Some good news today and most was unexpected. Some needs more discussion than other but I want to touch on all of them. Ideally this will be the catalysts needed to continue the move higher especially given the lack of a macro catalyst. ALXN is buying ACHN for just under $1B. This requires the least […]
Achillion’s Pivot To Orphan Diseases
Through many years, Achillion focused on HCV, among the biggest prizes in drug discovery. The problem is they entered the field late while working on a very popular target. A nearly one year clinical hold on their protease inhibitor sovaprevir added to their woes. As work continued on HCV, by 2014, Achillion began a parallel development […]
13F Analysis of Best Performing Healthcare Hedge Funds (Q1 2015)
13F filings have arrived and it’s like Christmas day for me. I’ve been pouring through the filings, tweeting the interesting ones, and probably annoying everyone on twitter. These filings are a great idea generation tool, a starting place for due diligence, and way to get a peek at the focus of the best minds in […]
Chimera Research Group Catalyst Summary for December 2014
At the end of each month Chimera Research Group provides you with a monthly summary of notable catalysts that have been completed during the past month. DECEMBER 2014: 1) AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) announced that the FDA approved Viekira Pak (ombitasvir/paritaprevir/ritonavir & dasabuvir), their next generation oral treatment for patients with chronic genotype 1 (GT1) hepatitis C […]
[Free Report] JNJ Aquires Alios: What This Means For Achillion
Johnson & Johnson announced today it will acquire privately held Alios BioPharma for $1.75 Billion in cash, gaining rights to the mid-stage treatment for infants with respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), AL-8176, and early stage nuc AL-335 for HCV. “We are excited that this acquisition will enable us to explore treatment options for a number of […]
Catalyst Watch – Vol. 2, Edition 20 (6/20/14)
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 published (or are noted), are subject to potential future, pre-catalyst revision and are not intended as investment recommendations. Please read our Disclaimer: (1) Catalyst Watch List: Updates No updates […]
Week’s Option Activity (9/30~10/4)
The following stocks had notable activity in their options during the past week: $ACHN (10/1): Substantial Call activity (both near and long term dated options). 28,500 JAN15 5.0/(7.5) strike long Call spreads (stock at $2.66) were bought for 0.40 or $1.14 million. Buyer makes money if stock trades north of $5.40 by January 2015 expiration […]
Quick comments on Achillion and TG Therapeutics
(with Jason Chew) In biotech, all too often are investors given news on Friday that is not so good. With many updates expected by the end of the quarter, someone was bound to have the honors of being one of those companies. Today we had quite bad news out of Achillion and an update from […]
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 […]
ACHN – In Consolidation Mode
Achillion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (ACHN – Nasdaq) On July 1, 2013 the FDA placed a clinical hold on Achillion’s hep C drug and the shares plunged 22% from $8.36 to $6.17 the next morning. Since then the shares have traded sideways in a horizontal channel between $6.12 to $7.32. In the second quarter earnings press release Achillion […]
ACHN – Sell Achillion, Buy Idenix
A lot has happened since we last discussed HCV stocks back in October ahead of AASLD. One thing that remains unchanged is Gilead’s dominant lead in the development of next-generation HCV drugs. Beating expectations, Gilead is set to submit its regulatory filing of an all-oral combo consisting of sofosbuvir and GS-5885 by mid-2014 with potential […]
Upcoming events for ARRY, ACHN, and OMER
This is the fourth installment in our series about upcoming events across the biotech sector(see our 1st piece, 2nd piece, 3rd piece). We continue our look at some upcoming events at smaller biotech companies and what we will be drivers for them going forward. If there are any companies that subscribers would like covered, please […]
AASLD 2012 – An HCV Primer
It seems EASL has just ended, but AASLD is fast approaching, coming mid November. For HepC watchers, here is an overview of some companies that will be presenting at the Liver Meeting. Despite the tremendous progress made to-date, new advances keep it exciting. Gilead: Acknowledged leader in the race to bring an all-oral drug combination […]
ACHN – Trade Note #1
Note: Company has an R&D day on Sept 27th and AASLD in early November — both which may increase volatility.
IDIX – Is IDX-184 Good Enough?
Idenix may have a new lease on life now that the FDA has lifted all holds on its lead nucleotide IDX184. The company is very keen to put its nuc in combination with a pan-genotypic compound, either a protease inhibitor or NS5a inhibitor. To ensure it doesn’t run into the same toxicity problems it had […]
Quick take on some upcoming FDA decisions and clinical data
A few comments to highlight some upcoming data or PDUFA events. Threshold Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: THLD) has been quite the stock the past few months after landing a partnership with Merck KGaA and reporting positive top-line PFS data from their Phase 2 study in pancreatic cancer. On Monday, April 2nd @ 10:30AM PST, Threshold will be […]
Quick take on some upcoming catalysts
With Gilead’s (NASDAQ: GILD) recent announcement about the 7977 data(100% RVR, 25/25 in genotype 1 patients so far) should have Idenix(NASDAQ: IDIX) and Achillion(NASDAQ: ACHN) investors thinking hard about the relative risk-reward at this point. GILD announced that data would be available at CROI12 on March 5th-8th; they plan to annouce more SVR data on […]
ACHN & ARIA – Time To Take Some Profits
Both Achillion and Ariad hit 52-week highs today after running up on positive news. While we continue to believe the companies will be successful, we also believe the stocks are getting fairly expensive and think it is a good time to take profits. Since recommending ARIA on November 10th at $10.72, it has gained 31.25% […]
BMY & INHX – Bristol-Myers Squibb Buys Inhibitex for $2.5 Billion
Bristol-Myers Squibb Buys Inhibitex for $2.5 Billion On Saturday, Bristol announced it would acquire Inhibitex for $26 a share, about $2.5 billion dollars, a 163% premium to the companies $9.87 Friday closing price. Inhibitex had been the hot topic of takeover speculation lately for its HCV drug INX-189, a coveted nucleotide polymerase inhibitor. The hepatitis […]
ACHN & INHX: Two HCV Drugmakers In The Spotlight
ACHN v. INHX: Two HCV Drugmakers In The Spotlight Achillion: On Wednesday January 4, Achillion announced it had received Fast-Track designation from the FDA for its experimental HCV drug ACH-1625. A positive development for sure- investors reacted by lifting the stock 1% on a mostly down day for biotechs. Fast Track status is reserved for […]
