New York-based Axsome Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: AXSM) is tending to a major and thriving market where current treatment options are insufficient. This young company (founded in 2012) is striving to establish a fully-integrated biopharmaceutical business that will develop and bring to the healthcare marketplace therapies for the management and treatment of central nervous system (CNS) disorders.

Axsome Therapeutics has a laser-like focus on differentiated therapies, in particular. To improve the lives of patients living with pain and various CNS disorders, Axsome has set its sights on working with both internally-derived drug candidates and in-licensed drug candidates in order to create a path to development and commercialization that will, ultimately, expand the treatment alternatives available to caregivers.

Axsome Therapeutics has moved into the clinical stage at this time. It holds a product candidate portfolio that includes two late-stage candidates, AXS-02 and AXS-05, which it is developing for multiple indications, as well as AXS-06.

• AXS-02, a non-opiod therapeutic in development for chronic pain, is Axsome’s leading product candidate. It is currently being evaluated in phase III trials for the treatment of complex regional pain syndrome, knee osteoarthritis with bone marrow lesions (BMLs) and chronic low back pain with modic changes.
• AXS-05 is a fixed-dose combination of dextromethorphan and bupropion, both of which have shown to be effective in activating central nervous system receptors. AXS-05 is currently in a phase III trial indicated for treatment resistant depression and agitation in patients with Alzheimer’s disease.
• The company is also developing AXS-06 for the treatment of chronic pain disorders.

Analysts have pointed to the value in Axsome’s focus on complex regional pain syndrome, treatment resistant depression and agitation in patients with Alzheimer’s disease, indicating that these disorders possess lower-than-average research and development risks and a tested business model that leans toward a faster commercialization timeline (http://dtn.fm/Urt7t).

For more information, visit www.Axsome.com

The travel industry is growing exponentially, but must also be ready to become more flexible and make more changes to cater to the needs and requirements of the market segment currently driving its growth – the Millennials. This new generation of travelers has hit an average annual spending of $200 billion on tourism and travel, according to a FutureCast report titled ‘Millennial Brief on Travel & Lodging’ (http://dtn.fm/Rf12j). The figure is the largest average the tourism industry has ever seen, a trend that’s likely to be maintained, provided that the industry’s operators are able to meet the needs of this group of tourists.

Having reached adulthood in the 2000s, at the peak of the Internet age, it is no wonder that Millennials thoroughly research their options and destinations when making travel plans. According to the FutureCast report, Millennial tourists check an average of 10 sources before they make a travel purchase. This habit is also a result of this group of travelers’ collective desire to experience something utterly new and unique on their trips. Perhaps more than any other generations, Millennials are primarily interested in new, personalized experiences on their travels rather than just relaxing or sightseeing, with nine out of ten in agreement.

Additionally, 70 percent of Millennials are interested in exploring the communities they visit during their vacations in order to learn something new about them, mingle with them and experience life as they would. This also reflects their lodging preferences, with more and more Millennials opting for alternative lodging rental units when they travel instead of more traditional solutions such as hotels. It is no surprise that a growing number of Millennials use online platforms such as Airbnb or Booking.com to research their lodging options and make a booking before they travel.

Monaker Group, Inc. (OTCQB: MKGI), a technology-driven tourism company offering comprehensive travel solutions and personalized tours, is ready to tap into this fast-growing travel market segment by offering not only an impressive portfolio of alternative lodging rental units but also access to full-service tours to hundreds of destinations around the world.

The group currently has a portfolio of more than 1.1 million alternative lodging rental units available under its NextTrip Resorts platform, and it is currently in the process of adding more than 200,000 timeshare and resort units by the end of the year. Via its flagship NextTrip.com platform, Monaker allows tourists to plan their trips to the smallest details by offering them access to a wealth of alternative lodging options, such as unused timeshare inventory, resort residences and vacation home rentals, as well as a wide range of hotels, rental cars, tours, airlines, concierge services and more.

The platform, launched in February 2016, has grown exponentially, being the only real-time booking engine that combines various booking options to meet tourists’ every need. With Millennials’ influence on the travel industry set to expand further over the coming years as this population segment continues to grow, full-service booking platforms such as NextTrip.com are likely to become an increasingly important part of the industry.

For more information, visit www.MonakerGroup.com

Let us hear your thoughts: Monaker Group, Inc. Message Board

At last month’s MicroCap Conference in Philadelphia, the technological prowess of OurPet’s Company (OTCQX: OPCO) was on display. A presentation (http://dtn.fm/1oSgo) by the company’s chief financial officer, Scott Mendes, showed the many innovative products for cats and dogs, who are the rainmakers of OurPet’s Company. The CFO also gave an account of OPCO’s history of growth, from its genesis in 1985 as Napro, Inc. to the present. The company has grown both organically and through acquisitions. CEO Dr. Steve Tsengas wants to double its size and, to support that expansion, has invested heavily in distribution and marketing infrastructure.

The company was founded in 1994 by chairman and CEO Dr. Steve Tsengas and chief operating officer Dean Tsengas. Dr. Steve Tsengas is an enterprising engineer who has been elected to the National Inventors Hall of Fame. In a past MissionIR OPCO interview (http://dtn.fm/5kLUU), he revealed that one rationale behind the founding of OurPet’s Company was the lack of innovation in the pet industry back in the 1990s. As a result, a decision was made to concentrate on creating truly novel products that solved problems for pets and pet parents, along with the marketing and distribution of those products, rather than manufacturing. Since its inception, OPCO has stuck to that mission and successfully passed many mirthful milestones.

In 1994, its first product, the Big Dog Feeder®, which made it easier for big dogs to eat by elevating the feeding bowl, created quite a stir at a classic pet show in Cleveland, Ohio. Three days after its debut, the feeder recorded sales of about $6,500. In 2001, the company became publicly traded on the Over-the-Counter Bulletin Board under the symbol OPCO. OPCO continued on this inventive path by acquiring or creating brands like the Play-N-Squeak®, Cosmic Catnip™, Go! Cat! Go!®, Durapet®, SmartScoop® and Flappy®. In 2014, it launched its dual brand strategy with OurPets® and Pet Zone®. Products under the OurPets® brand are targeted at pet specialty retailers, while those under the Pet Zone® brand are distributed through the food, drug and mass retail channels.

Now, OurPet’s Company is set to exploit the amazing possibilities offered by new digital technologies with its OurPets® Intelligent Pet Care™ (http://dtn.fm/0Hcpa) product line. This suite of products is designed to help parents monitor their pets by employing a combination of infrared (IR), Bluetooth and Wi-Fi technologies.

OurPet’s Company has been growing much faster than the industry as a whole. Since 2010, it has had an annual compound growth rate (CAGR) of about six percent, while the industry has experienced a more modest four percent. The company’s earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) have increased from $403,761 in Q1 2014 to $958,263 in Q3 2016, while net income has increased by 269 percent over the same period, from $134,427 to $495,669. The cats and dogs at OurPet’s Company are racing ahead like cheetahs and greyhounds.

For more information, visit the company’s website at www.OurPets.com

Let us hear your thoughts: OurPet’s Co. Message Board

Chanticleer Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: HOTR) kicked off November with the announcement that, during the fiscal quarter ended September 30, 2016, the company achieved its second consecutive quarter of adjusted EBITDA profitability. This milestone came alongside an 18.3 percent year-over-year increase in total revenue, which was attributed primarily to Chanticleer’s rapidly expanding fast casual better burger segment. In a news release, Mike Pruitt, chairman and chief executive officer of Chanticleer, noted that the company’s Little Big Burger restaurants were performing “particularly well” before adding that the brand contributed “significantly to the 19% sequential growth in Adjusted EBITDA from continuing operations” and further validated Chanticleer’s regional brand strategy.

With this regional brand strategy at the forefront of Chanticleer’s near-term growth efforts, it came as little surprise when, before the opening bell on Monday, the company announced plans for the launch of a new Little Big Burger restaurant in Portland, Oregon. The grand opening of the new location, which will be Chanticleer’s ninth Little Big Burger and 40th fast casual better burger store, is set to take place next week in Oregon’s largest city, whose metropolitan area is home to roughly 60 percent of the state’s overall population. Pruitt used Monday’s news release to speak toward the company’s excitement ahead of next week’s grand opening.

“We are very pleased to open up a new Little Big Burger in the Portland area,” he stated. “This store is our first store opening financed with EB-5 capital, which provides attractive, non-dilutive capital to expand our regional brands. Little Big Burger has been performing well with particularly attractive store economics, and we look forward to continuing to strategically utilize EB-5 financing for additional Little Big Burger restaurants as well as our other regional brands.”

As referenced by Pruitt, EB-5 capital stems from a federal government program created to encourage foreign investment in U.S. businesses. In addition to serving as one of the fastest methods for foreign investors to gain permanent residency in the U.S., the program is used nationwide to finance the construction and development of new projects in an increasingly diverse number of industries. EB-5 financing is particularly attractive to those operating within the hospitality sector, as it provides a low cost alternative to more traditional sources of capital while typically presenting favorable financing terms that result in reduced financial risk.

Chanticleer’s newest Little Big Burger restaurant will be located in Portland’s bustling Lloyd District at 1088 NE 7th Avenue.

For more information, visit www.chanticleerholdings.com

Hollywood-based entertainment technology company bBooth, Inc. (OTCQB: BBTH) is set to disrupt the entire Software-as-a-Service (SaaS), Customer Relationship Management (CRM), and sales lead generation software industry with its novel bNotifi platform. With bNotifi, marketers get two boons for the price of one. First, marketing reach is expanded with the employment of virtual representatives and, second, the message gets told with motion pictures, which, as we now know, are worth much, much more than a thousand words. The bNotifi technology has completely re-invented what a CRM, lead-generation tool should be in today’s video-centric social environment.

If, in today’s online marketing realm, content is king, then video must surely be the crown. A feature this month on Search Engine Watch (http://dtn.fm/xIl5F) predicts ‘that video will account for 69% of all internet traffic by 2017.’ It goes on to say ‘for brands, video content is a powerful way to introduce themselves, spread their message, promote a product, increase their reach, boost engagement, and explain their service.’

The company that eschews video in the marketing mix risks missing the boat. eMarketing reports that ‘during mid-2015, online video overtook social media relative to the amount of time spent per day online’. And a survey from HighQ confirms this: ‘…approximately 55% of Americans watch online videos every day, with the average American adult spending one hour and 16 minutes each day watching video on digital devices. Growth relative to this area has been staggering as consumers spent only 21 minutes per day watching online videos in 2011.’

bBooth CEO Rory J. Cutaia is certainly aware of these trends, but points out that ‘video marketing is no longer (just) about YouTube videos or brands distributing clips on social media’.

“More and more thought leaders have begun to recognize that targeted interactive video communications that track the level of viewers’ actual engagement is far and away more effective in generating, and more importantly, in recognizing hot sales leads,” argues Cutaia in a press release (http://dtn.fm/n5y1O).

The bNotifi platform originated from bBooth’s mall-based kiosks and mobile apps that were focused on talent discovery (http://dtn.fm/k9NfU). The technology has been improved and upgraded to a cloud-based, enterprise level SaaS platform, developed to address a much larger target market that includes celebrities and sports personalities, corporate users, consumer brands and media companies. The bNotifi technology represents a new innovative platform for CRM, lead-generation, advertising, fan engagement, and consumer brand activation.

Through fully integrated mobile, desktop, and web-based applications, the bNotifi technology provides push-to-screen, media-rich, interactive audio and video messaging and communications for higher levels of social engagement and interactive online training and teaching applications, as well as an enterprise scale lead generation and customer retention platform for sales professionals and others.

The bNotifi platform also includes a robust back-end administration console with data collection capabilities, among other features, designed to provide small, medium and large-scale enterprise users, among others, with the ability to send, receive and manage enhanced, media-rich, highly-engaging messaging for both internal and external communications.

In September, bBooth announced it had agreed to provide The Matrix Group, and its 890,000 independent representatives in affiliate organizations, with the bNotifi CRM and Lead Generation technology. And in October, The Matrix Group began a global launch of bNotifi, which will give its associates the power to engage customers and prospects in an entirely new, interactive media-rich format. Building on this progress, BBooth announced the release of bNotifi 2.0 earlier this month.

For more information, visit www.bbooth.com

Corbus Pharmaceuticals Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: CRBP), a clinical stage drug development company targeting rare, chronic, and serious inflammatory and fibrotic diseases, recently reported its third quarter financial results (http://dtn.fm/R6EgY) for the three months ended September 30, 2016. CRBP reported a net loss for the third quarter due to increased spending on clinical studies for systemic sclerosis and CF, plus increased staffing costs, bonuses, and other expenditures.

However, the company ended the third quarter with just under $19 million in cash and cash equivalents, which it believes to be sufficient to meet its operating and capital requirements through the end of 2017. The company is also expecting a milestone payment by the end of the first quarter of 2017 from Cystic Fibrosis Foundation Therapeutics, Inc. of $1.5 million.

In addition to its financial results, the company provided an update on its corporate progress and progress on the clinical status of its lead product candidate Resunab, a synthetic oral endocannabinoid-mimetic drug that targets chronic inflammation and aims to stop fibrosis. The drug is currently being tested in three separate phase 2 clinical studies.

Since the release of these financial results, the company completed its phase 2 trials of Resunab in patients with systemic sclerosis, releasing positive data and leading shares to skyrocket. According to CRBP’s findings (http://dtn.fm/sT36W), the median patients taking Resunab saw their combined response index in diffuse cutaneous systemic sclerosis score increase by just under 35%, compared to 0% for those taking a placebo.

As a result, Corbus Pharmaceuticals is now seeking approval for the drug from the FDA. The company is also testing Resunab in other phase 2 trials for diseases such as lupus, fibrosis, and dermatomyositis, while patients from the systemic sclerosis phase 2 trials will enter an extension study to measure the drug’s long term effects.

Corbus Pharmaceuticals Holdings also received a company update from Aegis Capital Corp. (http://dtn.fm/1Vl5L), which maintained the company’s ‘Buy’ rating with a price target of $12 per share. This report was based on the strong data released regarding the phase 2 trials in patients with systemic sclerosis.

Other companies such as Noble Financial and Cantor Fitzgerald also reiterated a ‘Buy’ rating for the company, with price objectives of $19.00 and $17.00, respectively. In addition to the above, Barbara White acquired 38,000 shares of CRBP worth $119,700, and CFO Sean F. Moran acquired 148,960 shares worth just under $500,000, all according to The Cerbat Gem Market News and Analysis (http://dtn.fm/Sit9u), giving insiders just under 12% ownership of CRBP’s stock.

Other large investors have also raised their stakes in the company. Morgan Stanley raised its position in Corbus Pharmaceuticals Holdings, Inc. by 12.4%, Northern Trust Corp. raised its position by 41%, BlackRock Institutional Trust Company N.A. raised its position by 14.3%, and Milestone Group, Inc. and Bank of New York Mellon Corp. bought new positions worth $102,000 and $155,000, respectively. Outside investors now own 25.39% of CRBP’s stock.

For more information, visit the company’s website at www.corbuspharma.com

Smart technology has become an integral part of our lives, from our phones, computers and watches to our cars and homes, which now have more features and can do more than even the smartest computer could 20 years ago. It was an expected and natural step that we carried this passion for smart tech and interconnectivity over to the pet industry as well. Intelligent pet products such as the ones offered by leading pet care solutions provider OurPet’s Company, Inc. (OTCQX: OPCO) are becoming increasingly common, as they enable pet parents to develop a stronger bond with their pets for more complete care and closer monitoring of their health and behavior.

Pet tech has been developing at a rapid pace on a growing market that now has a propensity for high-end products, including state-of-the-art gadgets and premium feeding solutions. This is largely owed to the fact that many pet owners now see their furry friends as actual family members and treat them as such, sparing no expense. The industry has responded to the trend by offering better products, improved formulas and, now, smart tech-powered solutions for every pet. Manufacturers have already rolled out a wide range of high-tech pet products on the market, ranging from smart training collars that allow even remote training to radio-frequency operated flap doors, automatic ball launchers for dogs, and smart feeding bowls that count calories or only open for a specific pet.

Ohio-based OurPet’s Company has already joined the smart pet tech movement with its own line of smart products designed to offer enhanced care and help owners closely monitor their pets’ health. The OurPets® Intelligent Pet Care™ product line (http://dtn.fm/23VLn) offers a complete range of intelligent pet health monitoring products based on Bluetooth® technology. These products enable owners to keep in touch with their pets and be aware of any changes in their behavior via the IntelligentPetLink™ smartphone app, available for download for both Android and iOS.

The Intelligent Pet Care™ product line includes products such as the SmartLink™ Feeder – Intelligent Pet Bowl (http://dtn.fm/u38FY) and the SmartLink™ Waterer – Intelligent Water Fountain (http://dtn.fm/uH6Bv), designed to give your dog or cat the ability to communicate that they may have a health issue by monitoring the key indicators of pet health. The systems communicate with a tag that can be attached to your pet’s collar, and they give access to food or water only when they detect that tag in the vicinity. This makes the SmartLink™ Feeder and Waterer ideal for households with multiple pets or for pets who are on special diets and monitoring of their eating and drinking habits can help the pet parent better understand any health issues with their pet that may arise.

Other products in the Intelligent Pet Care™ line include the SmartScoop® – Intelligent Litter Box (http://dtn.fm/nM3Nl), which monitors elimination behavior and uses infrared technology to detect when your cat uses the litter and engages a scoop mechanism to scoop the waste and keep the box clean. Also available are the SmartLink™ Tag (http://dtn.fm/2fInt) and the SmartLink™ Gateway – WiFi Pet Care Connector (http://dtn.fm/l5Q1k) that converts a Bluetooth® signal into Wi-Fi signals so as to enable owners to monitor their pet’s activity outside the house.

For more information, visit the company’s website at www.OurPets.com

Let us hear your thoughts: OurPet’s Co. Message Board

LED (Light-Emitting Diode) lighting is brightening the homes, offices, factories and public spaces of America. A report from ResearchandMarkets (http://dtn.fm/6RlaJ), issued last month, estimates that the U.S. LED market is set to grow at a CAGR of 8.8 percent from 2016, reaching $8.9 billion by 2022, with as much as half of this growth coming from general lighting. And America is just the beginning. As the world switches from incandescent and fluorescent lighting, the market to replace these legacy systems globally is set to grow even faster. This forecast growth is lighting a bright future for Trans-Lux Corp. (OTC: TNLX), a premier global supplier of engaging LED-based digital display and lighting solutions.

The first lights powered by electricity appeared in the mid-nineteenth century. The arc lamp, invented by Humphry Davy, worked by allowing an electric current to ‘jump’ between two close, but separated, carbon electrodes. The arc of luminous ionized air that resulted provided a bright light. By the late nineteenth century, Edison and others were working on ways to develop incandescent bulbs, which issued light when electricity passed through a filament. In 1904, the adoption of incandescent lighting accelerated after the introduction of tungsten filaments. By the 1930s, however, fluorescent lights were making their debut, and, by the 1950s, they were everywhere. Now, after reigning for over a half a century, fluorescent lighting is about to be deposed by LEDs.

LEDs use semiconductors to convert electricity into light. Their rise to the top of the lighting pecking order stems mainly from their “luminous efficacy”, i.e., their efficient use of power. A light bulb’s efficiency is a measure of emitted light (lumens) divided by the power it draws (watts). A bulb that is 100 percent efficient at converting energy into light would have an efficacy of 683 lumens per watt. To put this in context, a 60- to 100-watt incandescent bulb has an efficacy of 15 lumens per watt, an equivalent fluorescent tube has an efficacy of 73 lumens per watt, and current LED-based replacement bulbs on the market range from 70-120 lumens per watt, with an average efficacy of 85 lumens per watt.

Trans-Lux is certainly playing a part in guiding America through its transition to LED. This is a company that has been innovating since 1920, known globally as a leader in indoor and outdoor digital signage, scoreboards, and lighting solutions for numerous industries, including commercial, education and sports markets. Trans-Lux product offerings fall into three broad categories: scoreboards, video displays and LED lighting.

The LED systems that Trans-Lux designs, manufactures, distributes and services are programmable in real time. They can be fashioned to meet the digital signage needs for a venue of any size, whether indoor or outdoor, and have found application in the financial, banking, gaming, corporate, advertising, transportation, entertainment and sports markets. Trans-Lux lighting fixtures save energy and offer a comprehensive range of the latest LED lighting technologies. This provides private facilities and public infrastructure with “green” lighting solutions that emit less heat, save energy and enable creative designs.

The company recently filed its latest 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2016. Although it managed quarterly revenues of $5.9 million and income of $140,000 ($0.05 per share), performance was down compared to the third quarter of 2015. CEO Jean-Marc Allain, former president of Panasonic System Solutions, attributed the lower revenues to logistical issues.

“In the third quarter, construction of our new state-of-the art manufacturing facility in St. Louis and the coordination of several facilities has impacted deliveries. However, we fully believe that when complete, our new manufacturing base will provide great and sustained returns and efficiencies. We are confident that shipments that were delayed in third quarter, will be delivered in fourth quarter,” Allain stated in a recent news release (http://dtn.fm/blTA2).

For more information, visit www.trans-lux.com

ClearOne, Inc. (NASDAQ: CLRO), a company that designs, develops, and commercializes conferencing, collaboration, and network streaming and signage solutions for voice and visual communications, recently announced its quarterly earnings, reporting a $0.22 earnings per share for the third quarter of 2016.

Although slightly lower than during the same period of the previous year, ClearOne reported revenue of $12.9 million for the quarter with a net margin of 9.78% and a return on equity of 8.5%. Gross profit for the third quarter of 2016 came in at $7.7 million, with net income of $1.2 million and a non-GAAP net income of $2.0 million.

In addition to the above, a number of hedge funds and other investors opened new and increased stock positions in the company. In particular, Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stock position in CLRO by just under 18%, giving it a 7.72% ownership stake of ClearOne, Inc. worth just over $8 million.

According to an article on The Cerbat Gem Market News and Analysis website (http://dtn.fm/imI3V), Morgan Stanley and Northern Trust Corp. raised their positions in shares by 373.8% and 1.9%, respectively, giving them both stakes worth more than $100,000. Vanguard Group, Inc. also raised its position in shares of CLRO by 0.4%, giving it shares of the company’s stock worth more than $1.5 million. As a result of these new and increased stock positions, hedge funds and other investors now own just under 19% of the company, with CLRO Director Larry Hendricks buying shares valued at $232,554.

ClearOne also recently announced that it will be paying a quarterly dividend to investors of $0.05. This adds up to a $0.20 yearly dividend, giving the company a dividend payout ratio of 37.74%. The company has also been the topic of several recent research reports.

The Cerbat Gem Market News and Analysis site referred to above also reported that, while The Street recently lowered shares for ClearOne from a ‘Buy’ rating to a ‘Hold’ rating, Zacks Investment Research upgraded the company’s rating from ‘Hold’ to ‘Buy’ with a target price of $13. In addition, B. Riley gave the company a ‘Buy’ rating with a target price of $13.25. Lastly, Singular Research also gave the company a ‘Buy’ rating with a price objective on its stock of $14.50.

Finally, ClearOne has also now entered into a new distribution agreement with National Source AV whereby National Source AV will represent ClearOne’s media collaboration, UC voice portfolios, and video conferencing to a variety of consultants and other potential stakeholders across Canada.

For more information, visit the company’s website at www.clearone.com

To paraphrase the renowned German playwright, Bertolt Brecht, nature does not remember kisses on the cheek. Wounds, on the other hand, perversely leave scars. Perhaps fortunately, kisses leave no mark, but injuries to the body do. And the scars of such damage not only disfigure appearances but result in adhesion, which occurs when scars bind with surrounding tissue.

Luckily, however, advances in the field of regenerative medicine may soon relegate scar tissue to the indecipherable lyrics of a Red Hot Chili Peppers ballad. MiMedx Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: MDXG) is now bringing comfort to the wounded with its groundbreaking amniotic tissue allografts that promote tissue regeneration.

Scar tissue, however, is not the only issue that MiMedx is addressing. Its regenerative therapies based on amniotic tissue not only reduce scarring but modulate inflammation and enhance the healing process. This trifecta of winning outcomes has driven MiMedx to the top. In the span of eight years, the company has risen to become the world’s premier processor and supplier of human amniotic tissue and has, to date, distributed over 700,000 amniotic tissue grafts worldwide. Successful clinical outcomes have been achieved in a variety of therapeutic settings, including ophthalmology, spinal, chronic wounds, dental, orthopedic surgery, sports medicine, and urology.

Tissue derived from the amniotic membrane, which is the innermost layer of the placenta, is the building block of the MiMedx regenerative therapies. Normally, a mother’s placenta, or afterbirth, along with the amniotic membrane, is discarded as medical waste. However, through its Placenta Donation Program (http://dtn.fm/Mvz2R), MiMedx allows mothers, delivering healthy babies by planned Caesarean section, to donate their placentas. The amniotic membrane is then separated from the rest of the placenta and subjected to MiMedx’s proprietary Purion® technology, which is the foundation of its two lead products: AmnioFix® and EpiFix®.

The AmnioFix® and EpiFix® allograft solutions are MiMedx’s chief wound care (and company) products. Both allografts have an advantage over competitive products in that they can be stored at room temperature for five years without the need for refrigeration or freezing. As a result, they can be used right out of the package without a complicated thawing process. These critical qualities of the MiMedx® allografts allow hospitals, clinics, and surgeons to quickly provide the appropriate treatment while effectively managing their inventory of allografts.

The care of wounds is an undeveloped market. In a report issued earlier this month, Aegis Capital (http://dtn.fm/LOl14) estimated that MiMedx commanded a 60 percent share of the amniotic tissue market, a market that is, at present, growing by roughly 15 percent annually. MiMedx derives about three-quarters of its revenues from its amniotic tissue business. Together with its Surgical, Sports Medicine, and Other (SSO) business lines, Aegis expects that by 2020, the company will triple revenues to $560 million and earn one dollar in EPS (earnings per share). There are numerous caveats, however. Gross margin must stay in the low 80 percent range; operating margin must hover around 30 percent; and sales, general and administration (SG&A) expenses must not exceed half of sales.

Management is certainly expecting growth. The company has been engaged in an aggressive $60 million share buyback program, which could be signaling undervaluation. The Aegis analysts certainly think so. They have put a ‘Buy’ rating and price target of $12.00 on MiMedx. The stock is current trading at around $9.90 on the NASDAQ under the symbol MDXG.

For more information, visit www.mimedx.com