October 15- EOD

While this may surprise you (not) but it was another macro driven day (I know you are probably getting as tired of reading that as I am of writing it). Volume also seems to be drying up as investor simply sit on their hands and wait for Washington to get off of their hands. Despite […]

PSDV ALIM – Analysis of Iluvien for DME

On Thursday, Alimera (ALIM) and Psivida (PSDV) are expected to hear from the FDA on the status of their new drug application(NDA) for Iluvien(fluocinolone acetonide intravitreal implant) to treat chronic diabetic macular edema. With it’s third attempt, one could say Iluvien has taken the long and winding road to approval. The PDUFA date is October […]

October 14- EOD

It was another macro day and will be until the mess in Washington is cleared (to a certain extent) but even when that happens will we likely still be in a macro world but with a tail wind instead of a head wind. That being said, the sector seemed to ne relatively heavy today even […]

Catalyst Watch – Vol. 1, Edition 4 (10/11/13)

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: AMRN: Waiting for briefing docs… More to follow on this […]

October 11- Morning note

Well, we have three straight days of interesting news with ECYT rounding out the week. I want to focus on that today and get this out earlier than usual as this could be actionable today. 1. Before diving into ECYT, GS was out with a report on PCYC where they raised their price target to […]

October 10-EOD

Macro, macro, macro but now it is to the other way. We did have another big piece of news hit last night in terms of CLL, which I will talk about for today’s note. 1. The news of the day (or actually last night) was the halting of the GILD idelalisib trial of previously treated […]

October 8- Mid Day

While I wanted some more news from the biotech sector this was not exactly what I was planning. I discuss my thoughts on ARIA in an article on the street, so I will not belabor it more here. There are a couple of broader points that I think are interesting in light on today’s action. […]

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 […]

October 8- EOD

I would like to argue that it was more of the same today given the macro focus and that is likely true but today was certainly more of the same to an extreme extent. There are a couple of interesting bits of information but nothing that is altering the fundamentals of a stock or sector. […]

October 7- EOD

Macro, macro, and more macro. That seems to be driving the market and without any significant biotech specific news that was the word of the day. As we get closer to the debt ceiling the greater the headwind and the closer correlation between stock movements will get to 1. Biotechs will be particularly vulnerable given […]

October 4- EOD

It green morning with biotechs taking part in the early rally and showing perhaps some minor strength but nothing earth shattering. Again it was a relatively quiet day on the news front, so I will do a couple of quick hitters today. 1. PCYC got another positive sell side report. I think we are clearly […]

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 […]

October 2- EOD

Some macro weakness today but biotechs seemed to hold up fairly well. While most were red, it did not seem to be overdone to the downside. Plus, there were some pockets of green. All in all, not a great day to be in biotechs but it could have been worse given the broader market. The […]

Catalyst Watch – Vol. 1, Edition 3 (10/2/13)

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: AMRN: Stock continues to climb (now at $6.85). No delay […]

October 1- EOD

It was a fairly busy day today in biotech land the sentiment certainly appears more positive. They participated in the market rally even though most were not big losers in the recent macro selling. This is certainly positive going forward. I want to focus on the MRK news as it touches on a lot of […]

Week’s Option Activity (9/23~9/27)

The following stocks had notable activity in their options during the past week(s): $EDAP (9/23): Bullish long term Call buys. 750 FEB14 2.50 strike Calls (stock at $2.68) were bought for 0.60 or $45,000. Also 750 MAY14 2.50 strike Calls were bought for 0.70 or $52,500. For these trades, buyer makes money if the stock […]

September 30-EOD

There was certainly some interesting news and action today. The market was weak early but biotech was much more mixed than one would have expected. It is good to see those pockets of strength during the broad market sell offs. 1. ARIA was interesting on two levels: AP113 data and Iclusig sales. There was additional […]

September 30-EOD

There was certainly some interesting news and action today. The market was weak early but biotech was much more mixed than one would have expected. It is good to see those pockets of strength during the broad market sell offs. 1. ARIA was interesting on two levels: AP113 data and Iclusig sales. There was additional […]

September 30-EOD

There was certainly some interesting news and action today. The market was weak early but biotech was much more mixed than one would have expected. It is good to see those pockets of strength during the broad market sell offs. 1. ARIA was interesting on two levels: AP113 data and Iclusig sales. There was additional […]

ISIS Huntington’s Disease Program: A good start on an ambitious target

Huntington’s Disease (HD) is a neurodegenerative disease characterized by motor, cognitive and psychiatric symptoms. The most typical symptom, but by far not the only, is the occurrence of incontrollable, random and sudden movements (chorea). Symptoms appear around 30 and 40, and the life expectancy after the first manifestations is two decades. Huntington’s is caused by […]