Sign Up NowThis Month's Tiny Gems - December 2011

Hansen Medical, Inc. (HNSN)
Neoprobe Corp. (NEOP)
Ventrus Biosciences, Inc. (VTUS)

 

 

 

Hansen Medical, Inc. (HNSN)

 

Hansen Medical, Inc. (HNSN), a global leader in flexible robotics, is focused on creating robotic solutions that provide physicians with a better suite of tools for their procedural and therapeutic success. The company's unique combination of technology and ergonomics helps healthcare professionals establish a new standard of care by enabling a new class of percutaneous procedures using advanced electromechanical technology.

 

Hansen Medical's Sensei X Robotic Catheter System is the world's next-generation purely robotic flexible platform that integrates advanced levels of 3D catheter control with 3D visualization to provide accuracy and stability during catheter-based electrophysiology procedures. By translating hand motions at the workstation to the control catheter inside the patient's heart, the Sensei X System's proprietary instinctive motion control technology empowers accurate and deliberate catheter placement.

 

The company is executing a well thought out commercial plan to chart a path toward profitability. Equities research analysts at Ladenburg Thalmann recently initiated coverage on shares of Hansen Medical, Inc. The analysts set a "buy" rating and a $4.50 price target on the stock. Also notable, analysts at C.K. Cooper raised their price target on shares of Hansen Medical, Inc. from $4.00 to $5.30 in a research note to investors earlier this year.

 

In recent news, Hansen Medical announced the world's first uses of the Magellan™ Robotic System in the treatment of Peripheral Vascular Disease (PVD). The System was designed to allow precise and predictable catheter navigation of peripheral vessels while reducing procedure time, lessening radiation exposure, lowering procedural fatigue and enabling new procedures. The clinical procedures were performed by Professor Nick Cheshire, M.D. and the medical team at St. Mary's Hospital.

 

 

 

Neoprobe Corp. (NEOP)

 

Neoprobe Corp. (NEOP) has quickly risen to dominate in ILM (intraoperative lymphatic mapping, a minimally invasive lymph node biopsy) cancer surgery markets as the only gamma detection systems developer which simultaneously is refining both its radiotracers and detection hardware. Additionally, the company has a rapidly growing investigational initiative program focused on innovative radiotracing agents and ACT, or activated cellular therapies, under majority-owned subsidiary, Cira Biosciences, Inc.

 

Among the detection systems, probes and ancillary devices marketed by NEOP worldwide is a wide variety of wired/wireless options for what has become recognized as a vitally important procedure for cancer patients, where the lymph node tissues can be more easily examined for the spread of cancer. The Neoprobe® GDS gamma detection system is at the heart of the GDS Console developed by the company as well, which was engineered from the ground up to deliver a zero-calibration, highly-customizable and easy to use all-in-one console, enabling speedy work by healthcare professionals. The GDS Console is able to display multiple radionuclide windows at the same time and is instantly user selectable so multiple users can use it without a problem or having to slow down.

 

Because solid tumor cancers most often spread via the lymphatic system to other tissues, the ILM procedure has become more and more a de facto standard approach. ILM involves using a tracing agent which is then detected, and because the company has such a strong portfolio of competencies in detection technology, the tracing agents developed under the investigational initiative are finely tuned to the hardware used for detection, resulting in superior performance.

 

The company's proprietary radioactive tracing agent Lymphoseek® is secured via an exclusive worldwide license agreement with UC San Diego and is ideally suited for ILM. Activated cellular therapy technology has wide ranging applications as well, with deep impact in patient-specific oncology and diseases of the autoimmune system, or with viral infections like HIV/AIDS or hepatitis. The company's RIGScan CR system fuses a patented hand-held detection probe and proprietary radio-labeled targeting agents that are cancer-specific, thus allowing surgeons to achieve extremely thorough removal of cancer tissues and better patient results.

 

 

 

Ventrus Biosciences, Inc. (VTUS)

 

Ventrus Biosciences, Inc. (VTUS), a NY-based pharmaceutical developer, while still development stage, has assembled a strong portfolio of product candidates targeting the late-stage prescription market, specifically in the gastrointestinal disorder area. A massive, underserved market of some 12.5M people in the US alone suffer from symptomatic hemorrhoids, with another 7M fecal incontinence and 4M in the anal fissure category, yet no US FDA approved prescription treatments for these conditions appear in the market.

 

Ventrus Biosciences is working on three platforms to address this market. Iferanserin (VEN 309 – lead product), which is an NCE (new chemical entity) ointment in late stage development (Phase III), engineered for twice-daily topical treatment of hemorrhoids and highly selective, antagonistic targeting of the serotonin receptor associated with the disease (5-HT2A). Phenylephrine (VEN 308), a gel formulated to treat fecal incontinence, specifically that type associated with post colectomy surgeries involving an IPAA (ileal pouch anal anastomosis). Diltiazem (VEN 307), a topical cream for relief of the chronic pain associated with small, extremely painful tears in the tissue the lines the anus, which often require surgery.

 

In each category Ventrus Biosciences has devised a solution that is either superior to existing offerings out rightly or highly preferable to existing offerings, as in the case of Diltiazem, which has been used for decades in hypertension/angina to dilate blood vessels, where the only alternatives are either minimally effective or require surgery. The market potential in North America alone is substantial and with no FDA-approved competition on the horizon, the company stands poised to capture both the market momentum and territory.

 

Last month, Ventrus Biosciences announced the acquisition of all rights and title to VEN 309 (iferanserin) from the licensor, Sam Amer & Co. The total price paid for the asset was US$12.5 million dollars, of which US$0.5 was paid upon execution of the purchase agreement in June 2011. The acquisition enables the company to reduce royalties by approximately 66% and aggregate milestone payments by approximately 50% (from $20 million to $10.5 million).