little bit constrained at the moment due to our current market cap. Most of these institutions are limited on what percentage they can hold in any in any company, and they also have a minimum investment size as well. So we are certainly socializing with

25:03 institutional investors and others that represent institutional investors. So as we grow, we would certainly expect these institutions to to join us on the ride and and yeah. We'll certainly notify the market as and when that happens.

25:24 Next question. This may be for you, Ajan. Who are your most like for like competitors, and what are their valuations in comparison to Rockport? So you've you've kept the tricky ones for me, Steve. Okay. That's right. It it's a tough one. There aren't really any like for like competitors in The UK, and I and I say that in all humility because of the the breadth and depth of our portfolio. You know, we we own the rights or we own the the four families of products. Those families of products have multiple drugs within them, and and all all four are in novel targets or in novel modalities. So it's worth fairly unusual.

26:06 There are some Nasdaq companies which would be similar comparisons, and and I think we've told you what the valuation comparison is. You know?

26:14 So as a whole across all listed companies and particularly companies that were acquired between 2005 and 2020, the average valuation for a preclinical oncology company was £55,000,000 or about $70,000,000. Thanks, Sanjay. Next question. Is the company only seeking licensing deals, or is it possible for the company to be sold to a big pharma?

26:46 Again, probably one for you, Ajan. Yeah. So why why don't I start that, Steven, then Yeah. Just let me let let me know what you think as well. So, you know, licensing deals are are are the most common. You know, as as many of you know, this is my background. I was a a business development director at Roche Pharmaceuticals, did a number of licensing deals, then also did a number of acquisitions. You know, it's often happens,

27:12 to me in my previous job that licensing deals become acquisitions. As a big pharma company, you look at biotech companies based on the products that they have. So you look at their technology, you look at their innovation, and you you look at licensing in the first instance, typically. And, you know, as Steve said, we're we're well positioned to avoid a hostile takeover. So I think Steve and myself and the board are committed to maximizing value for shareholders.

27:44 So, you know, we look at licensing deals because they are a very sensible way for us to add value to the company, but also for us to, you know, fulfill our purpose, which is also which is also critical. We want to be able to bring these medicines to market to patients so we can we can help these patients that have very few other options. And licensing deals are a way for us to to bring partners in. As As I I mentioned, licensing deals also are a way that big pharma companies learn a lot about individual programs, and and a percentage of those licensing deals become acquisition offers. Yep. Yeah. Thanks, AJ. I guess the only thing I would add to that is because we've got four

28:27 unique drug programs, all complementary, but all unique. We have the we we quite we have a lot of flexibility on whether we do deals, whether we take the drug programs forward ourselves, whether we sell the subsidiary company that owns that drug program. So we have a lot of options, I guess, on success. So we're well placed for that.

28:51 The next one is well, it could be it could be either of us, actually, but I suspect I suspect this is I suspect this is for you, Adrian. Yeah. So the the question is, is it true that one of your previous companies you sold for a 100 times return? So So what is true is that investors were able to sell their shares for a 100 times return. So some some of my early investors in the previous company had bought shares for a pound and were able to sell the shares for a £101 about four and a half years later. So, yes, that is true. It's a matter of public record. Next question is, can you share some potential milestones in which you envisage the £5,000,000 to be paid from Randox? Unfortunately, we're we're constrained by con confidentiality on specifics, but what I can say is that there's a component which is upfront, and there's a component which is royalties on on sales.

29:52 And, unfortunately, I'm I'm kind of restricted in in giving any further details on that, but we're very happy with the deal that that we managed to negotiate. Yeah. Yeah. Absolutely. We cut we cut something more, but as some of you know, during the pandemic, I worked at a a large diagnostic company for a couple of years. So I I think Steve's point is is is a good one. We're we're very happy for this deal in diagnostics. It works well for both parties, and we're very happy to have a a good partner that will help us develop these companion diagnostics that are so critical to our drug programs. Yep. Next question is, can you speak about a, cash reserves, excuse me, b, cash burn rate, and c, future financing plans? I can touch upon it. Again, I'm I'm I'm unfortunately restricted, but in terms of cash reserves, the the last number we published is quite old. So that was when we published our June 30 numbers in the second half of last year.

30:54 That cash number back then was $3.03 just over 3,000,000, £3,200,000, I believe. We haven't published a new cash number yet, so I'm restricted on what I can say. But I can say that we're publishing our 2022 numbers next month so we can update the market on cash reserves then. I can add some color, though. So we you'll see in our in our literature that we we always refer to our drug programs being fully funded. So we are fully funded for our drug programs. We don't have any any plans to go to the market and raise money at the moment. So, hopefully, that answers the question in the round roundabout way. Next question is what would you say would be the key KPIs to measure your progress?

31:46 It's a very good question. I think for us, it's all about delivering results, which Ajay has talked about earlier. And I think those main results that we can demonstrate to the market are one the first one is the results of our r and d programs on all the four programs that we're running. And that'll come through as safety data, which we've already published one on one of the programs. It'll come through as efficacy data as well. It'll also be in terms of licensing deals, and I think that's the real the real sort of the real moment for the market where you're gonna see numbers published around licensing deals. And I think you will see the disparity between at that point in time, the disparity between what our current market cap is and what the potential deal sizes are.

32:42 Don't know you had anything to add to that, Joan. No. I think it's a really good summary. I think, as I said, if you look at the data, you can see the the the normal valuation or the normal yeah. Either mark of public valuation or private valuation of oncology companies and and the and the size of licensing teams is is is relative to that, not relative to our current market cap. That's what we'd be looking for. And we have a final final question, which is what is Rockford's USP as many companies are researching antibodies? That's probably better explained by by you, Ajay. Yeah. So I think this is a good a good question and a good point. You know, many, many companies looking at antibodies. Like, again, in my previous work, I worked at one of the leading companies developing antibodies and and did licensing deal for antibodies.

33:34 The the key with our antibodies is that is is threefold. First of all, they are entirely novel antibodies, so we have a very strong intellectual property position. The second thing is they're quite a large family of antibodies. There's four different antibodies. And the reason that's relevant is is the third point, which is they're targeting a novel target. So MidKind is a is a novel target. So there are lots of companies that have good antibody technology, but the antibody is the is the tool, the the target where you where you where you aim your antibody or what your antibodies effect on cancer is really the measure of your value and your USP. So where we're still fairly unique is where we certainly hold the biggest portfolio of intellectual property around mid kind. And in particular, our mid kind antibodies are have shown great precision and great efficacy so far in in preclinical studies against killing cancer.

34:34 So that's really the our USP that we were able to focus these mid kind antibodies on killing the hardest to treat cancers, and we're able to demonstrate that with the data that we're producing. Adam, Steven, thank you very much for that. I think I think you've actually addressed all those questions from investors. And, of course, the company will review all the questions submitted today, and we'll publish those responses on the investor meet company platform. But just before redirecting investors to provide you with their feedback, which I know is particularly important to the company, Ajan, could I just ask you for a few closing comments? Yes. So as I mentioned, Rock four is a a material biotech company with a a significant portfolio of four fully funded programs. We've been able to demonstrate already in q one that we can both deliver the the critical milestones that show that we're able to progress those programs and also commercial licenses that that begin to to to crystallize the value that we're creating within the company.

35:37 A near term IND and licensing opportunities are what we're working on, and we believe this is the first of many deals that we're looking to complete. Thank you. Adrian, Steven, thanks once again for updating investors today. Could I please ask investors not to close the session as you'll now be automatically redirected to provide your feedback in order that the management team can better understand your views and expectations. This will only take a few moments to complete, but I'm sure will be greatly valued by the company. On behalf of the management team of Rockford Therapeutics PLC, we'd like to thank you for attending today's presentation, and good afternoon to you all. Thank you. Thank you. Thanks, everyone.