Cipher Pharmaceuticals has multiple ways to create shareholder value, says Donville

Investors looking at Cipher Pharmaceuticals (Cipher Pharmaceuticals Stock Quote, Chart, News: TSX:DND) should know there is more than one way the company could deliver value for shareholders, says one portfolio manager.

Jason Donville, President & CEO of Donville Kent Asset Management was on BNN’s “Market Call” Friday and revealed his current top picks. The portfolio manager says Cipher Pharma is valuable from both sides of the M&A coin.

“Pharmaceutical companies are very hot commodities and you either have to acquire things or you have to be acquired. Cipher is attractive is both respects. Cipher could simultaneously be a very attractive acquisition for somebody who is trying to build up a bigger pharmaceutical company or they could turn around and use that cash to buy other things.”

Mississauga-based Cipher Pharmaceuticals is a spinoff of CML Healthcare, a more than three-decades old medical imaging company that shed its drug development division, which was burning cash, when it decided to convert to an income trust. The resulting spinoff, Cipher, transitioned from being defined by its relative risk to being notable for its comparative safety. Unlike many of its newfound peers, Cipher has carved out a sweet spot in the middle of the drug development process, identifying late stage product candidates with near term market potential.

Donville says that with a strong lead drug, the FDA approved acne treatment Absorica, and a lot of cash in the bank, something should happen soon with Cipher.

“My guess is we are going to get reconciliation on this, one way or the other, in the next six months,” he says. “They’re either going to buy a bunch of stuff and get a big pop in their rating, or they’re going to get taken out by somebody”.

At press time, shares of Cipher Pharmaceutical were up 7.9% to $12.52.