Archive for year: 2022

Enabling more team members to travel by private jet or charter makes sense— except when it doesn’t.

By Dale Buss
July 29, 2022

The boom in corporate travel on private aircraft is taking on a new dimension: It’s not just for CEOs and board members any longer.

More executives and managers at lower levels now are getting on company planes or taking charters as a productivity measure. A growing number of companies also are using the prospect of private flying as a perk to lure executive or managerial talent. Employers are scrambling to formulate policies to cover this new twist: Who gets to go private, and when?

“Larger aircraft for longer range are still mainly being used for board activity,” says John Owen, CEO of private-flight provider Airshare. “But we’re also seeing engagement teams using smaller aircraft. There’s a little more carte blanche for them to use private aircraft when they need them, versus the previous practice of having to travel [only] with someone who ranks above them.”

Doug Gollan sees this expansion as founder of Private Jet Car Comparisons, a buyer’s guide for time-share seats. “Companies, having bought 25 or 50 hours for a CEO, now are buying a couple hundred hours after the CEO sees how efficient it is, and allowing more of the management team to fly privately,” he says.

The practice has caught on in part because the productivity benefits of private aviation have become more apparent in the last couple of years. “Face-to-face meetings have become really important again,” says Ramy Sidholm, head of PNC Aviation Finance. Meetings are easy on planes and insulated from distractions. Executives don’t get snarled in the vagaries of commercial travel or exposed to its riskier environs while Covid still rages.

The difficulties of airline travel have shunted more lower-level corporate travel to private aviation. Even as commercial schedules have recovered, pilot shortages and other factors mean airlines have drastically culled routes to many of America’s secondary and tertiary cities.

“If you’re a large, multinational corporation and you’re putting a factory, a switching station or a data warehouse in a relatively inexpensive place like Tucson, Arizona, or Alliance, Texas, you stuck it there because it’s inexpensive to build and operate there,” says Greg Raiff, CEO of Private Jet Services. “But it’s tough to get there by air.”

In fact, dangling private flights has become a recruiting tool. “With the Great Resignation, so many people are looking for perks, certainly at the senior level, and if a company has a vast footprint, it’s something many executives are considering more than ever,” says Joseph Smith, aviation director for the Cassel Salpeter investment-banking firm.

Essentially, more companies are pivoting to the sort of approach that Walmart has used for decades. America’s largest retailer employs its fleet of a couple dozen private planes as a corporate livery service, dispatching lower-level executives and managers to string together visits to its 10,500 stores in 24 countries. In the U.S., per Walmart’s business model, most stores are still in smaller places like Gardner, Kansas, and Easley, South Carolina.

But not every company is going in this direction. It’s understood, for instance, that General Motors hasn’t budged on its private-flight policies lately, though the automaker operates 118 facilities scattered across the United States.

Here are some ideas for dealing with this trend:

• Work it forward. The broadening of private air travel within an organization should cascade back into any planning for new aircraft or budgeting for time shares on planes, especially at a time of continued tight supplies of both planes for purchase and time-share seats.
  “We work with new prospects to give them a total trip and cost analysis on an annual basis before they buy anything,” Owen says. “This will help them build a budget for each department or individual, which creates a little more structure around what they’re going to put into effect.”
• Ponder the perk. CEOs and boards can use private flying as a lure or reward on an individual basis, or open up the practice to new categories, such as vice presidents. “Companies need to think about the development of their people, their business, whether they want to convey a change in culture that the best and brightest are going to be allowed to use these kinds of assets to do their job and to do it right and fast,” says David Mayer, partner with the Shackelford, Bowen, McKinley & Norton law firm.
• Expect pleasant surprises. Private flying is increasingly cost competitive with airline flights these days, especially if the destination is a second- or third-tier city, the travel is frequent and regular, and a number of employees are involved. “If you start seeing that the company has four or more employees traveling the exact same route two days a week, for instance, chances are you should be looking at some version of a corporate shuttle,” Raiff says.
  Joseph Smith, Cassel Salpeter Adds Smith, “You may not do it for one person unless it’s an emergency. But for a team performing due diligence or looking for a new acquisition, it can be very efficient to pack six to a dozen people on a private plane.”
• Attune the bureaucracy. Many corporate travel departments planners have stayed away from private aviation “because it’s high stakes and highly visible; they don’t mess with it,” Raiff says. But with more of their traditional internal clientele now becoming eligible for private travel, this part of corporate operations may need to rise to the occasion.
  “Find a consultant and get smart before you start spending money,” he says. “Learn about the private-aviation space. It’s here and it’s not going away.”
• Beware tax snares. With expanded rosters of individual participants comes potential exposure of more travelers to the IRS. So aircraft-use policies should take into account the tax ramifications of business and personal transportation of permitted passengers on an employer-provided aircraft.
  “It can involve the flight’s ‘fringe-benefit’ value to these new travelers unless they otherwise pay for the flight,” Mayer says.
• Don’t over-glamorize. C-Suite and board members may still get to ride on bigger, faster and more expensive planes than underlings. But the differences in their on-board environs are mainly going to be a matter of a little more personal space and maybe a guaranteed bathroom on the plane, or the presence of a flight attendant.

It’s not like the top brass are receiving foot massages while a regional manager can only expect a bag of peanuts. “The wealthiest client we have only wants pizza and sour gummy worms on the plane; it’s not about the caviar,” Raiff says. “What people value about private aviation is that it’s a time machine. It gets there faster. It is, in fact, private, and it allows people to be more productive, and that goes for everyone.”

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By Gail Dutton
July 13, 2022

Today there are 1,170 unicorns across all industries – an all-time high, according to CBInsights. Nearly 8% of those are in healthcare, with many in biotech specifically.

The pace of unicorn creation – which is still quite fast – is slowing, however, as economists predict a coming recession. The IPO window is all but closed. Venture capitalists are holding tightly to their cash, and the Federal Reserve’s July meeting is considered likely to raise interest rates. In such a climate, is unicorn status still within reach of today’s young biotech companies?

At the investment bank of Cassel Salpeter & Co., managing directors Ira Z. Leiderman and Margery Fischbein told BioSpace there are compelling reasons why unicorn status – defined as a private startup company valued at or exceeding $1 billion – may, or may not, be possible today.

To Become or Not to Become a Unicorn

Noting the case in favor of achieving unicorn status, Fischbein said, “Public market valuations are low and only a limited number of IPOs are getting done. Although VCs are culling their portfolios and becoming more selective,” they are reserving cash for follow-on financings for their best portfolio companies. “Many VCs have plenty of money, and good science is always valuable.” In this environment, companies can raise funds without going public and may have extra time to gather more clinical data between financings, thus making themselves ultimately more valuable to potential investors.

“Many VCs have plenty of money, and good science is always valuable.” – Margery Fischbein

The case against becoming a unicorn is twofold, she said. Public company valuations are significantly lower than they were one year ago, and “that reverberates back to the private sector. So instead of having continuous financing rounds at higher valuations, the lower public market valuations may result in flat or down rounds.”

The growing appetite for mergers and acquisitions among big companies, combined with an unattractive environment for IPOs, could also result in earlier deals before innovators reach billion-dollar valuations.

“The things that drive valuations are great science that hopefully advances to great clinical data and a really experienced management team,” Leiderman pointed out. “Also, some acquirers are willing to pay a premium price for early-stage companies that have amazing data and sometimes they simply want to ensure their competitors don’t acquire it. That in turn drives VC investment in certain areas and also drives company valuations,” he said.

Meanwhile, “Generalist investors have largely left the biotech market. These are people who have more limited knowledge about the science involved and may have had very significant losses,” Fischbein acknowledged. That said, “Smart money is still in the biotech space, but it’s selective.”

As Frank Milone, co-founding partner at Fiondella, Milone & LaSaracina LLP, a Connecticut advisory and accounting firm active in the biotech industry, pointed out, “VC funding and acquisitions will continue, the criteria will just be different. There will be an increased focus on financial fundamentals.

“When the economy is hot, investors are more inclined to take risks. In the current environment, startups have to be crystal clear about how their technology is different and how it provides value. They have to back it up with data showing promising early adoption and scalability.”

Where Will Future Unicorns Come From?

Looking forward, Leiderman and Fischbein said the therapeutic areas they think may be most likely to generate the next herd of unicorns are cell therapy for multiple indications beyond oncology, neurological conditions and the orphan drug space.

Building a company to unicorn status takes more than good science and good management, of course. “Company leadership needs to know how to conduct clinical studies effectively and how to present that data and, therefore, attract the right investors. That’s key,” Leiderman said. By “right investors,” he means influential investment groups with proven biotech track records – “investors who can lead the herd.”

“Quite frankly, from recessions have come many unicorns, and biotech is no different,” Kisha Mays, CEO and founder of Just Fearless, a global business development firm focused on accelerating the growth of particularly womenowned firms told BioSpace. “Biotech hasn’t even begun to peak.” The question for investors is “how to find that needle in a haystack.” Mays says she is optimistic about the industry, “even as a recession looms.”

Ultimately, although investors would like to have a stake in a unicorn company, “There are plenty of other things that offer niche opportunities, or that bring incremental value,” Fischbein said. “People would love to have a unicorn, but that’s fairly unpredictable and is rarely necessary.”

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Source: Pasithea
June 22, 2022

• Alpha-5 is a potentially first-in-class monoclonal antibody for the treatment of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and other neurological diseases
• Expands pipeline across Pasithea’s core therapeutic areas to drive enhanced growth
• Closing consideration of 3.26 million shares of Pasithea common stock
• Pasithea to hold a webcast on June 22 at 9 a.m. ET to discuss the transaction

MIAMI BEACH, Fla., June 22, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Pasithea Therapeutics Corp. (Nasdaq: KTTA) (“Pasithea” or the “Company”), today announced its acquisition of Alpha-5 integrin, LLC (“Alpha-5”), a privately-held preclinical-stage company developing a monoclonal antibody (mAbs) for the treatment of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (“ALS”) and other neuroinflammatory disorders, such as Multiple Sclerosis (“MS”).

Alpha-5’s lead therapeutic candidate has a novel mechanism of action with the potential to improve clinical outcomes in patients with ALS, and is supported by post-mortem studies and with reproducible significant improvement in behavior and survival in the SOD1 mice model. The acquisition includes Alpha-5 proprietary antibodies with novel intellectual property and brings to Pasithea a group of seasoned scientists and a state-of-the-art laboratory.

The Company acquired all of the outstanding equity interests in Alpha-5 at an enterprise value for $3.75 million, payable in 3.26 million shares of Pasithea common stock, valued at $1.15 per share, an 11% premium to the closing price on June 21, plus 1 million warrants. An entity controlled by Paul B. Manning, Chairman and CEO of PBM Capital, a healthcare-focused investment firm, is Alpha-5’s majority owner and, following the transaction, will own approximately 10% of Pasithea common stock. Cassel Salpeter & Co. acted as financial advisor to the Company on this transaction.

“This agreement with Pasithea represents the culmination of years of work by Alpha-5 researchers, successfully leveraging their deep scientific expertise in the integrin space. We believe Pasithea will be well-positioned to apply its capabilities to move this asset forward and make an impact on ALS disease for the benefit of patients,” said Paul B. Manning.

“Treatments for ALS are extremely limited. Only two drugs are currently approved, with minimal impact on disease, and the majority of patients progress to death within a few years of symptom onset. The Alpha-5 acquisition is transformative for Pasithea, by adding a new drug with a novel mechanism of action to our pipeline, while preserving our strong cash position. In addition to the Alpha-5 development program, we will also acquire a wet lab and scientific team to develop our existing tolerizing vaccine and complimentary program. Our plan is to file an Alpha-5 investigational new drug application (IND) with an orphan drug designation by the end of 2023,” stated Dr. Tiago Reis Marques, CEO of Pasithea.

Stanford Professor Larry Steinman, Chairman of the Board and co-founder of Pasithea and a minority owner of Alpha-5 said, “My work has been instrumental for the discovery of natalizumab, an anti-alpha 4 integrin mAb. This was the first drug developed in the class of selective adhesion molecule inhibitors and a potent therapeutic for multiple sclerosis. We believe that alpha-5 integrin antibody can also be transformative in the treatment of other neurological disorders, such as ALS or MS. Post-mortem human studies and preclinical work conducted so far support this therapeutic target and we are excited to move it into clinical trials.” Professor Steinman recused himself from the vote to approve the transaction.

Transaction Details

At the closing of the transaction, the Company acquired all of Alpha-5’s issued and outstanding equity interests in exchange for 3,260,870 shares of Pasithea common stock plus warrants to acquire an additional 1,000,000 shares at an exercise price of $1.88 per share for a period of five years. The number of shares was calculated by dividing a $3.75 million enterprise value by $1.15 per share of Pasithea Common Stock, an 11% premium to the closing price on June 21. There are potential future earnouts based on net sales. There will be no post-closing adjustments for cash and working capital.

To further discuss the transaction, Pasithea´s management will host a webcast as follows:

Date: June 22, 2022

Time: 9 a.m. ET

URL: https://event.choruscall.com/mediaframe/webcast.html?webcastid=aph1RpCR

The webcast will be accessible on the Investors section of the website, www.ir.pasithea.com, and will be archived for 90 days following the event.

About Pasithea Therapeutics Corp.

Pasithea Therapeutics Corporation is a U.S. biotechnology company focused on the research and discovery of new and effective treatments for psychiatric and neurological disorders. With an experienced team of experts in the fields of neuroscience and psychopharmacology, Pasithea is developing new molecular entities for the treatment of psychiatric and neurological disorders. Pasithea is also focused on addressing the needs of patients currently suffering from mental illness by providing access to IV ketamine infusions both in clinics and in-home settings.

About Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis

ALS is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord, causing loss of muscle control. It most commonly affects people between the ages of 40 and 70, with an average age of 55 at the time of diagnosis. It affects as many as 30,000 patients in the United States, with 5,000 new cases diagnosed each year. The average life expectancy after diagnosis is two to five years, but some patients may live for years or even decades. While 5-10% of cases are hereditary (familial ALS), the large majority of cases (90-95%) are not hereditary (Sporadic ALS). The cause of ALS is not completely understood and multiple complex factors may contribute to the death of motor neurons. Currently, there is no known cure or treatment that halts or reverses the progression of ALS, and FDA only approved 2 medications so far for the treatment of this disorder, both shown to modestly slow the progression of ALS.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains statements that constitute “forward-looking statements.” Forward-looking statements are subject to numerous conditions, many of which are beyond the control of the Company. While the Company believes these forward-looking statements are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on any such forward-looking statements, which are based on information available to the Company on the date of this release. These forward-looking statements are based upon current estimates and assumptions and are subject to various risks and uncertainties, including, without limitation, those set forth in the Company’s filings with the SEC. Thus, actual results could be materially different. The Company undertakes no obligation to update these statements whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, after the date of this release, except as required by law.

Pasithea Therapeutics Corp. Company Contact

Dr. Tiago Reis Marques
Chief Executive Officer
E: tiago@pasithea.com

Pasithea Therapeutics Corp. Investor Relations

Lisa M. Wilson
In-Site Communications, Inc.
T: 212-452-2793
E: lwilson@insitecony.com

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