IRLAB Therapeutics - Pirepemat Phase IIb trial completes enrolment

IRLAB Therapeutics has announced the completion of patient enrolment for the Phase IIb trial (React PD) assessing pirepemat’s ability to improve balance and reduce falls in Parkinson’s disease patients (PD-Falls). The company also noted that a reduction in falls has been observed thus far in the patient population that has completed the treatment regimen, adding to the optimism about the potential outcome of the study. However, we caution that as this is a placebo-controlled, double-blind trial, it cannot yet be concluded that the effect is due to pirepemat. Nevertheless, the update is an enco...

Pirepemat Ph 2b study fully enrolled

Helios Underwriting - Strategic shift from growth to consolidation

Helios Underwriting (Helios) delivered EPS growth of 35% to 7.7p in H124 and reported a net asset value (NAV) of 191p/share. While its combined ratio of 91.6% deteriorated from 88% in H123 and 85% in FY23 due to seasonal impacts on the 2024 year of account (YOA) and stricter reserving for its 2022 YOA, we forecast an improvement to 88.8% for FY24. Helios experienced cost pressures during the period as a result of abandoning its ‘follow-only’ syndicate initiative and the departure of its CEO. We expect a meaningful reduction in costs in FY25, including a saving in stop-loss reinsurance costs as...

Henderson Opportunities Trust - Taking AIM at the opportunity

With a focus on long-term growth, Henderson Opportunities Trust (HOT) seeks investment opportunities across the breadth of the UK market. This includes a strong bias towards smaller and earlier-stage companies with significant potential to become tomorrow’s leading British businesses. HOT’s managers, James Henderson and Laura Foll, from Janus Henderson Investors, note that these smaller companies are under-owned, under-researched and lowly valued, and that their extended period of underperformance relative to larger peers should be seen as a pent-up opportunity. With interest rates on a downwa...