A weak start to the week but it is also a continuation from the weak ending of last week. Everyone is waiting for a pullback. The bulls expect a moderate pullback to consolidate the move, the bears expect a more significant move to purge a lot of the excess valuation, and the bubble callers are […]
December 19 Biotech Update
After a set of very strong rallies, it would probably be constructive for the market to trade sideways for a bit but the pressure for managers to chase may be too great as their benchmarks are that much higher after the recent rip. In any case, it was a relatively benign open to the market […]
December 3 Biotech Update
It is a basically neutral day in the market but the sector seems a little weak but this is off of a good day yesterday. One problem to keep an eye on is that many of the stocks I follow start very strong but weaken throughout the day. I would certainly prefer to stop seeing […]
April 22- Building Some Momentum
Everyone loves biotechs again. Has the bottom been put in? Perhaps but there was a lot of damage done to the sector, so I would remain selective on buys and not chase any of these early moves. That being said the coast is likely clear for the near term assuming that the large cap biotechs […]
April 7 Biotech Update- An Active AACR
So a lot to talk about and I will briefly touch on a lot and then expand later this week as I doubt many days will be a busy as today in term of news. The sector had a good morning but we have seen this before and at this point it will not be […]
ASH 2013 Preview on Myelofibrosis
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 […]
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 […]
October 3- EOD
Outside of a weak day in the macro which appears mainly related to macro issues, there does not seem to be a ton of news. Biotechs were obviously weak with the broader market but there was some green sprinkled in but they were few and far between. I will highlight a couple of companies but […]
September 27- EOD
Not a particularly news rich day but the sector seemed to continue its momentum from yesterday and seemed to outperform the general market with a lot of green on a red day. 1. Well, it looks like JNJ is tossing another wrench in ECYT trials with more doxil supply problems. ECYT noted that they have […]
September 26-EOD
It was an interesting news day and biotechs even participated in the market strength today, which has not happened in a little while. I would not call the biotech action strong from a relative performance sense but it is encouraging to see them at least perform in line with the broader market. 1. Lilly(LLY) announced […]
June 7- EOD
[This was meant to be posted Friday afternoon but did not seem to go through, so you get a bonus EOD of today] I do not think there is not much out there to add from today. I will touch on a couple of themes but it was generally a bounce back day for the […]
Rheumatoid Arthritis Treatments: The Decade Ahead
Rheumatoid arthritis sufferers have seen dramatic improvements in the standard of care over the last 25 years. Prior to the approval of methotrexate (MTX) in 1988, the best that doctors had to offer were NSAIDs and analgesics to manage pain and inflammation. As the first approved disease modifying drug, MTX revolutionized RA treatment and is […]
INCY, LLY – Baricitinib at ACR 2012
Incyte Corp and Eli Lilly participated in an investor meeting following the presentation of Phase II data for their jointly developed JAK inhibitor, baricitinib, at the American College of Rheumatology (ACR) on November 13. Baracitinib is a selective and highly potent JAK1/2 inhibitor entering Phase III studies in Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA). The companies described highly […]
An October full of data and decisions
With October underway, we felt the need to highlight some of the most important upcoming data readouts and regulatory decisions. This month is particularly busy on the regulatory side of things with 5 PDUFAs, 4 Advisory Committees, 6 FDA actions, and multiple potential European Medicines Agency(EMA) decisions. The events are listed in chronological order. Eli […]
INCY- 12-week RA Results Follow-up
Incyte and partner Eli Lilly presented complete full 12-week results for its JAK inhibitor INCB28050 (LY300904), now known as baricitinib June 8 at EULAR as a late-breaker. A total of 301 subjects with inadequate response to methotrexate (MTX) were enrolled in Eastern Europe, India, Mexico, and the U.S. The trial was run by Lilly. This is a […]
INCY – Outstanding 3-Month RA Data
Data from the 12-week portion of Incyte’s 24-week Phase IIb study in patients with moderate to severe RA were released in an abstract ahead of EULAR today. In this 301 patient trial, patients were randomized to placebo, 1mg, 2mg, 4mg, or 8mg INCB28050 (also known as LY3009104). All endpoints were met for the 4mg and […]
INCY – An Acquisition Target?
Today, any biotech company with a promising product may be considered a potential acquisition target. Incyte Pharmaceuticals can certainly be considered one such candidate. It is well known that Big Pharma has been struggling with a lack of productivity, exacerbated by expiring patents on their biggest drugs. Some companies have managed this better than others. […]
Updates from the Cowen & Co. Healthcare Conference
The early spring biotech investor conference calendar continued with the annual Cowen & Co. Healthcare Conference held March 5-7, 2012 in Boston, MA. As always, my webcast notes below contain only key updates, changes, or new information, and do not represent a complete reprise of any presentation. Additional details on many of these companies can […]
Where Is Lilly In The PI3K Race?
Some 15 years ago, scientists at Eli Lilly discovered the first PI3kinase inhibitor, code name LY294002. Although only of modest potency and selectivity, it became widely used by the research community as a tool compound to elucidate the PI3K pathway. In recent years, the field has taken off with compounds in development for oncology and […]
