SAN FRANCISCO, Jan. 08, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- StoneCastle Investment Management has a high-growth fund that invests wherever it finds opportunities, and it is bullish on healthcare. In this interview with The Life Sciences Report, portfolio manager Bruce Campbell highlights four companies that he is putting on Streetwise Reports' 2018 Biotech Watchlist.
Included in this press release are: Reliq Health Technologies Inc. (TSX-V:RHT) (OTCQB:RQHTF) and LGC Capital Ltd. (TSX-V:LG) (OTC:LGGCF)
The Life Sciences Report: One of the sectors you seem to be fairly active in is healthcare. Would you give us an overview of what has happened in the sector in 2017 and what you expect going into 2018?
Bruce Campbell: We find that we have a number of opportunities in that sector. We're looking for companies that have an earnings profile that's accelerating. The healthcare sector, especially in the smaller market capitalization stocks, really fits the bill.
What we've seen in 2017 is there continues to be pockets there, so we've had some successful investments in a number of different areas. We've had some investments that we've held and then trimmed out of, and watched them go significantly lower because of valuation or other opportunities.
Going forward into 2018 and beyond, I think that healthcare continues to be a big growth sector and there are going to be opportunities that come up.
TLSR: Would you tell us about Reliq Health Technologies Inc.?
BC: Reliq is almost a technology healthcare company in that it has a software technology that allows home care service to be delivered on a whole different level. Typically, in the past, in a home care service, a home care professional would visit a patient's home a few times a week and monitor whatever needed to be monitored. That medical information may or may not make it into a patient's record.
Reliq developed a technology that works with a number of different types of hardware whereby it's all voice activated—almost Alexa-type technology—to do all this monitoring for you. It will voice-prompt you when to take your blood pressure and, if you're diabetic, when to do your blood tests. It can also monitor whether or not you've been up and active. All this information is sent to your caregiving team, including your family, in real time. Its goal is to try to bring better healthcare, to try to be more proactive than reactive. And then, obviously, the end goal is to make healthcare costs less.
Reliq worked for a number of years on this technology. During 2017 it had a couple of pilot projects with different health authorities. Now, it has signed contracts with health authorities and is actually rolling out the system and bringing those patients onto its system through its partners.
Where Reliq was burning money before, now it's getting very close to the point where it's going to be profitable, and it's growing at a tremendous rate.
TLSR: Would you tell us about LGC Capital Ltd.?
BC: LGC is operating on a global basis. LGC has done deals in South Africa and in Australia, more on the hemp side of things, which tends to be less of the psychoactive component and more of the nutraceutical/pharmaceutical. It's trying to build a global hemp business and has been fairly successful so far in making acquisitions and growing different divisions on a global basis, which we haven't really seen so much to date.
TLSR: LGC is just out with an announcement that it's ready to break ground on a 60,000-square-foot facility in Quebec, outside of Montreal.
BC: Yes, it is breaking ground on the Canadian facility, so the Canadian opportunity is happening, but it already has two bigger facilities in South Africa and Australia that are actually producing right now.
Continue reading this article: Portfolio Manager's Biotech Watchlist Picks for 2018
About Streetwise Reports – The Life Sciences Report
Investors rely on The Life Sciences Report to share investment ideas for the biotech, pharmaceutical, medical device, and diagnostics industries. The information provided above is for informational purposes only and is not a recommendation to buy or sell any security.
DISCLOSURES:
The following companies mentioned in this interview are billboard sponsors of Streetwise Reports: None. Streetwise Reports does not accept stock in exchange for its services. Click here for important disclaimers. As of the date of this article/interview, an affiliate of Streetwise Reports has a consulting relationship with Reliq Health Technologies. The information provided above is for informational purposes only and is not a recommendation to buy or sell any security.
Bruce Campbell: I, or members of my immediate household or family, own shares of the following companies mentioned in this article: Reliq Health Technologies Inc., Friday Night Inc., LGC Capital Ltd. I personally am, or members of my immediate household or family are, paid by the following companies mentioned in this article: None. My company has a financial relationship with the following companies mentioned in this interview: None. Funds controlled by StoneCastle hold securities of the following companies mentioned in this article: Reliq Health Technologies Inc., Friday Night Inc., LGC Capital Ltd. and VieMed. I determined which companies would be included in this article based on my research and understanding of the sector. I had the opportunity to review the interview for accuracy as of the date of the interview and am responsible for the content of the interview.
The following companies paid Streetwise Reports to issue a press release on their behalf relating to this article: Reliq Health Technologies Inc. and LGC Capital Ltd.
Please see the end of the article for the complete disclosures: Portfolio Manager's Biotech Watchlist Picks for 2018