Steve Brozak, President and Managing Partner, WBB Securities
Steve Brozak is the Managing Partner and President of WBB Securities, LLC. In 2013, Dr. Brozak was selected as a top analyst in the pharmaceuticals sector by the StarMine/Financial Times Industry Analyst Awards.
He also was named to The Wall Street Journal’s “Best on the Street” list in the category of medical equipment and supplies. Earlier, Dr. Brozak worked in finance at Alex. Brown & Sons, Cowen & Company, Dean Witter and Salomon Brothers.
Dr. Brozak has written for Nature, The British Medical Journal and Brain Stimulation. He is also a contributor to Forbes and ABC News.
He received a B.A. degree and an MBA from Columbia University and a Doctorate in Medical Humanities — DMH — from Drew University.
He served in the United States Marine Corps retiring as a lieutenant colonel.
In this 2,409 interview, exclusively in the Wall Street Transcript, Steve Brozak of WBB Securities details both his view on the COVID 19 pandemic and questions the longevity of pharmaceutical profits based on the entire class of anti-TNF products.
“We started looking at these problematic pathogens about 20 years ago. And I think that the first thing you have to consider is that this is not the first coronavirus that has attacked the world. As a matter of fact, we’re all familiar with MERS and SARS from not that long ago.
However, back in 1889, the last recorded coronavirus pandemic lasted for about five years and pretty much affected everyone in the world in some capacity.
And there’s good documentation using sera-archaeological research as well as scientific retrospective study from archived media/government resources.
This pandemic is not going to go out, as many now purport, just by vaccination. On the therapeutic side, we have a unique situation in the world today in that never have there been so many people who have comorbidities that unfortunately lend themselves poorly to fighting the coronavirus infection.
Anyone that has a significant gross morbidity such as obesity, type 2 diabetes and other immunological disorders is at risk. This leads to a recognition that herd immunity for a significant percent of the population will never be realized.
Having said that, then what do you look at? Antivirals? I don’t believe the technology exists today for meaningful antiviral protection, unless you were to give it prior to symptoms setting in. And I believe the virus survives to change. By definition, there’s always going to be some chink in the antiviral armor.
The monoclonal/polyclonal solutions scientifically present themselves very well. However, because of the changing nature of the virus and the number of future variants, offer only a limited lifespan of antibody effectiveness.
It’s reasonable to expect only six months to nine months of effectiveness.
So as a prophylactic, I think it might work, especially in the health care-providing population. But I don’t see that as being a meaningful resolution. And there are other issues around antibody-dependent enhancement that are still not completely understood.
Instead of looking at conquering the virus, you need to look at how to control the body’s problematic response to the virus — the real killer. And everyone reading this should look up the lectin pathway.
The lectin pathway is one of the principal pathways of the complement system and is activated primarily by tissue damage and infection, in this case viral infection.
And it has been repeatedly documented now in multiple peer-reviewed publications that by targeting mannan-binding lectin-associated serine protease-2 — MASP-2 — the effector enzyme of the lectin pathway of the complement system — you can prevent complement-mediated inflammation and endothelial damage which is the real killer in COVID.”
Steve Brozak sees a big disruption imminent for pharmaceutical giants like AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) and UCB (OTCMKTS:UCBJY) which leads to his endorsement of Landos (NASDAQ:LABP):
“…All of the issues effecting diminishment of people’s immune systems, I would say that the entire class of anti-TNF products — and that’s probably the greatest revenue generator in the entire industry — will now be challenged. Anyone taking an anti-inflammatory product like Humira, Cimzia, Enbrel, Remicade, are going to have to be monitored more carefully.
I think that while these have been remarkable cash cows for the likes of AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) and UCB (OTCMKTS:UCBJY), they may face significant challenges. And the idea of just looking to discover a new biologic that makes tens of billions of dollars and doesn’t change — I think that is a precarious situation…
One of the companies I like is a company called Landos (NASDAQ:LABP). Landos is a pharmaceutical company with a market cap of $700 million. It is developing an oral product in the anti-inflammatory space, but right now specifically around IBD and Crohn’s. And because of the oral nature of their platform, it now allows for a shorter, much more controlled approach to the inflammatory process and the body’s immune response.
So instead of having a biologic where you would be looking at weeks or even months’ worth of immunocompromised status, you would now be in a position to take it on a weekly basis and not see the same long-term effect. And that is critically needed, if we’re talking about the possibility of continuing infection, especially for those people who have these immunocompromising issues.
At the end of the day, it’s also something that challenges the status quo. Why are we continuously on the hook with these products that shut down your immune system for long periods of time? Not just for problems with COVID, of course, but for other issues as well.”
Steve Brozak states that rhe outcome for Landos investors may be sooner than expected:
“In the case of Landos, they have finished their Phase 2 and are planning to go back into the clinic for their Phase 3 trial.
And I believe that given the nature of the disease, it will be easy to monitor outcomes. So, as a result, you could start to see something that is before the regulators for approval much sooner than expected.
…They originally dealt with rheumatoid arthritis. But since then, the anti-TNF has picked up more and more indications.
But the approach was intended to provide stopgap resolution. What was always envisioned was the investigation and resolution of how the inflammatory process is triggered.
And I think that that is something that still needs to be looked at because we can no longer afford the pill or the shot-a-day model. We now need to go out and to investigate how to resolve an issue permanently — a cure, not just treatment of the signs and symptoms.”
To get more top picks from Steve Brozak, Managing Partner and President of WBB Securities, read the entire 2,409 interview, exclusively in the Wall Street Transcript.
Steve Brozak, Managing Partner & President
WBB Securities, LLC
(858) 592-9901
www.wbbsec.com
Interview Highlights: Steve Brozak of WBB Securities on Biotechnology and Pharmaceuticals
August 25, 2016
Crohn's Disease Cure Results from this Biotech Top Pick from Dr. Steve Brozak
March 27, 2019
Dr. Ehrlich and Dr. Pouletty Lead the Way in Developing an Anti-Inflammatory Treatment for COVID 19
September 25, 2020
Paula Wieck of CLS Investments Wants Risk Averse Investors to Sleep Better at Night
August 03, 2017
Jason Fox, CEO of W.P. Carey (NYSE:WPC) Wants You to Know that Publicly Traded Real Estate Is an Inflation Hedge
April 26, 2018
