ImmunoPrecise Antibodies gets price target raise from Industrial Alliance

Healthcare name ImmunoPrecise Antibodies (ImmunoPrecise Antibodies Stock Quote, Chart, News TSXV:IPA) is now gaining traction, says Industrial Alliance Securities analyst Chelsea Stellick, who reviewed the company’s latest financials in an update to clients on Monday.

Victoria, BC-based ImmunoPrecise is a full-service, end-to-end, therapeutic antibody discovery contract research organization (CRO) — CROs support the biotech, pharmaceutical and medical device industries with research on an outsourced, contracted basis. In ImmunoPrecise’s case, the company targets design and antigen modelling, immunization, antibody discovery, characterization and optimization and manufacturing.

The company reported on Monday its fourth quarter and full fiscal year 2020 results, featuring revenue up 57 per cent year-over-year for the Q4 to $4.4 million and record revenue of $14.1 million for the 2020 year, up 29 per cent compared to 2019. The company’s net loss for the year ended April 30, 2020, was $4.9 million compared to a loss of $7.6 million a year earlier.

ImmunoPrecise credited the revenue growth to its success in onboarding new clients along with growth from core existing clients, while the drop in net loss was chalked up to better gross profit, which grew by 52 per cent to $8.0 million. The company expects to have larger, multi-year contracts in the future and to have another positive quarter for the upcoming Q1/2021.

“I am pleased to report our customer base has grown to include over 400 of the leading pharma and biotech companies worldwide, as well as more than half of the top twenty global pharma companies. We anticipate the continuance of this trend in larger, multi-year agreements to be further bolstered by a robust out-licensing strategy,” said CEO Jennifer Bath in a press release.

IPA has received several grants for its COVID-19 program, on the progress of which Bath said ImmunoPrecise is accelerating pre-clinical testing with plans to submit an Investigational New Drug Application (IND) application to the FDA “as soon as practical.”

“I am pleased to report that our lead antibodies have produced clear synergistic effects, confirming their activities are enhanced in combination studies and resulting in near complete neutralization of SARS-CoV-2 pseudovirus infection,” Bath wrote.

On the quarterly numbers, Stellick said IPA’s fiscal 2020 revenue came in-line with expectations. The analyst noted that IPA is now working with 65 per cent of the top 20 global pharma companies, while its customer base has grown to include over 400 of the leading pharma and biotech companies worldwide.

“We see ample upside in IPA given the growth in demand for outsourced services provided in antibody discovery and development. Our target price is determined by the average of two valuation approaches, namely a Price-to-Book and a TEV/Total Revenue valuation. Based on our new and refined comps set, we are applying a 10.5x multiple to our TEV/Total Revenue valuation, which we believe better reflects the upside potential for IPA,” wrote Stellick.

With the update, Stellick maintained her “Buy” rating but raised her target from $2.10 to $2.50 per share, which at press time represented a projected 12-month return of 42.0 per cent.