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 […]
Whats next for ALXN, BMRN, INCY, MDVN, ONXX, REGN, VRTX
First quarter earnings for 2013 are on the horizon. We want to outline some of the main events for some of the larger biotech companies we follow. It can be hard to track the progress of such large companies, but there are meaningful updates still expected in the next 6 months. Alexion Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: ALXN) […]
Three bloated valuations with approaching exclusivity and patent expirations
With the strong performance of pharmaceutical and biotechnology stocks over the past few years, some have even outperformed expectations. Specialty pharmaceutical companies have filled various niches recently with reformulated products for various indications. However, at some point, their valuations exceed the fair value of their respective opportunities and do not account for the risks they […]
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 […]
EDAP – A look at microcap device maker, EDAP TMS
Last year, we had projected that EDAP TMS (NASDAQ:EDAP) would report data from their Phase 2/3 trial(ENLIGHT) trial for the indication of low risk, localized prostate cancer. However, we have seen no statement on the results of the trial thus far. Ablatherm HIFU has been approved in the EU for quite some time, but their […]
