Another week with another set of macro concerns. I was waiting to see if there would be any interesting biotech news but I guess not. There was some late last week but this morning seems driven by macro (your choice between Argentina and/or Hong Kong and/or China trade). I see little on the horizon that […]
August 6 Biotech Update
We tried to get a bounce this morning but it is tepid at best. On the positive side we did get a CNBC “Market in Turmoil” segment, which usually marks a bottom. On the negative, the move has been so fast it does not seem like panic or despair has had time to set into […]
July 30 Biotech Update
Tell me if you heard this before. Good news in the sector that moves individual stocks and yet little effect on the broader sector. We have yet another day with good news (clinical and earnings) and yet the sector is barely green. Granted the broader market is red but this has become a trend. I […]
July 29th Biotech Update
We sort of have another merger Monday but again not what SMID investors were hoping for and another one that might have limited read through to the broader sector. That being said I am a little surprised to see such a negative reaction in the sector, although it could also be a function of more […]
July 26 Biotech Update
The market seems odd to me. Earnings so far have been good and the individual stocks are going higher on the earnings and holding onto the gains. The rest of the sector is struggling. Usually earnings will drive the sector higher or lower and rarely do you see good earnings with these many large caps […]
DMD Data by Giant Pharma Pfizer Kept Sarepta In the Driver Seat with Superior Drug
Pfizer (PFE) presented its first set of data (n=6) from the mini-dystrophin gene therapy for DMD (PF-06939926) at the PPMD conference on June 28th. Much speculations surrounded Pfizer’s decision to report the dystrophin quantification using mass-spec. Sarepta (SRPT) has used WB-western blot since 2015 during the Eteplirsen FDA approval process. Sarepta has also used it in […]
June 28th Biotech Update
A good finish to the week so far in the sector. I will try and keep this quick and to the point as it is a little delayed because of waiting on the PFE data. The wait appears to have been worth it. 1. The PFE data looking inferior on both efficacy and safety. The […]
June 18th Biotech Update
We got a very nice follow through during the day yesterday for the sector. That is exactly what you wanted to see and ideally it continues for the next couple days. We certainly do not need it to be as strong as it was yesterday but we need to break the strong day followed immediately […]
June 17 Biotech Update
It is a good start to the week with merger Monday coming back the sector albeit with names we were not expecting. The XBI has been in a nice tight range and while we are still in that range this morning, I would look for a breakout about $84. I am not exactly calling for […]
May 14 Biotech Update
I am not sure who had a more difficult day yesterday. You all for having to watch another market meltdown over China fears (and others) or me who had to help chaperone a middle school trip to New Orleans. In any case, we have all survived and the market seems to be bouncing this morning. […]
May 9 Biotech Update
Macro seems to once again dominate the trading with both Iran and China increasing the risk and both North Korea and Venezuela just below the surface. The odds remain that we muddle through these crises but one cannot ignore the risks that these present especially because the Iran and China situations could potentially be very […]
May 6th Biotech Update
Not the best start to the week for the market with the surprise tariff news hitting the market. I would not be stunned for the effect to be muted given how frequently Chine trade news changes. For all we know progress will be made this afternoon and all will be good again. As such, my […]
May 3 Biotech Update
The sector really is trading without a clear trend. Nothing that has happened this week has created a new trend but the range is narrowing, so I expect next week to provide more clarity as to the next move in the sector. A break below the lows this week likely triggers another leg lower otherwise […]
May 1 Biotech Update
The sector continues to lag. What I see as a little odd is that pharma appears to be outperforming biotech. If Medicare for All was going to collapse the US drug market, why would pharma be immune and be doing well? It is an odd disconnect and speaks to something else going on in the […]
April 30 Biotech Update
The sector remains in a rut. The market is doing well with the bio-pharma the clear laggard. While the mania over the medicare for all worry seems to have abated, the sector clearly did not bounce back. It stopped the free fall but we are still well below the pre-mania levels. So what can we […]
April 25th Biotech Update
Yesterday really ended up offering no real direction. We could not quite rally but we also did not quite collapse. Everything that I talked about yesterday about the trading of the sector also applies today given the lack of clarity. I do think it is telling that these large cap earnings are basically being greeted […]
February 7 Biotech Update
We start off a little weak this morning, which is not completely unexpected given that we are at the top end of the recent range. Obviously it would be nice to see a breakout above the range to start another leg higher but range bound trading after the recent run is not bad at this […]
January 29 Biotech Update
An interesting start to large cap earnings. The sector was weak yesterday and this could be the long awaited pullback (or another head fake). Ideally, the pullback bottoms out in the $73-$75 range on the XBI to form a higher low. While a retest of the recent low around $64 is not impossible it would […]
January 11 Biotech Update
Everyone continues to expect a pullback and yesterday looked like it would be the day that starts the correction but we ended up green again. This has been on the of the strongest JPM weeks I remember (at least from a price action perspective). Yesterday is another brick in the wall of the idea that […]
November 26 Biotech Update
After a nice long holiday break, I figured there might be some more news to start the week but apparently not. The sector is off to a good start but it seems macro driven in that it is simply following the broader markets higher. As long as the broader market remains positive, I suspect the […]
