MRI Interventions New Focus

We’ve been following MRI Interventions (MRIC) for two years now and the company recently hired a new CEO, Joe Burnett, who has enjoyed a long and successful career in medical devices. More details are in the October 2017 press release.

This is a brief update on what we are expecting in 2018. For investors who don’t already know about MRI – a read of the full report embedded here as a PDF (just click on the image) will get you up to speed. In short, the MRI Interventions ClearPoint system allows brain surgery to be done with far greater accuracy and safety than any other method. The company has been seeing consistent growth and expanded adoption of their technology. There are also some large future catalysts for accelerated growth as more drugs begin to get delivered directly into the brain to cure problematic diseases like Parkinson’s.

Here’s our update:

1. Company operations will shift to focus more on increasing utilization of existing installations. New placements will still happen but there is much more leverage in driving increased use of the systems already out there. Even using simple “back of the envelope numbers” the company can get 2-3x current revenues with improved utilization and still not be close to system capacity.
2. Additional applications of ClearPoint will also drive demand. Laser ablation for epilepsy patients can drive thousands of additional procedures that would require the use of ClearPoint. Clearpoint can also be used to biopsy brain tumors when they are in hard-to-access locations.
3. Drug delivery continues to move forward – led by companies like Voyager Therapeutics (VYGR) which recently announced that they have received FDA clearance to begin their Phase 2-3 trial of VY-AADC for Advanced Parkinson’s Disease.
4. We may see more progress internationally. This hasn’t been a big area of focus but it’s a major opportunity. If the company can leverage partners in the international markets they may be able to expand globally in a capital-efficient manner.

We will learn more when MRI reports the December quarter and full-year 2017 results in March. Our IV suggests a share price objective of $17 which compares to the current $3 stock price.