Hoof on the till: Peters backs Optiscan med-tech

Bob Peters is used to backing winners – in fact he has bred and owned a great many of them on his way to becoming the king of WA horse racing.

Peters, a shrewd WA businessman who built his fortune selling cars, has won WA’s most iconic thoroughbred horse race – the Perth Cup – a record-breaking 11 times. In fact, at the 2016 Perth Cup, punters who had spent too much time at the bar may have thought they were seeing triple as Peters’ distinctive cerise-and-white jockey silks stormed the finishing line in a remarkable first, second and third place.

Whether it’s cars or horses – and more recently ASX-listed public companies – Peters has an insatiable appetite for picking winners.

And while the allure of racking up more Perth Cups is clearly still irresistible for Peters, he has been punting some of his winnings on small-capped public companies of late and his choices are illuminating – particularly if you accept the view that he is good at picking winners.

He is adamant that having success with the public companies he is backing will eclipse any of the joys procured from his many decades of racing triumphs.

Through the Peters Investments business he runs alongside his wife of 60 years, Sandra, he has become the biggest shareholder (24.62 per cent) in ASX-listed companies Optiscan Imaging and Memphasys (27.26 per cent).

Renowned for never having a bet on his own horses, he insists that taking a punt on the pair that are both working on technology that could revolutionise the medical fraternity, is a business decision. Although when you scratch the surface, it is clear that his human instincts are also triggered by the potential medical benefits that both companies could deliver to the masses.

Optiscan is developing a “pen-like” microscope that is extraordinarily powerful and capable of delivering a real-time cancer diagnosis without the need for painful biopsies. It can also be used immediately after a tumour removal to ensure all cancerous cells have been removed – negating the need for a terrifying second surgery within days.

Bulls N’ Bears can reveal that Optiscan’s mission is particularly close to Peters’ heart after he had to return to the operating table three times to have a melanoma removed from his head.

“I just saw the potential for saving people from having to go back for a second operation – I finished up going back to the surgeon three times because biopsies had to be taken,” a candid Peters told Bulls N’ Bears.

“This would take out the need for biopsies and from a commercial point of view, you can see what this could be worth because every hospital in the world would be needing one of these – and probably more than one – for their surgeons to operate with.

“That works out to being worth billions of dollars and having worldwide applications. Once this technology is rolled out clinically, and hopefully that won’t be too far away, who would want to have an operation without it?

“We’re an investment company and we expect to get a return on our investments, but as I learned a little bit more about this, you realise it might be helping people who are suffering different types of cancers all over the world. It’s become a little bit more than just a business as you learn.”

Peters was born on a Midland Junction veranda in 1942 before going on to live on a Dalwallinu farm in WA’s Wheatbelt with his mother Muriel. He was almost three by the time he first met his father David, who had been serving as a soldier in the Bismark Archipelago.

His love for equine animals grew organically after being propped up on the back of a farm horse at the age of just two.

“I grew up on a farm where they used the horses for the ploughs and harvesting because the second World War was on and there was no fuel,” Peters told The West Australian in 2020. “They’d come back in and put me on their back as they wandered into their box ... you’re gone from there.”

The Peters’ racing operation was in 2020 named the WA industry’s “most influential”. He was also last year inducted into the coveted Australian Racing Hall of Fame.

The operation is part of the “rural” branch of the three-pronged Peters Investments business – which also includes real estate and stock market investment, focusing largely on emerging technology businesses and banks.

Peters sold out of his first investment with Optiscan many years ago. But when a friend later told him the company had developed a pen-sized digital microscope offering the power of real-time 3D single-cell imaging during surgery, it set the pathway for his return. He said the thought of a surgeon sending that real-time imaging to a pathologist for an immediate assessment during an operation had the potential to save an extraordinary amount of time for people and money for every nation in the world.

“It can’t cure cancer, but it can revolutionise the treatment of cancer,” he said.

“It made me think of the worldwide implications something like this can have. We all know how many surgeries are getting cancelled because of the demand and how many people are waiting for surgeries and this would cut dramatically the need for people to be waiting for very important surgeries.

“I became a believer and I’m still a believer.”

Peters said his confidence in Optiscan’s product had stemmed from the belief in it from the company’s chief executive officer, Dr Camile Farah, who had used it during his work as an oral clinician in Perth. He was optimistic the technology would soon receive the vital US Food and Drug Administration approval.

He also said a recent “know-how” agreement between Optiscan and the United States’ renowned Mayo Clinic to co-develop digital laser technology for use in robotic surgery had added significantly to his faith.

The two companies will combine different areas of expertise to develop the imaging system within a two-year period and Mayo – the world’s biggest integrated, not-for-profit medical group practice – has committed to taking a financial interest in Optiscan’s revolutionary technology.

The deal will combine Optiscan’s expertise in endomicroscopic hardware and software development, with Mayo’s robotic surgery know-how and vast history of patient care.

“It’s the only place of its kind in the world that I actually know the name of, so that probably tells a story,” he quipped.

Peters is also bullish about Memphasys’ ability to impact the market with its reproductive technology that last year led to a baby boy being born in India through the use of the company’s sperm-separating “Felix” system. It also assisted 10 more Indian families in hearing the pitter-patter of tiny feet in the following months.

More recently, he has also suggested management look into the potential for using its reproductive assistance with animals, a possibility it is now assessing.

“Infertility is a growing problem all around the world, so this is another area with worldwide implications, not just local – we’re looking at massive markets for this technology,” he said.

“I can also see the technology being massive in for cattle, sheep and pigs. Being a rural person, I’ve used AI with my cattle in the past and it sort of hit me that it could be a lot bigger market for the human market.

“There is semen being transported all around the world every day for all sorts of animals.”

And while medical technology companies satisfy Peters’ dual goals of making money and a difference to people’s lives, he is also all-in on a unique twist to the traditional real estate agent – an ASX-listed company by the name of The Agency. Not satisfied with the traditional 19.9 per cent maximum holding, Peters also owns a big swag – more than 30 per cent – of The Agency’s stock.

The Agency burst onto the real estate scene a few years ago with a highly-disruptive model that would see them eventually entice an incredible 400 of the best and brightest real estate reps at rival agencies to join them across Australia. There are no bricks and mortar offices, with most reps working from home in their respective local areas.

In the December half year, those reps generated $57 million in gross commissions from a serious $3.3 billion worth of real estate sales.

Picking a good horse before it starts its racing career is an art, an elusive skill possessed by few. But it is a knack Peters has honed to perfection since winning his first Perth Cup way back in 1993.

The art of picking successful public companies early is equally elusive and it remains to be seen whether Peters can transfer his innate equine skills into the ASX arena. But as thousands of Perth Cup punters have found over the years, it is not a good idea to bet against him.

Is your ASX-listed company doing something interesting? Contact: matt.birney@wanews.com.au