Cancer treatment developer Polaris Group (北極星藥業集團) yesterday said it has no plans to exit the nation’s capital markets, even though the local investment environment is becoming increasingly unfavorable to the biotechnology sector.
The comments came after two biotechnology firms announced their plans to delist from the Taipei Exchange’s Emerging Stock Board earlier this month.
Polaris Group is fully focused on developing its product pipeline and its operation is not affected by its peers’ decisions, Polaris Group chief executive officer Wu Bor-wen (吳伯文) told an investors’ conference.
“Delisting from the local capital markets seems to have become fashionable recently, but we have no plans to follow suit,” Wu said.
Confidence in the local biotechnology sector has been waning, as investors have been rocked by a lack of disclosure by companies, as well as extreme volatility in stock prices, Wu said.
Investors should be aware that developers of new drugs can incur lengthy periods of losses during clinical trials before new products gain regulatory approval for commercialization, Wu said
Such developers often cannot provide monthly updates as clinical trials are ongoing, he said, adding that many firms lack the resources to respond to investors’ questions and concerns.
The investor relations department at Polaris Group has been occupied with clarifying concerns from misleading reports and fake news, Wu said.
The company has also made every effort to pacify emotional outbursts over its share price, he added.
The company reported a net loss of NT$421 million (US$14.02 million) for the first half of this year, an improvement from the previous year’s net loss of NT$511 million. Losses per share were NT$2.04.
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