The following stocks had notable activity in their options during the past week(s): $VNDA (10/31): Lots of activity – we will stick to the bigger trades. 1,000 NOV 4.0 strike Puts were sold (stock at $6.74) to buy 1,000 NOV 11.0 strike Calls for a net debit of 0.65 or $65,000 – buyer makes money […]
ASH 2013 Preview on Lymphoid Malignancies
This year’s annual meeting of the American Society of Hematology(ASH13) is highly anticipated for a number of reasons. Pharmacyclic’s Ibrutinib could be viewed as one of the several catalysts sparking the biotech sector’s run the past 2 years. They are now within months of receiving approval for 2 indications where they could benefit patient lives […]
November 5- EOD
The morning looked bad but the sector came back a little. There was some sporadic buying of oncology names but nothing major. It will be very interesting to see how the sector responds to the ASH abstracts. Obviously there will be winners and losers but the question in my mind is how will the PPS […]
ASH 2013 Preview on rare blood disorders
This year’s annual meeting of the American Society of Hematology (ASH13) is highly anticipated for a number of reasons. Orphan diseases has been a key element in the bull market in biotech over the past 2-3 years. Consider that the market for hemophilia A treatments in 2011 was over $5 billion alone. Today’s preview will […]
November 4- EOD
(This was from yesterday. Due to the server issues, I am not sure many of you saw it, so I am reposting.) I take one day to not write an EOD and biotechs sell off. Well, they have been weak for awhile so no real surprise but at least the selling does not seemed related […]
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 […]
October 31- EOD
ARIA is doing its best to single handedly crush biotech sentiment and grind it into a bloody pulp. As I have said before, if this is the bursting of a real speculative bubble then we have another five to ten years of selling (I think it took tulip prices over a century to recover and […]
Catalyst Watch – Vol. 1, Edition 6 (10/30/13)
Below are current tactical and strategic thoughts on approaching FDA and clinical trial catalysts for select names. Estimates, values and views are as of the date of publishing (or are noted) and are subject to potential future, pre-catalyst revision: Catalyst Watch List – Update: VNDA: The stock has sold off substantially, from $13 to $7, […]
October 30- EOD
The sector seems almost perilously balanced between putting in a solid base for the next leg higher and setting up for another leg lower. The freefall that we have seen in recent weeks has slowed but volumes remain pathetic (especially in the small cap space), which means buyers are not quite interested. Of course, when […]
October 29- EOD
Well, it seemed like an odd day for the sector in that it was almost directionless. This is not to say that there were not moves among individual stocks but we are finally starting to see them move on merit and less on sector sentiment. I think this is a good sign and hopefully we […]
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 […]
October 28- Mid day
I have not followed the biotech market very close the end of last week but it seems like more of the same. There is a number of issues that I could touch on today but I have been getting the most questions about ONTX, so I will focus on it today. I am also publishing […]
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) […]
Merck – Quick Chart Review
Merck & Co. Inc. (MRK) -NYSE For the first time since March 1st, MRK’s price dropped below its 200-Day Moving Average. This is worth a deeper look at the price action and the indicators are showing a “Bullish Divergence” and within the oversold zone. Merck will take part at the (IASLC) the 15th World Conference on […]
Biocryst up on hope(hype) for HAE prophylaxis
In a previous post, Jason Chew provided some background and analysis on Biocryst (BCRX) BCX4161, an oral drug candidate for the treatment of hereditary angioedema (HAE). Biocryst’s stock is up 300%+ since July of this year on the back’s of Phase 1 trial of BCX4161 in healthy volunteers. With that said, we do question some […]
October 24-EOD
I want to be cautiously optimistic on the recent performance of biotechs. Yesterday ending up being a decent day and today started off okay. The sector is not burning it up with outperformance but seems to taking a pause in the selling. I have been warning that this is a busy week and it continues […]
MDVN – Confusion over PREVAIL data explained in a single graph
On Tuesday, the market was rather confused on what to make of the PREVAIL news. To be clear, this wasn’t entirely the market’s fault: Medivation released a poorly worded press release that did not convey the whole story. A little extra detail would have gone a long way. From the press release, we know that […]
October 23-EOD
Not a lot of news in terms of data, although we saw BMY, AMGN, and LLY report earnings. The biotech sector was not as much of a relative underperformer today. Of course, it was still red and weak but today it was red and weak in the context of a broader market selloff. Volumes seemed […]
Catalyst Watch – Vol. 1, Edition 5 (10/22/13)
Below are current tactical and strategic thoughts on approaching FDA and clinical trial catalysts for select names. Estimates, values and views are as of the date of publishing (or are noted) and are subject to potential future, pre-catalyst revision: (1) Catalyst Watch List – Updates: VNDA: No change in strategy (See Vol. 1, Edition 2). […]
