Daily Brief Australia: Austal Ltd, Carly Holdings, Paradigm Biopharmaceuticals and more

• Media reports indicate that Austal Ltd (ASB AU) is in the crosshairs of investors looking to take the company private.
• In an announcement, Austal Ltd (ASB AU) said it is regularly involved in discussion with strategic parties to create value for shareholders.
• The recent large contract from the US Navy, potentially more contracts in the pipeline and a weak AUD could result in investors paying up to take the company private.

• Carly Holdings Limited (ASX:CL8) operates a vehicle subscription business, which it launched in March 2019.
• Car subscription allows business and retail customers to pay a single monthly fee to access a car for 30 days or more and is an alternative to purchasing or financing a vehicle.
• Carly has attracted larger automotive industry businesses as shareholders, with a model that facilitates sales volumes of new vehicles and delivers a new recurring revenue stream for automotive manufacturers and dealers. 

Paradigm is focused on the development of injectable pentosan polysulfate (iPPS) for the treatment of osteoarthritis (OA). While the company has several active human clinical trials, it is also assessing iPPS in a canine model due to the similarities in disease biology. Furthermore, since dogs have a shorter lifespan than humans, the full progression of the condition can be assessed over a condensed period. Management believes that this could be advantageous in evaluating the disease-modifying OA drug (DMOAD) status of iPPS, a key goal for Paradigm. The latest data show that iPPS demonstrates durable effects on pain, function and cartilage volume in the canine OA model at the three-year human equivalent time point (canine 26 weeks). These positive results add to a growing data package to support iPPS as a potential DMOAD. Paradigm intends to present this to the FDA and EMA in H2 CY23, and the outcome of these discussions could represent a significant catalyst for the company, in our view.