One More Piece to the Puzzle

OHR PHARMACEUTICAL, INC.

OHR Awarded Key Squalamine Patent

   
Rob Goldman August 21, 2011
[email protected]
   

Price Target: $2.00

Rating: Speculative Buy

COMPANY SNAPSHOT

INVESTMENT HIGHLIGHTS

   

Ohr Pharmaceutical, Inc. is a pharmaceutical company focused on the development of two drugs: Squalamine for the treatment of the wet form of age-related macular degeneration (Wet-AMD) and OHR/AVR 118 for the treatment of cancer cachexia. Wet-AMD is a leading cause of vision loss and blindness in the elderly population. Cancer cachexia, the syndrome of body wasting that affects late-stage cancer patients, is a debilitating condition which adversely affects quality of life. Both drugs represent multi-billion dollar market opportunities and are currently in Phase II development.

KEY STATISTICS

Price as of 8/19/11

$0.68

52 Wk High - Low

$0.69 - 0.15

Est. FD Shares Out.

70.0M

Market Capitalization

$42.0M

Est. 3 Mo Avg Vol

18,000

Exchange

OTC:BB

Ohr Pharmaceutical, Inc.
489 Fifth Avenue 28th Floor New York,
NY 10017
www.ohrpharmaceutical.com

Sam Backenroth, CFO
212-682-8452
[email protected]

Early this morning, OHR announced that it was awarded a patent that includes claims related to composition of matter for the lactate salt form of Squalamine and its delivery using any pharmaceutically acceptable carrier.

Why is this important?
This is the first patent issued for this intellectual property, with pending applications in Europe, Canada, Japan, Australia, and Taiwan. Importantly, the claims cover Ohr’s recently announced topical eye drop formulation for wet-AMD.

OHR now owns IP on a late-stage development, extension composition of matter molecule that will effectively prohibit anyone from piggy-backing on OHR’s data, or introducing any generic form based on this, until 2029. We should note that this lactate salt form has been used in all of Squalamine’s clinical trials, including for wet-AMD treatment and ovarian cancer.

The previous lack of IP protection had been only a minor concern but clearly that negative is off the table now and perhaps open the door even more for potential partners in the form of big pharma. Wet-AMD patients number 1.75 million in the U.S. alone, and we maintain our belief that upon potential approval, Squalamine could emerge as the standard of care.

In addition, this patent for Squalamine in wet-AMD and oncology does not expire until 2029 and OHR now owns or has applied for 100 U.S. and foreign patents.

Management continues to ready Squalamine for the next stage clinical trial and seeks a partner for oncology applications.

We continue to rate OHRP Speculative Buy and have our $2.00 target under review for a possible upgrade.

   


Analyst: Robert Goldman

Rob Goldman has 20 years of investment and company research experience as a senior research analyst and as a portfolio and mutual fund manager. During his tenure as a sell-side analyst, Rob was a senior member of Piper Jaffray's Technology and Communications teams. Prior to joining Piper, Rob led Josephthal & Co.'s Washington-based Emerging Growth Research Group. In addition to his sell-side experience Rob served as Chief Investment Officer of a boutique investment management firm and Blue and White Investment Management, where he managed Small Cap Growth portfolios and The Blue and White Fund.

 

Analyst Certification

I, Robert Goldman, hereby certify that the view expressed in this research report accurately reflect my personal views about the subject securities and issuers. I also certify that no part of my compensation was, is, or will be, directly or indirectly, related to the recommendations or views expressed in this research report.

 

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