Sirtex Share Price Soars
First it was their 19 per cent growth in dose sales for the December 2013 quarter – their 38th consecutive quarterly increase – now their interim report has seen Sirtex record a 44 per cent increase in net profit for the six months to December 2013. The response? The Sirtex Medical share price has jumped 33 per cent, from $11.40 to $15.20 in the past six weeks.
If Sirtex can achieve the aim of moving from salvage therapy to first- and second-line treatment for liver cancer sufferers, then we believe they have the potential to quadruple their revenue line from the forecast $125 million in the year to June 2014.
A number of significant studies may support this ambition. The SIRFLOX trial (of 518 patients) focuses on whether, in conjunction with Roche’s Avastin (US$4.5 billion p.a.), there is a greater survival rate for first-line treatment of inoperable liver-only or liver-predominant bowel cancer metastases. This study is expected to be released in early 2015, and will coincide with the expansion of the manufacturing facility in Boston, USA and the construction of a new facility in Frankfurt, Germany. In conjunction with the Singapore manufacturing facility, the available annual capacity (assuming two shifts per day, four days per week) would be over four times the current forecast annual production of 8,500 doses.
Two other studies, FOXFIRE (of 490 patients in the UK) and SARAH (400 patients in France), should be fully recruited later in 2014, and their results expected to be released in 2016. Another study, SORAMIC (of 375 patients; 53 per cent complete) compares the chemotherapy drug Nexavar, to a treatment of both Nexavar and SIR-Spheres for patients with inoperable cancers.
Two internationally recognised Principal Investigators from the SIRFLOX and SARAH clinical studies, Professor Peter Gibbs and Professor Valérie Vilgrain, will be sharing their views and experiences in the management of primary and secondary liver cancers at presentations next week.
Both The Montgomery Fund and The Montgomery [Private] Fund hold shares in Sirtex Medical Limited.
Chief Executive Officer of Montgomery Investment Management, David Buckland has over 30 years of industry experience. David is a deeply knowledgeable and highly experienced financial services executive. Prior to joining Montgomery in 2012, David was CEO and Executive Director of Hunter Hall for 11 years, as well as a Director at JP Morgan in Sydney and London for eight years.
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