I just had a conversation on Friday afternoon with Resverlogix's CEO Donald McCaffrey. I was not seeking to garner any insight into future developments, rather our conversation focused primarily on events of the past seven to eight months. I called to express my concern about the company's communications and about projecting a positive image to the market.
My opinion on the prospects for lead compound Apabetalone are incredibly positive. The company is more than two years into a phase III clinical trial called BETonMACE that is seeking to prove that Apabetalone administered along with Statins (Crestor/Lipitor) will positively impact the time to a Major Adverse Cardiac Event (MACE) for patients suffering from Diabetes Mellitus.
The trial has already received five positive recommendations from the independent Data Safety Monitoring Board (DSMB) to continue with no modifications while noting no safety or efficacy concerns.
That is fantastic news, and in of itself is reason for me to be very bullish. There are also trials planned for patients with both Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) and Fabry's. Apabetalone could also have application for people suffering from a wide array of conditions including Alzheimer's, Thrombosis and a number of other diseases with arterial components. The potential here is mind blowing in my view.
Suffice to say, I'm a bull, but not a happy bull.
The reason for my unhappiness is a number of communication blunders over the past several months. I'm not going to go over the issues, I already blogged about it back in October when the PPS had shown surprising strength in spite of those blunders. For those who missed it here's the link to that post.
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I spoke to the company's VP of Investor Relations about those issues and I was confident that going forward they would be resolved. It was my sincere hope that there would be no further missteps and that when the company engaged the market that it would be in a positive way that would enhance the brand, not tarnish it.
Then on November 23rd the company announced via their Twitter feed that they had launched their new website. Obviously like other shareholders and prospective investors, I checked it out.
To be perfectly clear, I personally would never base an investment decision on a corporate website. I expect a company to have a website of course, but beyond that I don't care. With that being said I did like the new look, I see it as much cleaner and easier to navigate than their old site which I considered "too busy".
But my head just about exploded when I saw that in the upper right hand corner they had a link to a Facebook page for the company, a link that has thankfully been removed. Why was it removed? This is the page on FaceBook that was linked up to the new website:
When I saw that I almost immediately sent an email to the company's IR represenatives, and I didn't pull any punches. Here is an edited version of what I wrote:
I noticed the new website and wanted to let you know I think it looks very clean, sharp and professional....well done.
One suggestion however, (I am a pain, I know).
Up in the right hand corner there's a link to the company's Facebook page. But as you're probably aware, nobody is updating the Facebook page, I've seen home businesses with nice Facebook pages, while Resverlogix...it looks like you don't give a rat's posterior about it.
And if that's the case, no worries. But if you're going to go the time, energy and expense of sprucing up the corporate website, then why have a link to a Facebook page that makes the company look like its out of business?
Then again, if your goal is to appear less than professional in the social media sphere, then I would have to say....mission accomplished.
I was not a happy camper obviously, and I subsequently asked when it would be possible to speak with the CEO. That call, as I noted at the start, took place yesterday (Friday Dec 1st 2017) in the afternoon.
Mr. McCaffrey assured me that he shares my concerns and that he will be addressing them. He is aware that Facebook reportedly has over 2 billion active users. I conveyed to him the view that some prospective investors, in researching the company, they may want to look into how the company presents itself on social media.
I realize I'm not providing much in the way of detail with respect to our 20 minute conversation. There really isn't much worth sharing, aside from the fact that the CEO asserts that he is both aware of the problems and that he is not happy with the way the company has been communicating in the marketplace.
As a public company Resverlogix, like any other, has a brand and an image. The company needs its corporate communication strategy and execution to match that of their leading edge science. I equate it to a race car with an incredible engine that blows the competition away. On the race track it doesn't matter if the car's paint job isn't the nicest, or if there is a chip in the windshield, what matter is performance on the oval.
But the public markets aren't a NASCAR track. And if a company doesn't present itself in a positive and professional manner, then they might not be able to raise the money needed to put gas in the tank and compete.
The conversation ended with me wishing him a good weekend, with an exhortation to put his boot up the VP of IR's rear end, and I didn't use the words 'rear end' but the shorter three letter version.
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