Showing posts with label Atara Biotherapeutics. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Atara Biotherapeutics. Show all posts

Wednesday, July 31, 2019

Atara: The Silver Bullet For Multiple Sclerosis

Summary
Atara recently published excellent tolerability data for ATA-188 at the 5th Congress of the European Academy of Neurology (EAN) in Oslo Norway.
In 2H2019, the company will deliver initial efficacy results for the first cohort taking ATA-188.
That aside, the firm will report Phase 3 results for its lead franchise tab-cell this year. The positive outcomes will erase doubt and fear regarding the departure of senior management.
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We always live in an uncertain world. What is certain is that the United States will go forward over time. - Warren Buffett
In my view, a copycat drug usually procures meager sales. By the time a biosimilar comes to the market, a legion of "me too" therapeutics already decimated the profit margin. On the contrary, the largest investment profits typically arise from a molecule with a novel mechanism of action. Essentially, investors reward for innovation rather than duplication. Despite my affinity for tab-cel, I believe that Atara Biotherapeutics (ATRA) has two wildcards with a disruptive mechanism of action that can galvanize the company's prospects.
Specifically, ATA-188 and ATA-190 are designed as silver bullets for the dread condition (multiple sclerosis). They attack multiple sclerosis as if the disease is of viral origin rather than autoimmune. This is in stark contrast to the conventional paradigm that multiple sclerosis is strictly autoimmune. As such, I believe that any positive news on this front will induce a vigorous rally. In this research, I'll present a fundamental analysis of Atara while focusing on the multiple sclerosis franchise.
Figure 1: Atara chart (Source: StockCharts)

About The Company

As usual, I'll deliver a brief corporate overview for new investors. If you are familiar with the firm, I suggest that you skip to the subsequent section. Headquartered in San Francisco California, Atara is focused on the innovation and commercialization of allogeneic T-cell immunotherapies (“A-TCI”) to serve the strong unmet needs in cancer and autoimmune diseases. Since A-TCI functions similar to a CAR-T, it activates the most important cells of the immune system (i.e. T-cells). I noted in the prior research,
Instead of engaging CD4 (helper T-cells), A-TCI primes CD8 (killer) T-cells with intelligence to improve these cells’ adeptness at detecting and destroying cancers and virus. Powering by A-TCI, Atara is growing a robust pipeline of immunotherapies. The partnership with Memorial-Sloan Kettering (MSK) also enabled Atara to deliver the next-generation mesothelin-targeted CAR-T (i.e. MT-CART).
Figure 2: Therapeutic pipeline (Source: Atara)