I'm gonna try and give you the "Full Monty".....impressions, thoughts, quotes, some of the details might seem meaningless....but some might be interested in certain minutae so I'll try and include it all.  

Wednesday was a long day for me, I live well outside the GTA so I had to leave very early....up at 4:30 and on the road just after 5am, drove to Pickering and hopped on the train....got downtown around 7:30 am and walked up to the Sheraton.  

Registration was simple....lined up and was given a name tag identifying me as a Private Investor....staff names said Bloom Burton, or company names...some investment firms, media outlets.  We all got a little shoulder type nylon brief case with a bound note pad, pen and a few other odds and sods...stress ball, the usual trinkets and trash.

All told there were something like 1,700 in attendance.

After milling about, drinking coffee and noshing on the fruit and lemon cakes we were ushered into a large presentation room to hear Brian Bloom welcome attendees....boast about how the conference has grown over the years, and how they only bring 'the best' investment opportunities forward...uh huh.  

One thing struck me, whenever I heard someone say Bloom Burton....it was said so fast, it sounded like Bloomberg.  It reminded of the film "Boiler Room"...in that movie the penny stock promoting shop was called "JP Marlin"....an effort to leverage off the name JP Morgan.  

After Mr. Bloom's address the key not speaker talked for about half an hour, a gentleman from a media outlet I've never heard of, Endpoint News, it was about the broader Bio Space, the importance of China and the time and money it takes to get a drug approved.   

One slide in John Carroll's  (that was his name, I checked the program) deck said that of roughly 11,000 drugs in the pre-clinical stage, that only about 2.6 thousand would move into phase I, and then the same 2.6K number (give or take a few) in stage II...because some do skip phase I.  But then only 952 make it to phase III.  I'm a slow writer and the slide had changed before I saw the # for drugs that get approved, and I was concentrating on writing not listening so I missed it....oh well.

Afterwards we headed back into the lobby area and hallway so that the presentations could start.  I wasn't interested in the other presentations so I milled about and engaged in some idle banter with other attendees. 

One young fellow I talked with was from a company called Silo Equity Partners, 30 years of age....his card says he's a director.  He was like a kid on a school trip to an art museum....a kid who doesn't like art.  He'd been working in the US and was not too thrilled to be back in Canada.  He told me his firm would invest $1 or $2 million in a company so long as it was publc and that they could get shares at a discount to the market price, 10% was the figure he used.  

My take away from this brief encounter, this firm would toss a million or two at a public company but they would not be holding, imo they'd engage their brokerage partners to give the related stock a bump and quickly dump their position for a nice 10-20 pt short term gain.  I didn't talk to anyone else from a similar background, but I suspect there were a number of firms there that would do the same...as it turned out "Jonathan" had a meeting scheduled (the following day I believe) with DM.  I gave him a brief description of the company, Apabetalone and the BETonMACE trial....I don't think he cared.  He reiterated that they'd toss a mill or two at any company so long as it was public and that they could get shares at a discount to market.....almost 'de rigeur', yawn....the way things are done.

DM's presentation was at 2:30 so I had lots of time to kill.  As I was milling about Brian Bloom and his entourage was walking around.  The movement of his group drew my attention so I glanced at the guy in front and my look was returned so I approached, shook his hand and introduced myself. 

Why did my look over cause him to focus on me and for our eyes to meet?  Simple reason...I stood out like a sore thumb.  The conference was wall to wall suits, everyone in jacket, shirt and tie.  Me?  I'd opted for a pair of chinos and a golf shirt :-)  I also hadn't shaved for a couple days...some nice salt and pepper stubble to augment my ugly mug.  

As I shook his hand I complimented him on his presentation and asked if he would be averse to a small suggestion.  "By all means" was the reply and I suggested to him that the year is 2018...and that he needs to get away from the podium, to don a headset and roam freely on the stage, motion creating emotion.  By all appearances he appreciated the suggestion....'that's a fantastic idea'....I then remarked that 'its an orignial idea, completely my own', but smiled in a way to let him know I was kidding.  He thanked me and said he hoped I enjoyed the conference....

It was around this time that I saw Don head into a room that was marked for private one on one meetings between companies and potential investors.   I then went for a stroll to kill time....up to Yonge Dundas square and then back again with a stop for a coffee at Tim's.  

When I got back they were bringing in lunch....salad, sandwiches desserts etc.  I saw Don leaving the one on one meeting room and I looked directly at him until we made eye contact.  I went over, shook his hand and introduced myself, "I'm not sure you'll remember me, we spoke on the phone a few months back"...he glanced at my name tag and nodded, "I remember you". 

*** Before I go on I want to emphasize something, this was a casual conversation and I did not take notes.  I will endeavour to give as accurate and complete a description of our conversation as I can but I do not warrant that his is "EXACTLY" what was said....things like tone and expression count for a lot, I will also convey my impressions....but these are my interpertations.***

Don asked me if I was from Toronto and I explained that I lived a couple hours east of the GTA and that I'd driven to Pickering and then taken the train, I also remarked that I'm not a big fan of Toronto.  He remarked that he travels a lot and that Toronto is not one of his favoured destinations....

Pleasantries dispensed with I asked him about the loan, remarking the achievement of retiring the previous loan and un-encumbering the IP only to see the IP used as collateral once again for a much smaller amount.  I also remarked that it was in HL's interest to retire the previous loan to protect their investment, while obviously Eastern had no such incentive...if the loan defaulted they got basically everything.  I wondered whether that was the hope this time, that Eastern and HL would have no other choice but to step up when the Third Eye loan came due for the same reason that HL stepped up last time.

Firstly Don indicated that the closing of said loan was imminent....from what he said I like the chances for news on the loan either tomorrow (Friday May 4th) or Monday.  I mentioned that when the loan came due that the IP would again be encumbered.  He stressed that the loan WOULD NOT becoming due before the top line BETonMACE data comes out....I don't recall the exact words or turns of phrase, but my understanding was this.....When the top line data comes out Don seems to be expecting to do a more traditional equity raise with the PPS substantially higher, and I "think" he mentioned a figure somewhere around $5....and then qualified that by saying that it could be even higher.  

I asked him about the possibility of raising capital through investors at this conference...brokered perhaps by BB.  He basically told me he didn't expect that they'd be doing any equity raise at this point.  

Zenith....

I asked about Zenith....and he went on at length about trials, speaking glowingly.  I didn't focus in on the details because I don't own any Zenith shares.  He left me with the impression that Zenith is going to be bought out in the next few months, like 2 or 3.....also about a publication that's forthecoming that will be very positive.  I asked him if this publication would make any mention of Resverlogix, he said that it would not, but that 'we will'. He also inferred that with a buy out that Zenith investors would be getting a nice bonus, or words to that effect and that he expected some of that money to flow towards investment in Resverlogix.  

He asked me if I owned Zenith and I told him I did not...then he asked if I'd be taking in his presentation and I told him I would.  That I was looking forward to seeing if what I'd seen in videos matched up with the live performance, if his Wilford Brimley tone came across in person....that's an actor from the movie Cocoon....he chuckled and said 'oh yeah, the oatmeal guy', or something like that.  We parted company.....

The presentation....

The slide deck appeared pretty much same old same old...but I'm not a science guy, I was glad to see Bear's remark confirming my impression.  As such I won't go into any detail....except with respect to a question that was asked during the Q&A at the end.

I did a head count estimation and figure there were in and around 75 people in attendance, I sat near the front on the left hand side of the room, to Don's right, same as I do at church....Don reiterated that top line data should be out by the end of year.  I was taking notes and took special note of the word "should".  

He said that trials for CKD and Fabry's would commence when financed, and that they'd be announced when the financing happens.  

The slide with the Market Cap had it at around $250 million....which is almost $25 million off to the high side.  

One interesting point, while I don't recall him saying anything about the current burn rate, he did say that by the end of this year that the burn would be down to about $1 million per month.  

Another snippet was that 'we've been quiet, but we're not going to be quiet much longer'....I won't attach too much significance to that utterance, it could be seen as a simple effort to generate a sense of urgency, and my take on the attendees is that its a pretty savvy group.  

A final note was that he made reference at least two times to BETonMACE as being "properly powered"....my take away is that Don does not expect to see the need for increasing enrollment.  

After the presentation ended there was only one person who asked a question, about slide #17 and a graph that shows two lines moving up....and then basically flat and in tandem....he wanted to know why they didn't continue moving higher, why the period of basic flatlining before resuming their climb.  Don gave an answer, and given that I didn't really understand either the question or his response I'll leave it there....

Afterwards 3 people wanted to engage with him at the front of the room....as he left there were still two people wanting to talk to him and another approached from outside who interrupted politely and asked if Don remembered him....Don said he did, in much the same way he'd said it to me....which made me wonder if he really did remember my phone call or not....no matter.  I got side tracked by a gentleman I'd met at the start, a guy named Steven who had come in hopes of finding employment with a biotech, and when I turned around Don was gone....

I had wanted to ask him 2 questions....about the possibility of seeking a Hong Kong listing, and why he attends so many of these events when its obvious, at least to me, that he doesn't seem to think they offer much in the way of value...

No matter....my eldest son is back from University and I had to catch a train and then pick him up....we went out and played some pick up basketball at the YMCA and now my bones, joints and everything aches.....