The PharmAust Limited (ASX: PAA) share price had an impressive run on the market today, finishing 22.22% higher at 16.5 cents.

PharmAust is a clinical-stage oncology company that is developing targeted cancer therapeutics for humans and animals. 

The company’s lead drug candidate is monepantel (MPL), a novel inhibitor of the mTOR pathway which is a key driver of cancer.

Today’s rise comes as the company released a shareholder update, which summarised recent developments:

MPL shows “remarkable” results against COVID-19

In April, PharmAust began working with the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research to investigate the effects of MPL and monepantel sulfone (MPLS) on the SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes COVID-19 infections.

As disclosed in an ASX release on 18 June 2020, repeat experiments demonstrated that “infectivity of SARS-CoV-2 virus particles can be suppressed by up to 95% in cell structures by either MPL or MPLS”.

Commenting on the results, Walter and Eliza Hall Institute researcher Professor Marc Pellegrini said:

“These exciting repeat results validate the results of the initial test and form strong grounds for progressing the drug to the next step. Demonstrating twice, that infectivity of SARS-CoV-2 virus particles can be suppressed by up to approximately 95% in cell cultures is a remarkable outcome.”

As for next steps, PharmAust will prepare an executive summary and investigator’s brochure to permit discussions with clinicians about a Phase I trial. The trial would involve a small number of human patients to test the efficacy of MPL as a treatment for COVID-19.

MPL canine trial achieves successful anti-cancer outcome

The next section of today’s shareholder update relates to a canine trial. 

As announced on 12 May, PharmAust achieved a successful outcome in the veterinary Phase II clinical trial investigating the effects of MPL on dogs with treatment-naïve B cell lymphoma.

The company advised today that a dossier will be presented to the MPL compound owner and option partner, Vet Major, in July 2020. This will provide Vet Major with the opportunity to activate its 6-month exclusive option over the licensing of MPL for veterinary uses.

Phase II human cancer trial

PharmAust also confirmed today it continues to make progress towards the evaluation of MPL in human trials.

The company completed a Phase I clinical trial at the Royal Adelaide Hospital in 2015.

PharmAust has since conducted further tablet formulation and pharmacokinetic studies. It has also investigated changes in tablet size to enable more specific targeting of calculated optimum dose levels.

With this, the company is aiming to conduct a third GMP-grade manufacture program for MPL tablets in or around Q3 2020 to cater to future human trials.

PharmAust is also seeking to identify a suitable clinical oncology unit to evaluate the new MPL tablet in humans in a Phase II trial.

Epichem

Finally, PharmAust provided an update on its wholly-owned subsidiary, Epichem. 

Epichem is a profitable medicinal and synthetic chemistry company with expertise and capacity in the field of drug development, discovery, and design.

Today, PharmAust revealed that Epichem is on track to deliver $3.46 million revenue in FY20. This is an increase on the $3.34 million projected revenue forecast provided back in January.

After today’s jump, PharmAust’s market capitalisation is sitting a touch under $50 million. If you’d rather invest in much larger and more liquid companies, check out the ASX growth shares in the free report below.

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Motley Fool contributor Cathryn Goh has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

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There certainly are a large number of growth shares for investors to choose from on the ASX.

Three which I think are among the best the local market has on offer are named below. Here’s why I would buy them:

a2 Milk Company Ltd (ASX: A2M)

I think a2 Milk Company is a growth share to buy. It has been growing at a very strong rate over the last few years and looks well-positioned to continue this positive trend for some time to come. This is thanks to the strong demand it continues to experience for its infant formula products and its expanding fresh milk footprint. In addition to this, there is speculation that a2 Milk Company could be looking to put its sizeable cash balance to work. This could mean an earnings accretive acquisition will be coming in the near future. Alternatively, there is the option for a2 Milk Company to bolster its portfolio with new product launches.

Appen Ltd (ASX: APX)

Another growth share I would buy is Appen. It is a leading developer of high-quality, human annotated datasets for machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI). Appen prepares the data for the models of some of the world’s biggest tech companies such as Microsoft and Facebook. I believe these high quality customers are a testament to the quality of its service. Pleasingly, given the importance of AI and machine learning for businesses, I expect demand for its services to remain strong for a long time to come.

Aristocrat Leisure Limited (ASX: ALL)

This gaming technology company is another growth share which I think could provide strong returns for investors in the future.  While Aristocrat’s performance has been impacted greatly by the closure of casinos, I believe it will bounce back strongly when the crisis passes. This is thanks to its industry-leading poker machines and its growing digital business. The latter has been a big winner from the pandemic and is generating material recurring revenues thanks to increased mobile gaming.

More reading

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Motley Fool contributor James Mickleboro has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of A2 Milk and Appen Ltd. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

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As most of us would be aware of by now, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (INDEXASX: XJO) had a fairly nasty market crash this year. Between 20 February and 23 March, the ASX 200 fell by more than 36%. It was the worst ASX crash since the global financial crisis and the fastest fall for the ASX 200 in history.

But since then, ASX 200 shares have rebounded strongly. Since 23 March, the ASX 200 has risen more than 30% and is now sitting 12.5% below where it started the year.

Now, before the March crash, there were a lot of investors (myself included) who thought ASX shares may have run away somewhat and entered ‘overvalued’ territory. The obvious solution to this problem was to stack cash in anticipation of lower share prices in the future.

But the March crash was so rapid that it took many investors (again, myself included) off guard. I managed to buy some ASX shares for some great prices, but in hindsight, I wasn’t able to take advantage of the situation as much as I would have liked to.

So that leads me to the question: should we always wait for a crash to buy a decent amount of shares? Or is this a fool’s game (and not the good kind of Fool).

Should we wait for an ASX 200 market crash?

In theory, it’s optimal to buy shares at the cheapest prices you can. In practice, none of us knows when this will occur. If you missed the bottom of the market during the crash in 2008–09, you would have had to wait until March 2020 for another real crash to take advantage of. That’s 11 long years to wait and a lot of gains to miss out on.

So what is an investor to do? Well, you can always have a foot in both camps; black and blue. I personally like to keep between 10-30% of my portfolio in cash at all times. If I get to the 30% threshold, I’ll usually start dollar-cost averaging into ASX shares until the 30% level is reached again or there is a significant buying opportunity (like we saw in March). If I don’t get to 30% I’ll just keep piling up cash and dividends until I do.

Now, everyone will have a different way of addressing this problem. You may like my way or find your own way better for your particular temperament. But, as long as you have a strategy that won’t leave you wanting something you don’t have if, and when, the markets do crash, you’ll be just fine.

More reading

• ASX 200 finishes higher, Afterpay hits new record
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• 3 ASX shares I’d buy if the market crashes again
• Is the share market facing another February 2020 moment?
• Can the Newcrest share price crest to new highs?

Motley Fool contributor Sebastian Bowen has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

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