LAST ORDERS: A light-hearted look at today’s market stuff

It’s Tuesday afternoon, and after a long, hard day buying and selling bits of paper that say you own small portions of much larger things, you owe it to yourself to sit back and relax in front of a warm, crackling fire.

So crack open a bottle of single malt, put your phone on silent and send the kids to stay with your mother-in-law for the night… because it’s time to get much, much better acquainted with a few of the saucy little numbers you might have missed from the markets, and elsewhere, today.

FROM THE HEADLINES

A husband and wife science behind BioNTech, the biotech that partnered with Pfizer to develop a working COVID-19 vaccine, has told the BBC that they reckon the Holy Grail of Needles – a cancer vaccine – is only about 10 years away.

Professors Ozlem Tureci and Ugur Sahin join an extremely long list of scientists who have been predicting that a cure for cancer is “less than a decade away” for about 90 years.

Exxon, meanwhile, has withdrawn from Russia after the Russian government surprised everybody by grabbing hold of everything Exxon had within arms reach and saying “This. This is all ours, now. Not yours. Go Away.”

“With two decrees, the Russian government has unilaterally terminated our interests in Sakhalin-1, and the project has been transferred to a Russian operator,” Exxon said in a statement, and comes after seven months of negotiations which, presumably, centred on precisely how hard Exxon was willing to get pounded on the way out the door.

FROM THE MARKETS

Race Oncology (ASX:RAC) has responded to a price query from the ASX today, after the company’s price rose dramatically over the past few weeks for no clear reason.

In it’s response to the ASX’s “Please Explain”, Race said the usual stuff about not being aware of “any information concerning it that has not been announced, which, if known by some in the market, could explain the recent trading in its securities”.

However, the company did suggest that it might have been because Merchant Funds’ Investment Manager, Andrew Chapman presented Race as one of his “Favourite 3 picks” in an investor webinar presentation. Race is up 33.39% so far this month, another 5.43% today alone.

Elsewhere, Atomos (ASX:AMS) has announced an $18 million underwritten capital raising via an institutional placement of 52.4 million fully paid ordinary shares, and a 4-for-7 accelerated non-renounceable entitlement offer of approximately 127.1 million Shares.

The company notes that it has received binding commitments for $5.2 million, with the  Chairman and Non-Executive Directors committed to participate under the Entitlement Offer.

Atomos says it will be directing the funds towards a strategic investment in MAVIS, a provider of video streaming technology, investment in targeted marketing, commercialisation of recently announced 8K sensor, debt reduction, and balance sheet strengthening.

And from the world of Covid vaccines comes promising news for Recce Pharmaceuticals (ASX:RCE), which has announced that its Recce 327 (R327) has been shown to significantly reduce SARS-CoV-2 in hamsters – specifically, Syrian Golden Hamsters, which (as the name clearly implies) are the “gold standard” in COVID studies.

The study consisted of five groups of 12 hamsters infected intranasally with SARS-CoV-2 prior to being treated twice daily, with either a low (200mg/kg), mid (400mg/kg) or high (600mg/kg) dose of R327, starting 4 hours after infection was initiated.

SARS-CoV-2 levels in infected animals were quantified using two techniques; qPCR (which measures viral genetic material and cannot distinguish between live and dead virus) and TCID50 (which measures live infectious viruses) – and in both instances, “R327 was shown to significantly reduce SARS-CoV-2 levels in a dose-dependent manner”.

This is obviously great news – the “gold standard” of news – especially for Syrian golden hamsters, which are the “gold standard” of hamsters.

TRADING HALTS

Pharmaxis (ASX:PXS) – Capital raise by way of a placement of fully paid ordinary shares to institutional investors.

Theta Gold Mines (ASX:TGM) – Trading halt pending the release of an announcement regarding a funding transaction for the Company’s TGME Gold Project.

C29 Metals (ASX:C29) – C29 has an announcement pending relating to a material acquisition. $10 says it’s high-vis denim.

Wellnex Life (ASX:WNX) – Capital raise. No funny business. Just MOAR CAPITAL.

Atomos (ASX:AMS) – Proposed capital raising by way of institutional placement and accelerated non-renounceable entitlement offer.

Next Science (ASX:NXS) – a significant new commercial development in the United States. It’s not a Super Bowl commercial, though. We already checked, and those things are expensive. Sheesh.