ASH 2013 Preview on Multiple Myeloma

This year’s annual meeting of the American Society of Hematology (ASH13) is highly anticipated for a number of reasons. With the general market for the healthcare/biotech sector at all-time highs on the backs of Pharmacyclic’s Ibrutinib (stock is up 1000% since ASH11), Celgene’s Revlimid (~67% of their $6.3B 2013 revenue) and Amgen’s $10.6B deal for […]

CLDX – A look at CDX-1127

Celldex Therapeutics (CLDX) has one of the most anticipated data releases amongst small biotech companies this fall. They are scheduled to present data from their Phase 1 dose-escalation trial of a CDX-1127 (CD27, a T-cell stimulator) at the annual meeting of the Society for ImmunoTherapy of Cancer(SITC), November 7-10th. We will also likely see some […]

Ariad- Where Do They Go From Here

Following the FDA’s clinical hold, then discontinuation of the Phase III trial in front line CML for Ariad’s only marketed drug, Iclusig, the most pressing issue comes down to are finances. Ariad is a big spender, burning through $69 million in the second quarter of this year with $83 million in operating expenses. It will […]

Datasets in focus at IASLC this weekend

This weekend is the  15th annual World Conference on Lung Cancer, sponsored by tge International Assoc. for The Study Of Lung Cancer (IASLC). It takes place Sunday October 27th through Wednesday 30th (Site). Abstracts can be found here. In particular, we want to speak briefly about 7 presentations. PD1 inhibitors Bristol-Myers (BMY), Merck (MRK) and Roche (RHHBY) […]

October 17- EOD

A mixed day in the market which was nice to see a day in which not all stocks were moving in the same direction. Obviously had some stock specific news with AMRN and the PSDV PDUFA and some more general biotech news. 1. AMRN was the stock of the day with about a 67% haircut […]

PSDV ALIM – Analysis of Iluvien for DME

On Thursday, Alimera (ALIM) and Psivida (PSDV) are expected to hear from the FDA on the status of their new drug application(NDA) for Iluvien(fluocinolone acetonide intravitreal implant) to treat chronic diabetic macular edema. With it’s third attempt, one could say Iluvien has taken the long and winding road to approval. The PDUFA date is October […]

ISIS Huntington’s Disease Program: A good start on an ambitious target

Huntington’s Disease (HD) is a neurodegenerative disease characterized by motor, cognitive and psychiatric symptoms. The most typical symptom, but by far not the only, is the occurrence of incontrollable, random and sudden movements (chorea). Symptoms appear around 30 and 40, and the life expectancy after the first manifestations is two decades. Huntington’s is caused by […]

What to look for at AASLD 2013

We wanted to take a moment to highlight some of the presentations at the 2013 Annual Meeting of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases. This conference takes place Friday, November 1st thru Tuesday, November 5th and covers . Research interest in new therapies against the hepatitis C virus(HCV) still remain high, although […]

What to look for at ESMO 2013

Apropos to our post yesterday on upcoming medical conferences, we wanted to begin with some coverage of the European Cancer Congress 2013 (ECCO-ESMO). This conference takes place Friday, September 27th thru Tuesday, October 1st. Below we have some of the datasets and updates we are looking forward to seeing. ESMO planners also put out their, […]

September 24- EOD

Not a lot going on today, which works out well as it has been a busy day for me outside of biotech. The market seemed to find its footing a little and biotechs appeared (dare I say it) a shade stronger than usual. A day does certainly not make a trend but I suspect that […]

September 24- EOD

Not a lot going on today, which works out well as it has been a busy day for me outside of biotech. The market seemed to find its footing a little and biotechs appeared (dare I say it) a shade stronger than usual. A day does certainly not make a trend but I suspect that […]

September 24- EOD

Not a lot going on today, which works out well as it has been a busy day for me outside of biotech. The market seemed to find its footing a little and biotechs appeared (dare I say it) a shade stronger than usual. A day does certainly not make a trend but I suspect that […]

Upcoming Fall medical conferences

With Fall approaching quickly, we head into one of the busier periods of medical conference presentations. In the next month, we have several widely followed conferences approaching and abstract releases for a number of others. Below are some of the key conferences that we will be tracking with some analysis to follow in subsequent articles. […]

GERN – Quick Take on Geron

Geron shares have run up substantially in recent days on speculation of positive results for its telomerase inhibitor imetelstat in an investigator sponsored study for the treatment of myelofibrosis. During the August 8th Q2 conference call, management noted the second 11 patient cohort had completed enrollment and met the pre-specified criteria of at least 2 […]

MYGN – To Myriad Investors – Your Risks are MyRisk

Co-Author: Dr. Tro Kalayjian Myriad (NASDAQ:MYGN) is a molecular diagnostics company that focuses on the development and marketing of predictive medicine, personalized medicine, and prognostic medicine tests in the United States. Their most well-known tests include BRACAnalysis/ BART, which are tests for hereditary breast and ovarian cancer, and COLARIS, another hereditary cancer test for colon […]

SGMO – Abstracts

The SGMO ICAAC abstracts are now available. This links to the late breaker abstract. Abstract: Background: Expression of CCR5 by CD4 cells is necessary for productive R5 HIV infection. Biallelic KO of CCR5 in CD4 cells by SB-728-T is enhanced in CCR5 Δ32HZ. This study was undertaken to assess the effect of SB-728-T on Δ32HZ, […]