There is nothing new in the market or the sector, so I suspect we see more of the same. The sector continues to track the broader market but is clearly the weaker of the two. Until we get news we are going to be stuck in this pattern but on the bright side this likely […]
May 31 Biotech Update
So we got a little takeover Tuesday but not the mega deals that would have been transformative. I think we are at the point that we likely needed a deal after the long weekend to keep the momentum going. This is not to say we need deals every week but I suspect it would have […]
May 12 Biotech Update
The sector did not do well yesterday but it is hard to call it underperformance given the broader markets. Clearly there does not seem to be any real interest to buy biotech even if there is no interest to sell it aggressively. Given the year we have had to date, I do not want to […]
January 5 Biotech Update
While the market recovered a little into the end of the day yesterday and had a slight positive bias this morning, it is still not looking too healthy. I am not sure if this is simply people selling or buyers being afraid to step in. In terms of the sector, I still think JPM will […]
March 18 Biotech Update
Some early weakness but I also suspect today is going to be fairly volatile with the Fed weighing in later this afternoon. So I am really not going to read anything into the price action this morning and even less into the price action in the sector after the announcement. Given how close people think […]
Week’s Option Activity (9/16~9/20)
The following stocks had notable activity in their options during the past week: $GERN (9/17): 5,000 OCT 2.00 strike Puts (stock at $2.26) were purchased for 0.14 or $70,000. This appears to be an opening trade where the buyer makes money if the shares trade below $1.86 by expiration. This could also be a long […]
July 17- EOD
Well, we finally had a biotech merger but not any of the ones we expected. Outside of the small cap buyout, there was not a lot new today. 1. SPPI bought TLON this morning. What is really odd was that I almost wrote about SPPI yesterday but decided against it. When I was thinking about […]
May 24 – End Of Day Biotech Wrap-up
Really another slow day entering into the long weekend. From my perspective, there were really only two really interesting moves. 1. AVEO was a bit of a shocker. AVEO disclosed in a filing that Astellas will no longer fund tivozanib in RCC and would not seek approval in the EU. There are still some other […]
ZIOP – Quick update on Ziopharm
Ziopharm is nearing the top-line data from their Phase 3 study of palifosfamide in first-line soft tissue sarcoma. We have written extensively about them[ref] over the past 6 months in anticipation of this read out. After hours yesterday, CEO Jonathan Lewis gave a presentation at the Barclays Healthcare Conference in Miami[webcast here,transcript]. During this presentation […]
ZIOP – Further analysis on PICASSO III study
We previously posted a long look at Ziopharm (NASDAQ: ZIOP) before ESMO 2012. With the pending topline Phase 3 data during the week of March 25th, we wanted to revisit the story before this event. We believe the results from the EORTC 62012 study further validate their belief in the PICASSO 3 study. Upcoming events – […]
ZIOP – Preparing for an Explosive Move
ZIOPHARM Oncology, Inc. (ZIOP)-Nasdaq Since November 11, 2012 ZIOP was trading in a horizontal channel, the upper resistance line at $4.81 and the lower support line at $4.01, till February 12, 2013, the day ZIOP announced that the Phase 3 (PICASSO 3) trial of palifosfamide (ZIO-201) in first-line metastatic soft tissue sarcoma has reached its […]
Wednesday at the JP Morgan Healthcare Conference
With the JP Morgan Healthcare Conference wrapped up, I wanted to highlight some notes from the Wednesday session. I tried to keep them as concise as possible. We will say that we did see a lot of material that will keep up us busy for the year. You can find the webcasts to any of […]
THLD – More uncertainty ahead for Threshold
As we previously suggested, Threshold Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: THLD) had some question marks about their future prospects of TH-302 in two key indications: pancreatic cancer and soft-tissue sarcoma. Recent data readouts have brought these issues into focus again. Although Threshold has a good cash position, we feel their lead (and only) drug, TH-302, will have a […]
ZIOP – Ziopharm is undervalued
We have previously posted a long look at Ziopharm Oncology here. We feel the story is worth reiterating given near-term events and our view that the company is undervalued. Recent volatility due to a bearish, yet misleading article have opened up an opportunity. Upcoming events — Update overall survival data from their Phase 2 study […]
Option traders making moves
Today, we detected some large moves in the option markets for multiple names we follow. As we enter the fourth quarter, we suspect this increase in frequency. ARIAD Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: ARIA) The February $16 puts were very active today, with over 9,000 in volume (vs open interest of only 76 contracts). One trader sold two […]
ZIOP – Analysis of Ziopharma
Biotech investors are currently looking for Ziopharm Oncology (NASDAQ: ZIOP) to announce top-line results of their Phase 3 trial of Palifosfamide. Ziopharm appears close to an inflection point and everyone is awaiting these results. Below we map out the next few months at the company and what to expect. Upcoming events ESMO Presidential Symposium presentation on […]
