Dow Jones 12192.93 +56.48 8:04 am PST, November 29, 2006 NASDAQ 2430.50 +17.89 For info, visit access.smallcapnetwork.com S & P 500 1395.39 +8.67 Change your subscription status here Russell 2000 783.34 +8.52 VOLUME 06: ISSUE 94 CEO Interview: Detailing a Biotech Opportunity  It's been said a company's people - not the company itself - is what generates success. We tend to agree with the sentiment, especially for a smaller company where everyone is intimately involved in the day-to-day operation. That's why we're thrilled we recently got a chance to get up close and personal with BioCurex (OTCBB: BOCX) CEO Dr. Ricardo Moro.  Potential or current investors will want to keep reading, as we have details on the company's unique biotechnology, where the technology is headed next, and how it may be a big opportunity for share owners.    The Technology Behind BioCurex Q: For anyone not yet familiar with your company, can you tell us in very simple terms what BioCurex is, and does?  A: BioCurex is Biotechnology company dedicated to create innovative healthcare products in the field of cancer diagnosis, tumor imaging, and treatment. The technology identifies a widespread cancer biomarker known as RECAF?. Put simply, RECAF? is a new biomarker that appears in most types of cancer cells, but not in normal cells. What's more, RECAF? technology distinguishes malignant tumors from benign tumors. In addition to the detection of cancer, the technology may also work to pinpoint the exact location of a cancer in the body using imaging technology.  It is anticipated that RECAF? will replace certain other biomarkers that may only detect one type of cancer or are not sensitive or specific to a particular malignancy. Q: And why is that better or different than what any other company is doing?  A: In the past 40 years, only a handful of cancer markers have been discovered. None of these markers exhibit the sensitivity and specificity of RECAF?. Plus, a doctor has to order many other additional diagnostic tests at present because these markers are not sensitive or specific enough. Furthermore, most markers are rather organ specific, which means that even if those markers were good enough for screening, a battery of tests would be necessary to cover all types of cancers.  RECAF? offers a unique combination of high specificity, high sensitivity, and broad cancer spectrum that is compatible with its use for general screening. In addition, recent results have shown that RECAF? can detect early stages of breast and prostate cancers (and perhaps other early cancers too). This means that by screening, we should now find incipient cancers that are too small to produce clinical symptoms or show up in an X-ray; and as everyone knows, the earlier the diagnosis, the better the outcome.    Getting >From Here to There  Q: It just seems like RECAF? works so well, the medical community would be clamoring to use it if they could. What are your thoughts about that?  A: Firstly, science moves in the real world at a different speed than laypersons realize. Most doctors do not know about RECAF? and it is the job of our licensees to spread the word. The blood tests have not yet been submitted to the FDA (the licensees will do this part), and the test is not yet available in any clinical laboratory. We have received a number of calls from individuals who want to be tested, but the assay is currently for Research and Development use only. We also believe that once our licensees offer the test in their instruments, the time to market saturation should be short given the penetration that these companies have in the diagnostic market and the obvious value of the test to society.  Q: What have been your biggest challenges or disappointments in the process of developing and marketing the RECAF? test?  A: So far, I cannot say that I have been disappointed at anything; on the contrary, I am very happy with the way things are going. The main thing to keep in mind is that we have a medical test that performs better than anything else in a field in which discoveries done decades ago continue to produce revenue. Whether it takes a few more months than we expected to launch it makes little difference in terms of the impact and the revenue it is anticipated to generate for the upcoming years. This is not only our opinion, but also that of the companies that have already licensed or are interested in licensing the technology.  Q: What's next for RECAF?  A: Imaging, and most importantly, therapeutics will be a major focus of BioCurex as we move forward. The latter is particularly enticing because we have preliminary results showing that we can destroy 100% of cancer cells with minimal effect on normal cells. We will continue working on these two areas in the new year.    Off and On Q: Let's talk a bit about BioCurex shares. In August, Biocurex shares were re-listed as a over-the-counter bulletin board stock. What can you tell us about getting off of it, then back on the bulletin board for a second time? Has there been any noticeable effect so far?  A: The bulletin board has a better reputation than the pink sheets, and that is important to us and particularly to our current and future shareholders. For me personally, it was a re-vindication of our position, our technology and our company as a whole. We have always been fully reporting and will continue to do so to provide full disclosure to our shareholders. However, the measure of our success will be continued business development and the exchange features will coincidently follow.  Q: Any goal or realistic time frame for getting listed on one of the major exchanges?  A: We are speculating with several possibilities but there is nothing concrete at this point. It should be noted that before we move to another exchange, we need to meet their standards, which we do not at present. It is possible that once we secure more licensees, we may improve our position, but it is too early to say.  It is important that our shareholders know that it is our intention to move the company to a major exchange at some point, but also important to recognize that we continue to develop our technology, improve our shareholder value and develop the business no matter where our shares trade.    Partners, Now and Later Q: You've got a major partner in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE: ABT). What's their specific role (or roles) in the growth of this company?  A: By now, the roles are rather clear: BioCurex has the flexibility and agility, as well as a great deal of accumulated know-how to develop and solve research challenges. Abbott, on the other hand, excels at transforming those solutions into viable products, at manufacturing them, and in the marketing arena. Thus, we complement each other extremely well. All of the people I met from their side are bright and highly motivated and I believe that we have a winning combination.  Q: You also have the option of adding more licensees or partners. Any pros or cons of doing so, and are there any current discussions with other potential partners you'd care to share?  A: We want more licensees because some clinical labs have Abbott's instrument, but some labs have other companies' instruments and the tests are instrument specific (it is like inkjet printers; the cartridge of a printer does not work in another printer). Further, more licensees means more revenue and more necessity for each company to move quickly to achieve market penetration. We have discussed terms with other possible licensees, but we decided to finish the conversion to the colorimetric format before cutting more deals since we believe that a more completed technology will result in better terms for BioCurex.   The Opportunity for Investors Q: And as far as an investment goes, BioCurex has generally been a good one. Shares were trading at five cents in 2002, so the current price of 67 cents translates into a gain of more than 1000% in just four years. Are you surprised?  A: If you had worked as hard as we did to achieve that goal, you would not be surprised (just exhausted...). What has surprised me is that after moving to $2 after the announcement of the Abbott licensing deal, and as we get closer to generating revenues, our share value has decreased. Yet, the company is much better now than it was then, the technology is more advanced, and we have acquired a great deal of know-how that will result in better deals with future licensees.  We feel that our present valuation is relatively low compared to other firms and that might be a good opportunity for investors to invest in something that the moderator of a scientific session where I presented results called "a miracle protein". (The next three questions were answered collectively below.)  Q: Of course we have to ask, is another 1000% gain over the next four years a possibility? (And no, nobody's going to hold you to it.)  Q: OK, what can you tell us about market penetration now, and how much of the market you expect to win over, say the next five years?  Q: And what kind of dollars would that mean for BioCurex?  A: It is always difficult to predict the future of the market. I would challenge anyone to predict GM's share value in 4 years. Given the current market conditions, is it possible that we'll be at $8/share before 2010? Yes it is possible, but I am not going to make a prediction. I believe that we are currently undervalued because, as I said a moment ago, we reached $2 when we announced Abbott and then, as we get closer to marketing the technology, the [share] price is lower.  About market penetration, I do not wish to make any predictions at this time. Let me introduce you to some numbers that are easily available and to some safe assumptions and let the reader make their own predictions:  According to some marketing studies, we understand that Abbott sells about 1/3 of all automated immunoassays. For PSA, the market is about $450M/year; and 1/3 could represent $150M. Their list price for PSA is close to $10, which means that they may sell roughly 15M tests. Let us assume that in the future we are able to sign up another two licensees and that the three of them cover 2/3 of the market. Extrapolating from above, we get an approximate 30M tests.  Now, PSA applies to prostate cancers and therefore it can only be used in men. On the other hand, RECAF? works in all cancers studied thus far, including those that affect women. Thus, it is reasonable and safe to assume that the market for RECAF? is at least twice as large as that of PSA; even more so if we consider all the other types of cancers RECAF? detects. Using the numbers above, that could equate to 60M tests per year. We are not allowed to disclose the royalties we shall receive but let us assume that they are $1.50 per test (which is less than we expect). 60M tests x $1.50 equals $90M per year in royalties. This is with no cost of manufacturing and no liabilities since they are assumed by the licensees.  Looking at it another way, if we assume a 12% profit before taxes on sales, BioCurex at that point would be the equivalent of a company manufacturing and selling $750M/year. So you have a significant potential market and revenue model for BioCurex which certainly exceeds its present market valuation.  One thing must be clear to your readers: None of these figures should be taken as accurate without external validation and they should not be used as the basis for buying or selling stock.    The Final Word Q: What would you tell shareholders right now that they probably didn't know, or would probably like to know?  A: This is something that our long term investors know very well, but newer investors might not: So far, we have achieved everything we set out to do. This includes coming back from a very low share price in 2002, discovering and developing a technology that outperforms everything done on the field in the past 40 years, managing to always maintain the company financed at a minimum dilution to shareholders, and signing up the largest diagnostic company in the planet as a licensee. We have done that with less than $10M from the inception of the company.  Further, biotechnology development takes time to mature since the human biochemistry is complex and needs to be examined from many perspectives before a product is finally marketed in its finished form. We have been proficient in the process of commercializing a complex technology and structuring a licensing deal in such a short time. Given the 'minute to minute' valuations in the stock market, it is sometimes hard to recognize the impact we feel this technology will eventually have on society.  We have been able to deliver on our promises because we do not exaggerate on our promises and this is the basis of long term success. Our shareholders can rest assured that we shall continue to apply our efforts in that direction. We would like to thank Dr. Moro for his time as we detailed the BioCurex opportunity today.     We Value Your Feedback   Got comments, questions or suggestions? Send 'em on over: Editor@smallcapnetwork.com If you wish to send a written request or inquiry, please send it to our physical address: TGR Group, LLC 4653 Carmel Mtn Rd Suite 308 #402 San Diego, CA 92130 Welcome First-Timers! If this is your first visit to our web site, be sure to look around. We discuss great small-cap stock ideas, exclusive insights, and we follow up on all of our commentary within a blog. Best of all, we can deliver all of this through our e-mail newsletter or an RSS feed. Start your browsing on the home page, where you'll find links to almost everything our site has to offer.   Commerce Planet Authorizes Major Stock Re-Purchase We weren't surprised to hear Commerce Planet's (OTCBB: CPNE) board approved a major stock repurchase plan on Monday. We've been following their story for a while, and we tend to agree the stock seems undervalued relative to where the company seems to be going. Now 'the Planet', with real dollars, is going to sit side-by-side with all the other retail investors out there. Investors may want to take note, as it's a surprisingly rare occurrence in the world of equities.  The terms are pretty straight-forward. Commerce Planet's Board of Directors decided to authorize up to $2 million worth of CPNE share purchases. The window on the approval closes at the end of 2007, so they have more than a full year to take any action they feel is merited.  For more, click here.    Clearly Canadian Makes Good on Potential Triple-Bottom We first mentioned the possibility of a triple-bottom on November 10th in the 'Whatever Happened To....' edition. Sure enough, Clearly Canadian (OTCBB: CCBEF) reached $2.80 on Monday after visiting a low of $2.00 on November 16th. Tuesday's close at 2.61, is still 30% above that low.  The key barrier we saw then was resistance at the 50 day moving average line. It had been a trouble spot before for Clearly Canadian shares, and we had to assume it could be again. Well, after this big move, the 50 day line resistance level (at $2.52) has been broken.  For more, click here.    Xtreme Changes Name, Ticker In what may be one of the finishing touches of a major corporate overhaul, Xtreme Companies (OTCBB: XTME) announced last week they'd be changing the company's name to Challenger Powerboats Inc. - a move designed to reflect the company's new focus. Along with the name change, the ticker symbol will switch to 'CPWB'.  For more, click here.  Subscribe Information is power and timely information is profitable. Become informed and profit from SmallCapDigest Profiles and Trading Alerts by becoming a Preferred Member today. There is no cost associated with your email subscription. 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To the degrees enumerated herein, SCD should not be regarded as an independent publication.  Click Here or go to http://access.smallcapnetwork.com/compensation_disclosure.html to view our compensation on every company we have ever covered, or visit the following web address: http://www.smallnetwork.net/profile_disclosure.html for our full profiles and http://access.smallcapnetwork.com/short_term_alerts.html for Trading Alerts.  In October of 2003, TGR Group LLC was paid a fee of $25,000 and one million newly issued restricted shares by Biocurex for coverage of the Company. Under SEC Rule 144, all one million issued restricted shares have been eligible for sale into the public market since October of 2004. In addition, on March 22, 2005, TGR entered into an extended agreement with Biocurex for a fee of 25,000 newly issued restricted shares and on July 1, 2006 TGR entered into another extended agreement with Biocurex for an additional 100,000 shares of newly issued, restricted stock. 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