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Biosensors

Is Biosensors a good buy?

at least its 1.07 now.

Any thoughts on when we see 1.10 again?

Microport market cap $1.95B

BIG market cap $1.1 B

Some Notes of interest:

As of August, Chinese life sciences companies have raised $6.1 billion in 23 offerings after the government lifted a moratorium on IPOs in August 2009.

ShangPharma (SHP), one of China’s largest contract research organizations, went public this week on the New York Stock Exchange, trading under the symbol SHP. The company priced at $15 per share, in the middle of its expected range, and sold 5.8 million ADRs to raise $87 million.

Medical devices were the focus of the two largest M&A transactions. St. Jude Medical (STJ) will acquire AGA Medical Holdings (AGAM) for $20.80 per share in a cash and stock transaction valued at approximately $1.3 billion, including the assumption of approximately $225 million in outstanding debt. The transaction is expected to be conducted as an exchange offer followed by a merger and to close by the end of the year.
AGA Medical, with sales of approximately $199 million in 2009, makes a comprehensive line of devices used to treat structural heart defects and vascular abnormalities through minimally invasive transcatheter treatments. The acquisition gives St. Jude Medical programs across all major categories that include structural heart defects, left atrial appendage occlusion, transcatheter aortic valve implantation and percutaneous mitral valve repair.

My personal observation of the purchase of Devax.

Basically, Biosensors has covered the full spectrum of the DES mkt, which is :

1) Biomatrix as the workhorse DES, which covers majority of patients.

2) Recent approval for longer stents

3) Acquisition of Cardiomind, which caters for small vessels, < than 2.5mm, but has not yet obtained approval.

4) Acquisition of Devax, which covers the bifurcation segment, and more importantly is already CE mark approved, and can be marketed immediately.

I dont think that the major players today like J&J, Boston Scientific, Abbbot can lay claim to that.

The pieces of the jigsaw seems to be fitting together, and what remains is the EXECUTION of this stategy. It will probably take sometime before the full effect of these acquisitions is felt.

What is amazing is that Biosensors is only paying US$5.7m for Devax, which has probably spent over a US$100m to get to this point, with CE mark approval.

With their existing sales infrastructure spread over 70 countries, it should not be a problem to start cross-selling the Devax DES, especially when it is fulfilling an UNMET clinical need in the mkt today.

Again, just a personal observation. Not a call to buy/sell.

4)

I think Mr Lu should resign. He has undermined other investors by selling out CHEAP. If he really has the interest of investors in mind he can ensure Hony do not have near 30% so they have to buy more from the market and push up the price in doing so. Alternatively he can sell at higher than market price for that strategic stake. So vote him out in the next AGM

BIG normally posts reults within 6 weeks after qtr end

downside - expect guidance

upside - expect better sales & profits.

variables: If writeoff for US operations covered this prior qtr wind down, then should boost earnings by about 2M. Also if any charge due to current acquisitions, could reduce earnings. Finally, timing of release of tax reserves for US tax, could boost earning.

GOOD NEWS , several million lot transected at 1.04 and 1.05 this afternoon. As predicted, I think a third party is buying the share prior to more good news as predicted by me 2 days earlier. Get ready for the ride. By the way , Hongkong listed Wei guo (50% co-owner or JWMS) is also rising 3.4% today.

Anyone knows when are they announcing last qtr results? And what to expect?

Sellout by Biosensors founder not as bad as it seems By LYNN KAN INVESTORS are skittish when it comes to big changes. And Tuesday marked a big one for shareholders of Biosensors International - the stent maker's founder and chairman Lu Yoh Chie sold his entire 18 per cent stake in the company to Chinese private equity firm Hony Capital. But was this enough of a shocker to trigger the reaction it did? The day that Hony Capital's special-purpose investment vehicle Autumn Eagle swooped, Biosensors' share price jumped eight cents from $1 to $1.08 on the market rumour that Autumn Eagle was a Chinese firm with deep pockets that could take Biosensors deeper into the mainland market. But once investors learnt that Mr Lu had sold his entire stake in Biosensors - and for 88.88 cents a share - sentiment turned around. The counter dropped four cents to $1.04, as the market ignored the fact that Mr Lu would stay on as chairman. Perhaps the price drop came about because investors did not know what to make of his inconsistent actions. By winding up his financial stake in the company, he signalled that he might be cutting losses to take whatever profit he could. But to put things in perspective, selling his shares at 88.88 cents apiece still made him what DBS Vickers called a 'princely sum' of about $174 million. And judging from a recent interview, what Mr Lu seems to want is the pleasure of being a part of Biosensors - without an accompanying financial burden. While the market is incapable of gauging intent, the fact that there was a negative reaction seems to be puzzling, given that Mr Lu's divestment does not change Biosensors' strategy. The divestment does not alter management's intent to take a more aggressive position in China, where Biosensors owns a 50 per cent stake in stent maker JW Medical Systems. In fact, Hony Capital (or Autumn Eagle) was chosen by Mr Lu because it has expertise in the Chinese pharmaceutical sector and, more importantly, can beef up Biosensors' financial muscles. The market seemed to appreciate Autumn Eagle's Chinese presence on Monday, pricing in eight cents. So what was so different on Tuesday? No Apple, No Jobs Biosensors isn't an Apple and Mr Lu isn't its Steve Jobs. Although he founded the company and steered it as chief executive officer from the start, he stopped in 2008 and handed the reins first to Michael Kleine, who then passed them to Jeffrey Jump in May this year. And Mr Jump, like Mr Kleine, has demonstrated that he is more than capable of keeping ahead of the competition. In particular, Mr Jump has displayed eagle-eyed business acumen as head of Biosensors. One of his first acts as CEO was to buy $1.1 million of assets from CardioMind, whose wire-thin stent technology means Biosensors' bio-degradable polymer drug-eluting stents could potentially be used for tiny blood vessels in places such as the brain and the knees. Mr Lu has placed the company in good hands. The initial shock is clearly lingering. On Friday, Biosensors shares eased another cent to close at $1.03. But concerns about the change of leadership or change of strategy are overdone. One thing that investors should be rightly concerned about, however, is how and where Hony Capital fits in in the decision-making process. During a Web conference called by Biosensors to reassure investors, Mr Lu revealed that no management contract has been signed. That said, Hony Capital is likely to work with the management that Biosensors has in place now and cultivate good working ties. Mr Lu's financial exit is unlikely to get in the way of this. Biosensors has done much to reassure shareholders and investment firms through its Web conference, as well as Mr Lu being present in Singapore to take questions. But perhaps the balm to soothe investor skittishness right now should be to clarify how Hony Capital is going to fit into the company.

Biosensors Acquires Bifurcation-Stent Specialist Devax

Singapore 21 October 2010 –

Headquartered in Irvine, California, US, Devax develops the AXXESS™ drug-eluting stent (DES) system designed specifically to treat the complex type of coronary artery disease that forms at the intersection of two vessels. Such bifurcation lesions occur in an estimated 15% to 25% of all patients undergoing percutaneous coronary interventions (PCI). Coronary bifurcations are prone to develop atherosclerotic plaque because of turbulent blood flow and high shear stress near the main branch and the adjacent side branch.

"The Devax AXXESS drug eluting stent is a natural complement to our existing product portfolio", said Biosensors President and CEO Jeffrey B. Jump. "We have a large and growing base of clinical data demonstrating the unique benefits of our BioMatrix DES family of stents for treating main-branch lesions. The Devax AXXESS stent combines the same powerful combination of our proprietary Biolimus A9 drug and biodegradable polymer on a platform specifically designed for treating bifurcations safely, quickly and efficaciously."

Treating bifurcation lesions is challenging, and existing provisional techniques that rely on standard main-branch stents have historically reported lower procedural success rates, higher procedural costs, longer post-procedure hospitalization periods, and higher rates of clinical and angiographic restenosis, as compared to treatment of lesions that do not involve bifurcations.

The AXXESS DES consists of a self-expanding, conically-shaped nitinol stent – designed to conform to the specific anatomy of bifurcations – coated with a biodegradable poly-lactic acid polymer eluting Biolimus A9®, a highly-lipophilic drug designed specifically for use in drug-eluting stent systems. The biodegradable polymer and Biolimus A9 were used in the AXXESS DES under license from Biosensors, and are the same components used in the Company’s BioMatrix™ range of drug eluting stents.

The AXXESS DES received CE Mark approval in August 2010, supported by the positive results from clinical trials designed to assess device safety and efficacy in treating coronary bifurcation lesions. One-year results from the DIVERGE trial – a prospective, multi-center study of 302 patients across 16 sites in Europe, Australia and New Zealand – were published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology (JACC) in March 2009. The study demonstrated a low overall MACE rate (9.3%) and a low

rate of late stent thrombosis (0.3%) in patients treated with the AXXESS DES. DIVERGE is the largest study conducted to date with a drug-eluting stent specifically designed for treating coronary bifurcation lesions.

The Company wishes to state that the purchase consideration of USD 5.7 million is from an existing cash resource and internally-generated funds. The acquisition is not expected to have a material impact on the consolidated earnings per share or net tangible assets of the Group’s financial year ending 31 March 2011.

None of the Directors or substantial shareholders of the Company has any interest, direct or indirect, in the above transaction. Biosensors International Group, Ltd ("Biosensors" or the "Company", Bloomberg: BIG SP) today announced the acquisition of certain assets of Devax, Inc., a maker of specialty stents, for a total consideration of USD 5.7 million.

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Media and

sometimes...volume does not equal increase in price
Yes it's definitely a good counter with strong financial ground...
however, these few days,there are many strong IPO (e.g. GLP n MIT)

The institutional investor may also park their cash there...

we shall see after all this action packed week...

Looks like things have finally changed. Note volume on a slow day, it is substantially greater than a month ago. Looks like more long term institutional players interested in counter.

Puzzling why Microport goes up and BIG down???

Think stock getting ready for upside breakout because looks like it has tried downside and seems to have good support at 1.00 so now should try going up. Right?

Singapore The Business Time 18-10-10

Inside Markets.....Biosensor int gp...... FMR LLC & FIL Limited became a substanti shareholder o medical devices developer BIG on 11-10-10 following the purchase of 6.1million shares at $ 1.09 each. The trade increased its deemed holding by 12% to 58.12million shares or 5.36 per cent of the issued capital.The other substantial shareholder is John Edwin Shulze whose holding ( direct & deemed) is 57.6 million shares or 5.38%.

So this round there are 2 big guys who bought the counter.....Hony`s Autumn eagle capital (29.47% )and Fidelity investment (12%) smell something and bought soon after. Are we going to see a third player buyer entering the picture ?? Lets wait and see.

Investor - excellent summary- but suggest you add 2 items:

1) fidelity Investments with US $1.5 Trillion under management bought 6% of company probably for it's asia focused funds.

2) there are several hundered additioanl asia focused funds globally that may want to follow the lead of one of the largest global money manager

fly so high, want buy also scared

Last week was a dramatic week for Biosensors, and it might help to summerise the events that happened.

1). Chairman has sold 18 % stake in Biosensors (all his shares), but still retaining share options (approx 9.8 million according to Nomura) - BUT still retaining his chairmanship.

2). Hony Capital (part of Legend Holdings - a Chinese state owned enterprise) has bought 29.47 % - very close to the 30% for which a mandatory takeover is triggered - implying that it wants to buy as much as possible of Biosensors, without triggering the takeover (my own view)

3). None of the other Biosensors mgmt staff have sold their shares. (ie CEO, CTO, COO, etc).

4). In the conference call, Yoh Chie Lu mentions that Hony Capital will bring in fresh new ideas and FINANCING. In response to a question of dual listing, there was some awkard laughter, but the answer is that anything is possible, to maximise shareholders value, but subject to the usual procedures of getting shareholders approval, EGM, etc.

5). Hony Capital is expected to help in expediting the approval of the Biomatrix in China, with their vast China experience, contacts and Guanxi. (After all, Biosensors can be deemed to be majority controlled by China's SOE (state owned enterprise). Other examples of this is GMG, and Noble Group.

6). CEO is upbeat on the Bio-freedom results and they are in talks with investigators on how to approach a new clinical trial for bio-freedom, in talks with the FDA as well, and also in talks with the European CE Authority on the CE approval. But bear in mind these are in early stages.

In the Edge magaine, John Zhao of Hony Capital was quoted as saying that ' there is tremendous growth potential in the mkt that Biosensors serves, particularly in emergin mkts like China, as cardiac disease remains the no 1 cause of death in China.'

Nomura's Lim says ' Given their strong presence in China, Hony Capital can help Biosensors navigate their investments there, Especially when China tends to be sensitive about foreign investments the presence of a HUGE chinese shareholder will help blur the lines.

Nomura's Lim also says ' You could argue that it (Biosensors) has been taken over'. and also 'They (Hony Capital) are not doing it for charity'.

Above is a personal interpretation. Kindly listen to the conference call to confirm what has been written here, as well as read the article in this week's Edge magazine.

For info. Not a call to buy/sell.

Tags: Biosensors Int’l Group | Nomura Research

Written by The Edge

Friday, 15 October 2010 17:13

dated 15-10-2010

Nomura Research in an Oct 12 research report says: "Hony Capital has emerged as the largest shareholder in BIG following the purchase of a 29.47% stake from seven vendors, including Mr Lu Yoh Chie, who will remain Chairman.

"In spite of the divestment by the Chairman, BIG continues to be attractive given its strong revenue growth momentum in Europe, its strong market position in China and accelerating royalties from Terumo. In addition, recent trial data for its next-generation BioFreedom stent is encouraging and may allow BIG to address the US market at a later stage.

"The share price has pulled back slightly on news that the Chairman had sold his stake. However, we believe BIG has moved beyond the start-up phase and has the management team, technology and now a new strategic shareholder to help it grow further. Target price of $1.20. MAINTAIN BUY."

Fidelity group bought the shares at $1.09

Now this is the support level, waiting for next catalyst...next target $1.25...... let's see

gbleng ( Date: 27-Sep-2010 10:25) Posted:

1.03 is proving to be a strong resistance....

everytime diao there around 1.05 so sianx... zzzzzzz

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Is Biosensors a good buy?