Article Excerpt:
TWST: We would like to begin with a brief historical sketch of YM Biosciences and a picture of the things you are doing at the present time.Mr. Allan: YM BioSciences is a cancer drug development company. We have been in the business since 1994, and we were one of the first companies to popularize what is now a fairly common model, which is to source basic research from academic institutes and perform the clinical development on those products identified by us as prospectively valuable to convert them into products useful for human health. We currently have a portfolio of four completely different products useful for patients with cancer in advanced clinical development, and we anticipate that some time before the end of the year, survival data on our pivotal Phase III trial on our lead drug, tesmilifene, will become available. Our current portfolio comprises a small molecule, an EGF receptor monoclonal antibody, and a unique formulation of free and liposome-encapsulated opioid for the treatment of acute pain, ultimately targeting patients with cancer breakthrough pain, and an anti-cancer therapeutic vaccine. This diversification demonstrates that the portfolio is designed to mitigate risk as much as possible. YM is impressed by the impossibility of any company being able to predict the outcome of trials with biological agents. Consequently, our business model is that a single product approach is an extremely risky way to design one's business, so we design our portfolio to be multivariate. The head office is in Toronto, and we recently purchased Eximias Corporation in Philadelphia, so now about half of our senior executives are based in Philadelphia and about half in Toronto. YM is listed on three stock exchanges ' in the United States, in Canada, and in Britain, which makes us the only biotech company listed on those three jurisdictions. The company currently has a market cap of around $250 million, and cash resources as of March 31 of about $80 million, with a cash burn that, over the next 12 months, should approximate $30 million.
Tickers included in this excerpt: YMI
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