The Biopharma Opportunity Too Big to Ignore

The opportunity in biopharmaceuticals is big and growing too rapidly to ignore. In fact, the global biopharmaceuticals market is estimated to reach $341.16 billion in 2023. This multibillion-dollar revenue growth and strong expansion rates in previous years bears a testimony to the fact that the companies that do get approval represent goldmines for investors.

It's by far the fastest-growing part of the industry: biopharma's current annual growth rate of more than 8% is double that of conventional pharma, and growth is expected to continue at that rate for the foreseeable future. Unlike years previous, investors need to understand that the bigger interest is actually with smaller biotech companies. The reason? Big M&A has Big Pharma targeting this segment.

Right now investors are favoring smaller biotechs. The performance of the SPDR S&P Biotech ETF, has climbed over 25% during the last 12 months alone! Similar to the market a few years ago, it was the investors that found opportunity in discounted biotech stocks who saw some of the biggest opportunities to profit.

Convenient Industry Timing Has Investors Looking at GT Biopharma (GTBP)

Before we get into the full details of key drivers that could set GT Biopharma (GTBP) above and beyond its immediate competition, investors should understand the niche opportunity that has been created.

This year money is pouring into the industry. Biopharma financing started the 2018-year with $16.6 billion in total deal value, a 14% increase over the previous quarter. The first quarter of 2018 also saw biopharma merger and acquisition deal value jump up big!

This was led by Cigna's $67 billion buy of Express Scripts, which topped even the previous all-time-high set in Q4 2107, while alliances totaled $30.7 billion and featured big oncology and neurology partnerships according to InVivo Pharma Intelligence.

It's the last part that should get investors excited right now because the climate is indicating big money is not only being directed toward smaller biopharma companies but also that the segment focused on oncology & neurology in particular is generating big attention.

GT Biopharma (GTBP) falls directly into this niche and with the caliber of management & advisors, it should come as no surprise that its oncology and neurology pipeline would be showing strong promise.

Exponential Gains Have Historically Been Found In the Biopharma Arena

Is Biopharma the best place to be right now? Well, with the countless number of companies that have emerged in the sector and how they have delivered massive gains to their early investors, the answer would be yes!

The M&A Winners: Too Late To Invest In, But Good To Research

Let's next look at some incredible winners from the highflying Biotech sector to source ideas and trends from:

• Celgene Corp. (CELG) acquired Juno Therapeutics Inc. for $9 billion
• Bioverativ Inc. (NASDAQ:BIVV) was bought out by French biotech company, Sanofi SA ADR (NYSE:SNY) in a deal pegged at $11.6 billion.
• Novartis is set to acquire AveXis for $8.7 billion
• French firm, Servier recently acquired the oncology business of Shire (SHPG) for $2.4 billion.
• Merck (MRK), known as MSD outside North America, and Viralytics Limited (ASX: VLA, OTC: VRACY) announced the signing of a definitive agreement where Merck, through a subsidiary, will acquire Viralytics in a deal valued at just shy of $400 million.

The main similarity across all of these acquisitions and strategic investments involves the acquiring or investing company looking to expand its immunotherapies, oncology, and /or neurology. Though investors can't benefit from these billion dollar buyouts, they do have an opportunity to position themselves for the next big deal within the industry.

GT Biopharma: A Perfect Mix Of Novel Therapy Pipeline & Key Industry Leadership

The name of the game right now for all of these big biopharma firms: immunotherapy. The treatment that strengthens the power of a patient's immune system to attack tumors has emerged as what many in the cancer community now call the "fifth pillar" of cancer treatment.

CAR-T is one such immunotherapy and in 2017, two CAR T-cell therapies were approved by the Food and Drug Administration, one for the treatment of children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) and the other for adults with advanced lymphomas.

Compared to some of the leading companies within this market segment, GT Biopharma (GTBP) stands to follow in the successful footsteps of organizations that delivered immense opportunities for investors.

Some of the biggest investment banks in the world have placed their bets on companies that are in this space right now. Amgen, Gilead, and Kite had billions of dollars of investment coming in from the likes of Credit Suisse, BNP Parabas, UBS, Vanguard Group, Black Rock, Goldman Sachs, and Fidelity to name a few.

GT Biopharma (GTBP) Drug Therapy Pipeline

CAR-T is just the beginning and a new type of treatment has begun to take attention of investors looking for the next big thing in biopharma. GT Biopharma (GTBP) has developed a treatment for B-cell Leukemias and Lymphomas. Its OXS-1550 is currently in Phase 2 trials and an FDA-approved clinical trial is being conducted at the University of Minnesota's Masonic Cancer Center. There are currently 18 patients enrolled in this clinical trial.

Known as TriKEs, this type of therapy has the protein version of CAR-T but with multiple clinical and practical advantages according to Dr. Jeffrey Miller, Deputy Director of the Masonic Cancer Center, University of Minnesota. This offers a real opportunity for GT Biopharma (GTBP) to take full advantage of the cost benefits for its therapy compared to a more costly CAR-T treatment.

GT Biopharma stated that its platform technologies have the potential to treat large patient populations and substantial markets. The biggest breakthrough could be yet to come. GT Biopharma (GTBP) also has additional therapies that are all in different phases of trials.

Several recent developments could also pose near term opportunity for early investors:

GTP-004 Progress

GT Biopharma (GTBP) has completed the analysis of pharmacokinetic data from its Phase 1 clinical trial for GTP-004. This therapy is its promising treatment for the symptoms of myasthenia gravis. Based on these and additional data from the Phase 1 clinical trial expects to potentially accelerate the start of its Phase 2 trial in myasthenia gravis patients to the third quarter of 2018.

GTP-011 Progress

GT Biopharma (GTBP) completed primary enrollment in its single-blind, placebo-controlled, cross-over study for its motion sickness drug, GTP-011. GTP-011 is a 72-hour, transdermal formulation that contains a muscarinic receptor antagonist. Unlike scopolamine (Transderm Scop® from Novartis), GTP-011's active ingredient has been reported not to affect memory and cognition, and has a low incidence of sedation (Kay et al., 2012). This potentially makes GTP-011 a more favorable alternative. Just to give an idea, the annual U.S. market sales for Transderm Scop were approximately $158 million in the 12 months ending in May 2017.

Industry Vets Are Taking a Seat at The GT Biopharma Table Right Now & The Reason Why Is Clear

Deutsche Bank's Shawn Cross, Pfizer's Dr. Raymond Urbanski, Chase Pharmaceutical's Dr. Kathleen Clarence-Smith, Cerecor's Federica O'Brien, Barker Davis Founder Geoffrey Davis, and Sucampo's Dr. Peter Kiener are getting directly involved with GT Biopharma for the promise and potential that the company's pipeline holds.

Shawn M. Cross

– Deutche Bank, Wells Fargo

Mr. Cross serves as President, Chief Operating Officer, and was recently appointed as Chairman and CEO. His 20 years of experience includes positions as Managing Director, Head of Biotechnology Investment Banking at Deutsche Bank Securities Inc. as well as Managing Director and Head of Biopharmaceutical Investment Banking at Wells Fargo Securities, LLC. Specifically for GTBP, Mr. Cross will work to attract institutional investment and analyst coverage to the company, as well as guide the development of its neurology portfolio and its first TriKE into human clinical testing in 2018.

Dr. Raymond Urbanski

– Pfizer, MannKind, Mylan, Inc., Cymbay Therapeutics, Suntory Pharmaceurical, Aventis, AstraZeneca

Dr. Urbanski is the former business unit Chief Medical Officer and senior director of oncology research and development with Pfizer also sees the vision in GTBP. He has made the move to this company and has become the Chief Medical Officer to further oversee the company's oncology and development of GTBP's product pipeline. Dr. Urbanski presents an opportunity for GTBP to work with one of the main figureheads in the late stage development of biotechnology therapies.

Dr. Kathleen Clarence-Smith

- Chase Pharmaceuticals (acquired by Allergan, PLC), Sanofi, Hoffmann-La Roche and Otsuka

Dr. Clarence-Smith has come on board to captain the ship with GT Biopharma's neurology division. Her track record of successes has been vast and her discoveries have led to several companies being acquired for their therapies. As the co-founder of Chase Pharmaceuticals, she served as the Chairman of the company's board for years (2008-2014) and through her time there, she helped build Chase into an organization that was eventually acquired by Allergan, PLC in 2016. In all reality, the deal could be valued at nearly $900 million with milestones. As the head of CNS development at Sanofi, Hoffmann-La Roche and Otsuka, Dr. Clarence-Smith developed, secured approval for and supported the launches of significant neurological treatments. This includes Abilify® (aripiprazole), which is a $7 billion peak-year sales pharmaceutical drug used in the treatment of schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. Her expertise is now influencing GTBP's biopharma pipeline.

Federica O'Brien

- Complexa Inc., Cerecor Inc., Cardiokine, Inc., Barrier Therapeutics, Inc. (GlaxoSmithKline subsidiary), Cervilenz, Inc.

Ms. O'Brien has held the Chief Financial Officer position at Complexa Inc., Cerecor Inc., and Cardiokine, Inc., and was Corporate Controller at Barrier Therapeutics, Inc. In addition to her position as CFO at Cervilenz, Inc., Ms. O'Brien held the position of Chief Operating Officer; she led the extension of the patent portfolio worldwide and was influential in obtaining CE marking and ISO 13485 certification for a women's healthcare device. Earlier in her career, Ms. O'Brien was CFO of Infonautics, Inc., a publicly-held technology-based company. She now sits on GT Biopharma's Board of Directors

Geoffrey Davis

- Founding Partner of Barker Davis, Sanofi, Hoffmann-La Roche and Otsuka

Barker Davis specifically deals with Life Sciences transactions. Mr. Davis' achievements include numerous corporate partnering and licensing transactions for major pharmaceutical and medical device companies. Just to give you an example, Davis represented Pfizer Inc. in multiple licensing and collaboration efforts. These include transactions like Pfizer's establishment of The Global Centers for Therapeutic Innovation.

Dr. Peter Kiener

- Sucampo (acquired by Mallinckrodt for roughly $1.2 billion), Ambrx Inc., Zyngenia Inc., Bristol-Myers Squibb, MedImmune LLC. (AstraZeneca)

Dr. Peter Kiener was most recently the Chief Scientific Officer at Sucampo, which was acquired by Mallinckrodt in February 2018 for approximately $1.2 billion. Prior to Sucampo, he served as Chief Scientific Officer of Ambrx Inc., a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the development of antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) that was acquired by a consortium led by Fosun Pharmaceutical Group in 2015. Dr. Kiener was President and Co-founder of Zyngenia Inc., an early-stage biopharmaceutical company. He also held leadership roles at MedImmune LLC, the global biologics arm of AstraZeneca. He also worked on biologics for Bristol-Myers Squibb prior to his work at MedImmune. He now sits on the Board of GT Biopharma.

The Choice Is Yours

Small biotech companies are more flexible, and many can handle R&D much faster. By investing in a broad portfolio of young and emerging companies, big drug firms can leverage outside scientific talent and cast a wider net in order to gain access to breakthrough discoveries in areas of the company's strategic interest.

"Big Pharma appreciates innovation and respects how it happens. That's why the industry is interested in doing great deals with young companies that can move fast to solve big scientific problems. Sharing risk among a small team of technologists and scientists is a very different culture than being in a large pharmaceutical company that must meet requirements of stock goals."

-Abbie Celniker, Ph.D., partner at Third Rock Ventures

The Biotech Index (S&P ETF) is up over 400% since the financial crisis and 2018 has already seen record growth in partnerships and M & A. The Biopharma market is experiencing unprecedented activity and now the race is on for investors to get behind the next biotech breakout. GT Biopharma's unique mix of near term potential from its drug therapy pipeline as well as the company's continued "acquisition" of top leaders in biotech make this a company to watch very closely this year.

DISCLAIMER: BIOTECHSTOCKS.com is owned by MIDAM VENTURES LLC., a Florida Corporation that has been compensated $2,000,000.00 by a GT Biopharma Inc. for a period beginning August 1, 2017 and ending May 30, 2018 to publicly disseminate information about (GTBP). We own zero shares. Full Disclaimer Here