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 […]
Preview of ASCO2013 Take One
With the 2013 annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) rapidly approaching, we want to take the time to present our highlights of the meeting. This is one of the largest medical meetings investors focus upon in the biotech and healthcare sectors. Before we get into this, we do have some overarching […]
Option Basics (4): Expiration and Other Basics
Option Expiration It is important to quickly discuss the finer points of Option Expiration. Options expire on the Saturday immediately following the 3rd Friday of the expiration month. This sounds confusing but it is not – if you look at a calendar, it is quite simple. The September 2010 Series expire on Saturday September 18, […]
GERN – Geron: Time To Turn Out The Lights
Once a high-flying stem cell company, Menlo Park based Geron has fallen on hard times. Year-to-date, shares are off some 25% even as most biotech indices have soared over 20%. The company is in the midst of a restructuring, reducing its workforce from 64 to 44; this is down from 174 employees in November 2011 […]
Week’s Option Activity (5/1~5/3)
The following stocks had notable activity in their options during the past week: $ASTX (5/1/13): 2,000 OCT 6/9 strike Call spreads (stock @ $6.88) were purchased for a net debit of 0.80 or total cost of $160,000. Buyer makes money if stock is greater than $6.80 by expiration. $NBIX (5/2/13): 1,874 JUN/AUG (long – front […]
Highlights from Day 2 at Needham
Today marked the end of the 12th Annual Needham Healthcare Conference. Below is a collection of slides from companies that we are following or have an interest in. These include Chelsea Therapeutics (CHTP), Curis (CRIS), Cytokinetics (CYTK), Intercept (ICPT), Omeros (OMER), Sangamo (SGMO), TG Therapeutics (TGTX) and several others. (See our slideshow from Day 1 […]
Some highlights from Day 1 at Needham
The 12th Annual Needham Healthcare Conference began today with a number of presentations by widely biotech companies. Below we have a slideshow of the summary slides from companies that we are following or have an interest in. These include Astex (ASTX), Cubist (CBST), Infinity (INFI), Insmed (INSM), ISIS (ISIS), Sarepta (SRPT) and several others.
Busy week ahead for Biotech
This week is going to be particularly heavy on the earnings updates and FDA actions. Below are some of our views on potential updates and major events at biopharmaceutical companies this week. Additionally, the 12th Annual Needham Healthcare Conference takes place this week from 4/30-5/1. Monday, April 29th Main story for Dynavax will be the potential […]
IBB – Biotechnology Index at All Times High
Nasdaq Biotechnology Index Fund ETF (IBB) The best indicator for our biotech portfolio are the biotechnology indexes like IBB, NBI, XBI or XLV. Since we already published “The IBB and SPX In The Decision Zone“, we will maintain our focus on the IBB. By looking at the IBB daily chart, we get the whole picture […]
Upcoming FDA approval decisions
The end of April will be marked by 2 FDA decisions. On Tuesday, April 30th, Raptor Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: RPTP) will receive the FDA’s decision on PROCYSBI (RP103, Cysteamine Bitartrate Delayed-Release Capsules) for treating nephropathic cystinosis. The original PDUFA date of 1/30/13 was delayed 3-months following additional data submitted by Raptor. It is a novel reformulation […]
Upcoming earnings and conferences this week
With the first quarter behind us, we look to updates across the biotech industry on new product launches and guidance for the year. We are also coming upon the summer medical conference series. Additionally, we briefly discuss 2 upcoming FDA approvals. Upcoming earnings releases and updates Monday, April 22nd After-Hours: ILMN Tuesday, April 23rd Pre-Market: […]
POZN – Hurdles Lay Ahead For Pozen
We have been actively following Pozen for the last couple years and believe now is a good time to pick up coverage once again. The company submitted an NDA for PA32540/PA8140 only a month ago, a full year after announcing positive top-line results from the second of two Phase III trials. An indication will be […]
Q2 outlook for ARIA, AEGR, CLDX, GHDX, ISIS, MNTA, RPRX, XNPT
First quarter updates for 2013 are on the horizon. Below we outline some of the main events for some biotech companies we’re tracking closely. Aegerion Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: AEGR) Most investors will be focused on the how the US launch of Juxtapid(Lomitapide) is tracking. JUXTAPID was approved by the FDA in December 2012. They anticipate a […]
