A bit of a quite day today in the markets. There is some biotech news but it seems to be the calm before the storm of ASCO, or as I heard someone note- the fire hose of data. 1. At the ELN annual meeting someone asked them about the possibility of purchasing AMRN and they […]
May 29- EOD
It seemed like a nice selloff in biotech today. There were the occasional winners (INFI) but for the most part it was a sea of red today. The summer months can be difficult times for biotechs but they have been quite resilient and these sell-offs have ended up being good buying opportunities. 1. I want […]
INFI – Infinity Pharmaceuticals: Down But Not Out
Less than two months ago on April 2, INFI hit a multi-year high of $50.26. Since then, the stock tumbled more than 50% in a relentless fall driven by high trading volume. Shares recently recovered some and now sit at about $25. Many have argued the stock was overpriced in early April when it carried […]
May 28- Mid Day
This is mid-day instead of the end of the day because I will be out of the office for the rest of the afternoon. This is a little shorter than it should be given the news and moves today but I should have time to add more to this tomorrow. 1. Looks like I have […]
Week’s Option Activity (5/20~5/24)
The following stocks had notable activity in their options during the past week: $JAZZ (5/20): 4,000 SEP/JUN 55.0 strike Put Time spreads were traded (stock @ $58.36) for a net debit of 3.15 or $1,260,000. Specifically, 4,000 JUN 55.0 strike Puts were sold for 1.15 against a purchase of 4,000 SEP 55.0 strike Puts for […]
May 24 – End Of Day Biotech Wrap-up
Really another slow day entering into the long weekend. From my perspective, there were really only two really interesting moves. 1. AVEO was a bit of a shocker. AVEO disclosed in a filing that Astellas will no longer fund tivozanib in RCC and would not seek approval in the EU. There are still some other […]
May 23 – End Of Day Biotech Wrap-up
Today was another macro day in that the macro environment had a lot more to do with price movements than fundamentals. That being said, bios seemed to be strong in the morning despite the sell-off and move higher when the market reversed. There was not really a lot of new news today but, as always, […]
VICL – Bear take on Allovectin-7
with Patrick Crutcher Vical (NASDAQ: VICL) is approaching the release of top-line data from a Phase III clinical trial of Allovectin-7 (A7) in patients with metastatic melanoma. According to the company’s last earnings call, it’s slated to occur sometime during the third quarter of this year. A7, also known as velimogene aliplasmid, is a DNA […]
May 22 – End Of Day Biotech Wrap-up
While the market got some intraday whipsaw action, it seemed generally good and biotechs did well- early. We had a late day sell-off with biotechs seeming to do better than the market in general. 1. It seems like just yesterday I was positive but cautious on ARIA because it was still making lower high and […]
May 21 – End Of Day Biotech Wrap-up
Perhaps it is the start of the summer season but the market seems to have been quite the past couple of days or perhaps I am simply looking at the wrong parts of the market. 1. There were a number of EHA abstracts released today for PCYC and perhaps one of the most important was […]
May 20th – End Of Day Biotech Wrap-up
Outside of a not completely unexpected merger, it was a relatively quite start to the week. As has been par for the course, ASCO oncology stocks tended to be weak but not in a significant manner. Perhaps we are having the quite before the storm. 1. PPHM announced its agreement with the FDA on a […]
Week’s Option Activity (5/13~5/17)
The following stocks had notable activity in their options during the past week: $OPTR (5/13): 2,250 SEP 17.50 strike Calls were sold against equal number of purchased JUN 12.5 Puts (stock @ $12.81) for total debit of 0.85 or $191,250. Trade most likely a hedge of an existing long stock position. $MNTA (5/13): 926 JAN14 […]
SRPT – Sarepta – Is It The Time For A New High?
Sarepta Therapeutics, Inc – Nasdaq(SRPT) Sarepta is one of the most followed tickers in twitterville with a real bulls/bears debate. It has strong moms’ advocacy groups fighting full strength to get the drug Eteplirsen an AA (Accelerated Approval) and as fast as they can to the market. For some kids, every day counts as they are […]
GILD – Gilead – Building An Oncology Powerhouse
Having solidified its position as the leading provider of HIV medicines, Gilead turned toward a strategy of diversification, first with pulmonary and cardiovascular disease, then HCV. The first two were mostly busts, but a strong focus on Hepatitis C has paid dividends for stakeholders. Now the company is building on its momentum to create an […]
May 17th – End Of Day Biotech Wrap-up
It seemed to be a quite day as I think everyone is recovering from the ASCO abstract dump. 1. I had some good discussion with people about the PGNX abstract that I posted yesterday and wanted to go into a little more detail. PSMA is an antigen that is more likely to be expressed on […]
May 16 2013 – End Of Day Biotech Wrap-up
A lot of movers today and most were deep in the red. A lot of the moves were ASCO stocks selling off after the abstracts were released last night but some recovered (PCYC) while others stayed deep in the red (INFI) or moderately red (ARIA and MDVN). There is a lot to talk about but […]
May 15 2013 – End Of Day Biotech Wrap-up
Well, this is my first daily rundown for subscribers and while many of you have received these as emails, this might be new for others. In general, I like to take some of the more interesting stories of the day and put them into a context that would allow you to develop an effective trading […]
Week’s Option Activity (5/6~5/10)
The following stocks had notable activity in their options during the past week: $HOLX (5/7/13): 3,900 DEC 22.0/18.0 strike Strangles were purchased for a net debit of 2.05 or a total cost of $799,500. DEC 22.0 Calls were bought for 1.00 and DEC 18.0 strike Puts were bought for 1.05 (stock at $20.66). Buyer makes […]
ASCO2013 Take Three: PD1 antibodies will have significant presence
This is our third piece in a series of articles on developments expected at ASCO 2013[1,2]. Currently, we think the majority of the exciting presentations at ASCO 2013 will be from clinical candidates at big pharma. In particular, anti-programmed death-1 monoclonal antibodies(anti-PD-1) like Bristol Myers’ Nivolumab(BMS-936558), Merck’s Lambrolizumab (MK-3475), GSK’s AMP-224, Teva/CureTech’s CT-011 and Roche/Genentech’s […]
ASCO2013 Take Two: Battleground Hematology
As we said in our initial article on ASCO 2013[link], Gilead will have a significant presence at this year’s meeting. In the May 15th press program for ASCO, they will be featuring Idelalisib(GS-1101), Gilead’s delta-specific PI3K inhibitor. Novel oral agents with dramatic efficacy and limited toxicity have made the hematology space highly competitive. Abstracts can […]
