Become a Member

What’s Ernie Tremblay’s $7 Prostate Cancer Fighter?

Friday File from last month unlocked: Biotech Insider Alert pitches this as a "scientific breakthrough could help protect me, you, and 50 million American men…"

By Travis Johnson, Stock Gumshoe, September 5, 2018

This article was originally published as part of the Friday File on August 10, 2018. It has not been updated or revised, though the stock teased is still at roughly the same price and no major news has hit since then.

We’re breaking the Friday File up into two parts today — starting with this look at a teaser from Ernie Tremblay that many of you have been asking about this week, a pitch for his Biotech Insider Alert ($1,950 a year) that includes, he says, a guarantee that you can request a refund if the stock he’s teasing doesn’t go up at least 10X in the next year.

Which could be a reflection of his confidence, or of Money Map’s analysis of how many folks are willing to actually call to request refunds months after a transaction.

The ad starts out with some really inflammatory language about a critical health crisis impacting all men over 50… giving you the sense that you’re just moments away from perishing in your sleep (no coincidence, “men over 50” is also the core demographic for investment newsletters):

“What I’m about to say will make your blood boil.

“It could also save your life.

“In fact, in the next few minutes, I’m going to expose the single biggest failure in modern medical history…

“A greed-fueled debacle that kills an American male every 18 minutes on average… every day, all year long.”

He goes on like that for a while, predicting doom and death, then moves on…

“Fortunately, there is good news.

“A breakthrough solution is at hand.

“A solution that could help protect 50 million American men – guys like you and me – from a gruesome fate.

“In fact, a major medical announcement is expected any day now, by September 30 at the latest.”

The “profit driven health disaster” that “kills one of us every 18 minutes” is, of course, prostate cancer… and he’s railing against the PSA test:

“Every year, 30 million American men take a prostate cancer test, known as the Prostate-Specific Antigen test… or PSA for short.

“The PSA test was FDA-approved in 1994, and it’s designed to help detect cancer.

“In fact, for the last 25 years, it’s been the first line of defense against prostate cancer….

“In theory, the PSA test is great.

“It’s designed to detect prostate cancer early, and give patients advanced notice so they can take necessary measures.

“Only one problem…

“The PSA Test Doesn’t Actually Detect Cancer!

“In fact, despite being the first line of defense against prostate cancer…

Are you getting our free Daily Update
"reveal" emails? If not,
just click here...


“It turns out the PSA test is nothing more than a profit-driven health disaster that does NOT detect prostate cancer.”

That’s not an entirely made up idea, of course, even though it’s somewhat controversial — the person who discovered PSA, Dr. Richard Ablin, did indeed lament in a NY Times op-ed in 2010 that his discovery had led to a profit-driven public health disaster… though many people would probably argue that the word “public” in there is key — it’s a significant cost to the system because many doctors think it’s over-used, but the test itself is not necessarily driving more bad health outcomes than it prevents.

In fact, as our own Doc Gumshoe noted earlier this year, it seems likely that the decrease in PSA screening that took place starting shortly after that op ed from Dr. Ablin was a cause of the increase in recent years in the rate of metastatic prostate cancer.

So clearly there’s a reason to screen people for prostate cancer — but one hopes that there will be a better screen than the PSA test… so that, I expect, is where the “reality” of Tremblay’s pitch starts to come in and the fearmongering, perhaps,to fade a little.

More from the ad:

“But Here’s the Good News…

“A tiny $7 company has developed a breakthrough solution that could protect 50 million American men from the ravages of prostate cancer…

“In short, they’ve developed a revolutionary diagnostic test that detects prostate cancer at the molecular level…

“Even in its earliest stages.

“Unlike the PSA, this test has a mind-blowing 94% accuracy rate…

“In other words, if you’ve got prostate cancer, this test will spot it…

“At the same time, the test is non-invasive…

“That means no surgery, no risk of infection, and no pain.”

And, since this is a biotech stock, we’re looking for clinical trial results that could move the shares — Tremblay predicts that you have the potential to “make 5, 10, even 15 times your money.”

“You See, This Tiny $7 Company Will Release Critical Phase 3 Trial Results Any Day Now – by September 30 at the Latest.

“When that happens, their share price could go absolutely vertical…

“Of course, all investments carry risk. And things don’t always play out as we expect…”

That last line is a useful one to recall, of course — particularly for those who remember some of Tremblay’s past promises about near-term clinical trial or FDA decision results (EARS, CEMP, ARLZ, XOMA) … though, to be fair, some of his picks have worked out well over the longer term (NKTR, OSUR), and biotech is obviously a highly volatile and risky sector.

So what is this stock? More clues…

“They don’t measure antigen levels in your blood, like the PSA…

“And they don’t rely on imaging devices – like MRIs – alone, hoping to spot microscopic cells that are virtually invisible.

“Instead, they use a revolutionary breakthrough to detect prostate cancer at the molecular level….

“… this tiny company has developed what we’ll call “radio-equipped molecules.”

“These molecules are microscopic, only about one nanometer in circumference….

“Before these little Bounty Hunters are released into your blood stream, they’re equipped with a radio-pharmaceutical isotope known as Technetium-99m.

“Now, Technetium-99m gives off a radio signal.

“In other words, it’s like a microscopic transmitter that can emit radio signals from inside a patient’s body…..

“The transmitters then send a radio signal that can be picked up by a doctor’s monitor.”

What else do we learn about this company? Any other clues that I can feed to the ol’ Thinkolator? This is what we get:

“… the founder of the company is a one-of-a-kind genius who has already made several landmark contributions to modern medicine…..

“The management team, along with the Board of Directors, is a who’s who of biotech excellence….

“One of these biotech superstars even sold his startup company to Johnson & Johnson for a staggering $85 million!”

And we get some of the wild sales predictions that are so often front and center in biotech promos:

“With a mere $12 million in sales, it won’t take much growth to launch their stock price into orbit.

“Right now, I estimate the market for their patented Bounty Hunter test is a bit over $5 billion.

“And that’s in the United States alone.

“Even if this $7 company uses their patented Bounty Hunter test to grab just half the market, they’d see $2.5 billion in annual revenues.”

So that’s essentially taking the 50 million American men over 50, and assuming that they’d all be tested at $100 a pop… or perhaps that they’d be tested every year at that price, or (probably) less frequently. I have no idea whether $100 is a rational price for the test or not, one of my major qualms about biotech is that you never have much of an idea what the pricing or margins will be for actual products when they’re in the clinical stages, but if you just work backward that seems to be where Tremblay starts his math.

And apparently it’s not just a diagnostics company…

“… this company is developing a prostate cancer treatment that is a complete game changer.

“This treatment is so revolutionary, this tiny $7 company has joined forces with the most preeminent cancer organization on the planet, Memorial Sloan Kettering…..

“It uses the same mechanism as the Bounty Hunter test.

“Microscopic molecules are used to scour the body and track down the cancer cells…

“But instead of arming these Bounty Hunters with transmitters, they are armed with iodine-131 particles….

“The iodine kills the cancer. And again, it leaves healthy cells healthy!”

And Tremblay says that “Memorial Sloan Kettering has launched an open-label, dose-ascending, outpatient study to evaluate this treatment in men with prostate cancer.” So it’s already in clinical trials, though he does note that we won’t see results for a while. And he thinks this same technology could also be used in other cancers, which presents a massive potential market, years off in the distance, if all goes well.

We get a couple other little clues along the way as well,including this…

“A $900 billion Swiss multinational investment bank just ramped up their stake in this tiny $7 company by a stunning 4,000%.”

So what’s the stock being teased here? Will the test get approved next month and send the shares soaring? I can at least answer the first part, the Thinkolator sez the stock being hinted at by Tremblay is: Progenics Pharmaceuticals (PGNX)

That Technetium-99 stuff is not new, they’ve been using it as an imaging marker for prostate cancer for a while, trying to help figure out whether the cancer has metastasized (spread elsewhere in the body), so you’ll find plenty of references to studies using that biomarker… and that is indeed what Progenics is testing, they are expecting to release the top-line Phase III results of what they call 1404, a PSMA Targeted SPECT/CT Imaging Agent, and that’s the “radio test” that Tremblay is referring to.

So yes, you can already see some complication in turning this into a widely-used diagnostic that 50 million men have administered in the United States — it’s not a blood test, which we’re already set up for with labs around the country, it’s a nuclear imaging agent that must be followed, a few hours later, by a PET scan or similar nuclear imaging scan that will be used to see whether those biomarkers “fired”. It’s a compelling idea, but might not as easily be a scalable one… though who knows, now CT scans are quite common (something like 80 million are done a year in the US), so maybe these kinds of tests will become important enough to dramatically increase this kind of imaging.

Progenics does have an approved product in AZEDRA, which was recently approved for some limited patients with rare cancers, and they used that approval as a bit of a springboard to do an offering to raise some cash… and they also got approval a while back for Relistor (for opioid-induced constipation), but they sold that one to Valeant (VRX) in exchange for a royalty, in hopes Valeant could ramp up sales… so that’s where the current revenue comes from, mostly (it is about $12 million/yr at the current run rate, though it’s quite lumpy).

The initial market for their imaging agent would likely be folks who already have prostate cancer and are being monitored after treatment (surgery or otherwise), or perhaps those who are at very high risk, the clinical trial they’ll soon be reporting is focused on that cohort… but even still, that’s a large market compared to the orphan drugs they’ve been working with, so it could have a meaningful impact on revenues if they can get it approved and convince doctors to use it widely (and insurers, including Medicare, which covers most folks in the prostate cancer years, to cover it).

Will that mean the stock doubles on September 30? I don’t know — it is a small stock, with a market cap of $600 million or so, and it has bounced around between $4 and $12 over the past couple years as investors got excited (mostly about Relistor in past years, it seems). You might keep the expectations of billions of dollars in sales in check, though, in the near term the analysts are penciling in $80 million in revenue next year and $133 million in 2020, presumably mostly from AVEDRA and Relistor royalties… though it’s possible that they could get approval for this 1404 over the next year or two as well, particularly if this Phase III trial we’re being teased about is as successful as they hope in identifying and localizing prostate cancer.

And, of course, that prostate cancer treatment that Tremblay hints at as being compelling is indeed a very long way off, and I have no way to judge how promising it might be. That’s the candidate they call 1095, and it is being tested in a Phase 1 trial at Sloan Kettering, though they started this study just last year with a goal of 10 patients and they haven’t released any data yet.

This one’s not particularly interesting to me, since I tend to stay away from clinical stage biotechs, but for the biotech followers among you it could be worth some more research… as long as you’re not really anticipating it replacing the PSA test by next year. It has come up in these pages before, so I imagine there are a few Gumshoe readers who might be following the story… feel free to jump in and share your thoughts with a comment below. Personally, I’m left thinking, “interesting idea, wildly overpromised.”

Irregulars Quick Take

Paid members get a quick summary of the stocks teased and our thoughts here. Join as a Stock Gumshoe Irregular today (already a member? Log in)
guest

12345

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

33 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
rmackintosh
Irregular
August 10, 2018 6:57 pm

Right, Travis, not contemplated as a screening test; most common use I have seen is for pts who had prostatectomy or radiation to prostate and develop a rising PSA. Of great interest to those pts to know if cancer localized of widespread and this test seems a little more sensitive than the old pair of tests bone scan and CT scan. This is a pretty common scenario probably in the ballpark of 5000 or 10000 per year, but not likely a blockbuster. It will be a one time deal for most patients who use it.

Add a Topic
4454
Add a Topic
3397
👍 79
👍 21650
big penny
big penny
August 11, 2018 2:26 pm

It would appear that you are of the opinion that only American men are at risk of developing prostate cancer. What about Brazillian men and German men and Chinese men etc…

Add a Topic
4454
Add a Topic
3397
👍 21650
airbender44
airbender44
August 12, 2018 1:22 am

if the pss test is indeed proving to be less specific in detecting prostate cancer and leading to unnecessary surgery or biopsy I don’t see why males would not try this test it could be the difference between life and death. I would try this test and as a physician would recommend it. I have seen many patients with elevated spa who had biopsy and were diagnosed with BPH. Also you can do biopsy and still the sample can miss the cancerous area of the prostate. if this test can detect prostate cancer when the spa can’t then I think that is good .

Add a Topic
4454
Add a Topic
3397
Add a Topic
6225
👍 8
benny
benny
September 5, 2018 11:48 am
Reply to  airbender44

did you use pss and spa instead of psa?

Marie Kleber
Member
Marie Kleber
September 14, 2018 4:44 pm
Reply to  airbender44

I read the results of the Phase 3 trials and they failed to meet expectations by a sizeable margin, so the stock, Progenics, tanked a bit. They still have another cancer drug that is fda approved so it’s still a viable company.

Add a Topic
5971
Add a Topic
3397
Add a Topic
3022
bstew
bstew
September 5, 2018 11:58 pm

True, most countries don’t allow the pharmaceutical companies to absolutely gouge the patients.

👍 47
Rusty Brown in Canada
Member
Rusty Brown in Canada
September 7, 2018 7:43 am
Reply to  rmackintosh

pts mns “patients”? rt?

Dave S.
Dave S.
September 7, 2018 11:02 am

Rt.

jcropper
August 10, 2018 7:11 pm

The nano particles were tested at Washington university in st louis on non large cell carcinoma cancer cells the nanoparticles were introduced in to the bloodstream the particles were coated with a chemical that cancerous cell needs to grow and normal cell don’t . The test were very successful but doctors would not recommend it as it would put them out of business i know this as fact as my friend was dieingof this type of cancer he was given 6 weeks to live i tried to get the doctor to refur him to get the treatment he wouldn’t he said it wasn’t a proven and established treatment my friend died 1 month plus later

Add a Topic
3397
Add a Topic
3397
👍 10
omhri
omhri
August 10, 2018 7:52 pm
Reply to  jcropper

cold.

kfoehr
kfoehr
August 11, 2018 9:51 am
Reply to  jcropper

I’m curious about the “chemical that cancerous cell needs to grow and normal cell don’t”. If there is such a thing, it seems like it would be blocked or inhibited or otherwise targeted directly in clinical research, but I’ve never heard of anything that was exclusively used by cancer cells. What is it???

Add a Topic
3397
👍 17
👍 21650
waltereye6
waltereye6
September 6, 2018 9:48 am
Reply to  jcropper

That makes no sense. Live patients pay much better than dead patients. If in fact, that patient had lived, the PR value would have been great for the doctor. Insurance would not have paid for this procedure, so the patient’s survivors would have lost a lot of money for no realistic chance of success. I think the physician had the patient’s best interest at heart.
FYI, I am a semi-retired ophthalmologist. I just hope you get your children vaccinated and don’t think the vaccination industry is a scam.

Add a Topic
372
Add a Topic
882
Add a Topic
6113
👍 4
Dave S.
Dave S.
September 6, 2018 11:06 am
Reply to  waltereye6

Walter, medical-conspiracy-theorists form a joyful tribe and are not interested in having their faulty premises adjusted by anyone, least of all docs.

stephen.e.mandell
stephen.e.mandell
August 10, 2018 7:45 pm

I’m curious about the doctor’s name and city. Is that an unreasonable request? Thanks

👍 22
ANANDA
ANANDA
August 11, 2018 3:49 pm

Thanks Travis for another excellent Review

👍 36
ramgroup
ramgroup
August 13, 2018 9:24 am

Great relative strength for this name. From a strictly a technical standpoint, I will take a swing in this area with a mental stop loss at 7.40. Nice risk reward with a technical target of 13.

👍 11
Hugh R.
Guest
Hugh R.
September 5, 2018 11:16 am
Reply to  ramgroup

What chart are you looking at? I don’t see anything technically appealing about this stock. RSI is above 30, Recognia technical analysis had it weak short and long term. I see absolutely nothing that would indicate a target of $9 a share let alone 13.

Add a Topic
5971
Add a Topic
899
StockMidas
September 5, 2018 11:54 am
Reply to  Hugh R.

Agree with Hugh R, technically leaning more towards cold than luke warm. Trading above 200MA but below 50MA & 100MA, with narrow association between signal and divergence in a lateral movement on MACD with reduced trading volumes indicative of a continued downward trend rather than any expectant upward movement soon.

👍 260
GOLDENCAYOTE
Guest
September 5, 2018 2:19 pm
Reply to  StockMidas

PLEASE SPEAK ENGLISH !

fabian
fabian
September 5, 2018 2:51 pm
Reply to  ramgroup

It is on a support zone but that’s it. You have to wait for a break out. MA, macd, on balance volume, RSI are all pointing down.

fairmead15
fairmead15
September 5, 2018 11:18 am

“A greed-fueled debacle that kills an American male every 18 minutes on average… every day, all year long.” I imagine that the American male in question is getting rather fed up with being killed every 18 minutes.

👍 50
bludolphint
September 5, 2018 11:54 am
Reply to  fairmead15

Good one Fair! lol

👍 188
yukonjack
Member
yukonjack
September 5, 2018 12:11 pm

Who knows…could be the stock of the century like dozens of others touted by subscription peddlers. My biggest complaint with Big Pharma and biotech is the pervasive after the fact mentality which cares not for what is the cause or prevention, but what is the cure. Since mainstream cures are often more promise and hope than substance, this makes for extremely juicy profits for the medical mafia. Until this flip-flops, the health care industry will always remain in stone-age operation even with all the medical advances which only serve to gobble up income from the masses, just like taxes. I do appreciate this site’s efforts at digging into these recos.

Add a Topic
5971
Add a Topic
996
GOLDENCAYOTE
Guest
September 5, 2018 2:23 pm
Reply to  yukonjack

OK DUDE. TELL US WHAT (FACTS ONLY) IS BETTER. NO UNPROVEN OPINIONS–JUST HARD FACTS !

👍 21650
Dave S.
Dave S.
September 5, 2018 1:35 pm

This “Now, Technetium-99m gives off a radio signal.” is laughable as it implies a low-energy emission as used for radio broadcasting. What this radioisotope actually gives off is gamma radiation (comparable to x-rays): high-energy and bad for living things. The saving grace is the very short half-life of Tech-99m which keeps patients’ overall radiation exposure low and justifies its occasional use. Wouldn’t want such a dose on a daily basis, though.

Add a Topic
899
musk-rat
Member
musk-rat
September 5, 2018 3:07 pm

Thanks for the Write-up! I did some looking into it. It seems that Probably 68Ga is a more sensitive radiolabel than 99mTc.

Though there may be some other advantages to using the later besides just sensitivity.

From
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28779400

“RESULTS:
In the patient based analysis, accuracies measured as “area-under-the-curve” (AUC) for 68Ga-PSMA-PET, 99mTc-SPECT, 68Ga-PSMA-PET/CT and 99mTc-SPECT/CT were 0.97-0.96, 0.86-0.83, 1.00 and 0.83, respectively (p<0.05) (ranges = optimistic vs. pessimistic view). Region based analysis resulted in the following sensitivities and specificities: 91.8-97.7%, 100-99.5% (PET); 61.2-70.6%, 99.8-98.3% (SPECT); 97.7%, 100% (PET/CT), 69.4% and 98.3% (SPECT/CT) (p<0.05). The amount of correct classifications of equivocal lesions by CT was significantly higher in PET (100%) compared to SPECT (52.4%) (p<0.05).

CONCLUSION:
68Ga-PSMA-PET outperforms 99mTc-DPD-SPECT in detecting bone metastases in PC patients. Additional information from low-dose-CT resulted in a significant reduction in equivocal lesions in both modalities, however 68Ga-PSMA-PET benefited most.

KEY POINTS:
• Ga-PSMA-PET outperforms 99m Tc-DPD-SPECT in skeletal staging in prostate cancer patients • Proportion of equivocal decisions was significantly reduced by CT-fusion in both modalities • Ga-PSMA-PET benefits more from CT information, compared to 99m Tc-DPD-SPECT."

Add a Topic
4454
Add a Topic
3397
stockie12
stockie12
September 5, 2018 9:58 pm

Because cancer is such a killer there are a thousand trials going on and another thousand lined up. One I am watching is NOX on the ASX which has a drug when combined with radiation stops the cancer cell DNA recombining but not healthy cells, one or two unofficial individuals have had great success and phased trials about to kickoff.

Add a Topic
3397
Add a Topic
3397
👍 10
Carbon Bigfoot
Guest
Carbon Bigfoot
September 9, 2018 2:09 pm

Travis why is there a significant time delay when logging on. This has been an issue in time memorial. Is this really necessary?

esecson
Member
esecson
September 14, 2018 8:27 pm

Sorry but this is not realistic at all. First PEt scanners are not available all over the country. Second, PET scans are expensive and with health insurers increasing diagnostic test onto the patient- MRI’s in the Boston Marketplace now have a co-pay of $250 and a PET scan has a co-pay of $350-450. NOBODy is going to pat that for a so-called non invasive test for prostate cancer. Save your money this will never become mainstream.

Add a Topic
4454
Add a Topic
3397

We use cookies on this site to enhance your user experience. By clicking any link on this page you are giving your consent for us to set cookies.

More Info  
32
0
Would love your thoughts, please comment.x
()
x