Neurotrope Inc (NASDAQ:NTRP) Is Running But It's Still Cheap

Back at the start of May, Neurotrope Inc (NASDAQ:NTRP) put out data from its lead study of a drug called Bryostatin. The drug is an Alzheimer's target that's going after the more severe end of the disease's spectrum and – as part of the trial that underpinned the data in question – the company was putting it through its paces in a phase II study.As it turned out, the data wasn't great – at least not at first glance – and markets sold off on the company in response to the news. In short, the trial missed its endpoint and the mainstream interpretation was that this miss implied a failure to bring about clinical benefit in the target patient population.As part of our coverage, we argued that the mainstream interpretation was ill-informed and that the then-current pricing was an opportunity to take advantage of the response and pick up a discounted exposure ahead of a recovery.At post data lows, when we pointed out the opportunity, Neurotrope went for a little over $6.90 a share. During the month or so subsequent to the news, and as caused by a raft of negative press and various litigation efforts from ambulance chasing shareholder rights firms, this dipped to around $6.At last close (Friday last week), we finally got the recovery we were looking for, with the company closing out at $9.37. That’s a 36% premium on the price at which we said this one was going to turn around and a 56% advance from last month's lows.So what's next?Simply put, we remain strongly bullish on this stock.The company is set to present data from the study that drove the initial decline at the Alzheimer's Association International Conference 2017 (AAIC), which is being held in London from July 16 - 20, 2017.These sorts of conferences will often serve to counterbalance the knee-jerk reactiveness of markets at this end of the space. They are attended by physicians and scientists – the individuals that are going to be prescribing this asset – and these people aren’t interested in a data release headline from a stock market publication. They don't care what Adam Feuerstein thinks. They look at the numbers, the science and the MOA, and ultimately, the impact that the asset in question might have in its target population; which, in this instance, is one that basically has no viable treatment options outside of a side effect ridden SOC and palliative care as the neurodegeneration progresses.When viewed against this sort of framework, the data that came from the phase II was remarkably strong and almost certainly justifies advance into a pivotal trial for Bryostatin in advance Alzheimer's patients; a population that biotech companies big and small are increasingly shying away from based on the notorious difficulty of proving clinical benefit.As such, we think this one's got a long way to run. As the company advances along the clinical development pathway with Bryostatin, a phase III initiation offers up a strong catalyst that could see it hit mid-teen dollars a share – assuming it's not there already when enrollment starts. Before that, we've got protocol submission and approval by the FDA, which could be doubly as sweet if the company can get an SPA in place and outline a clear path to approval – something that's not unlikely, given the lack of real development in this population across the last half century.Sure, we’re concerned about cash – we're not saying this is a risk-free exposure. The company will almost certainly raise to fund a pivotal study and this is going to dilute an early holding. There's also a large bank of statistics working against Bryostatin hitting a phase III primary, the phase II trial aside (circa 99% of experimental Alzheimer's drugs – ones that target underlying disease and not just symptoms – have failed to complete a successful phase III across the last decade).At its current price, however, and given the current weak sentiment, there's not only an opportunity to pick up a long-term exposure to a pivotal trial in a blockbuster indication, there's an opportunity to do so at a considerable discount to inherent value.Catch up on all of our previous coverage of this one here.We will be updating our subscribers as soon as we know more. For the latest updates on NTRP, sign up below!Image courtesy of GreenFlame09 via FlickrDisclosure: We have no position in NTRP and have not been compensated for this article.