Synthetic Biologics Inc (NYSEMKT:SYN): What To Look Out For At The Upcoming Conference

Synthetic Biologics Inc (NYSEMKT:SYN) ran up from $0.76 to $0.87 on January 3, on the announcement that the company is set to present at the Biotech Showcase 2017 Conference next week in San Francisco. These sorts of announcements are always a bit double edged; the assumption is that the company wouldn’t be presenting data at a conference like this (one of the hottest on the biotech, especially the small cap biotech calendar) if it wasn’t putting forward positive news, and further, that it wouldn’t be announcing it if it wasn’t positive. That's not always the case, however. Sometimes a company will go in with some poor data attempting to explain off some misconceptions about why the data was poor to the scientific community, and in doing so, compound negative market sentiment.We suspect the former here, however. Why? Because of the stage of development in which the company currently finds itself. Synthetic is a junior biotech with two late stage development assets, both of which it is looking to carry into phase III trials this year. The company just raised cash, the proceeds of which are aimed at getting these pivotal trials underway. We're almost 100% certain that it will use the upcoming conference as a way to increase exposure ahead of these trials kicking off, and in turn, to try and raise a bit more cash in an effort to fund them through to completion.The two assets are called SYN-010 and SYN004, and both target the gut microbiome in an attempt to achieve different, but related, ends. The first, SYN-010, is intended to reduce the impact of methane producing organisms in the gut microbiome to treat an underlying cause of irritable bowel syndrome with constipation. The second, SYN-004, is designed to protect the gut microbiome from the effects of what's called beta-lactam, a core ingredient of certain intraveneous antibiotics, for the prevention of C. difficile infection, antibiotic-associated diarrhea (AAD).Both are pretty far reaching indications, and both have the potential to open up triple digit million dollar markets to the company if it can get them through to commercialization. Participants in the latest round recognized this, and as such, it was a relatively easy raise for Synthetic. The assumption is that there won't be any new data presented relating to 010 – the phase II (it was a phase IIa) for that drug is boxed off and data is with markets. There may be, however, some degree of fresh readout from the 004 trial. The phase II is just in the completion period, and the conference would offer a nice opportunity for the company to get its top line readout in front of the eyes that matter, and in turn, get markets enthused about kicking off a phase III in that element of its pipeline.So what are we looking for going forward?The trial will take place on January Monday 9, so we're going to keep an eye on the presentation, and listen in via webcast to see what the company reveals. Primarily, since the data is pretty much in, we're looking for a timeline against which the company expects to carry out its phase III studies. The cash to get things kicked off is in, so there's no real reason to delay. These are pretty common maladies as well, so enrollment shouldn’t be an issue. Once we get the time frames in place, we will have something to go on as far as catalysts are concerned. We expect a Q2 initiation of the 010 study, and the 004 study to follow in Q3. Beyond that, the usual trial catalysts apply.One to keep an eye on as we move forward into 2017.We will be updating our subscribers as soon as we know more. For the latest updates on SYN, sign up below!Disclosure: We have no position in SYN and have not been compensated for this article.