April 29, 2024 4:38pm

As April comes almost to the end, the cell and gene therapy sector plants its legs in a positive session

Question: Is Agenus (AGEN) preparing for a financing and a prospectus filed?

A 360-degree review of the who, why, when and what happened in the sector as the market and economics surround your portfolio’s defense or offence.

Pre-open Indications: 5 Hits and 1 Miss

Never leave an investor uninformed! A trusted source of factual reporting!

The present and future value of RegMed Investors (RMi) NEWS sheds light on the stem, cell and gene therapy sector’s risks to share pricing and the sector’s upside acrobatics and potential downslides.

I write this blog/newsletter about – facts in evidence! 

 

Monday: The Dow closed UP +146.43 points or +0.38%, the S&P closed UP +16.21 points or +0.32% while the Nasdaq closed UP +55.18 points or +0.35%

 

Henry’omics:

We need to more than consider the economic environment - rising rates and inflation to comprehend the micro re “our” universe of cell and gene therapy companies …

indexes crept higher in volatile trading on Monday …

Monday’s action follows a positive, the last week of April, marking a reprieve from the recent market downtrend. Still, the broad S&P 500 and Nasdaq are on track to end April down more than 2%, while the Dow is poised to slide more than 3%. <CNBC>

 

Pre-open indications: 5 Hits < Agenus (AGEN +$1.07), Intellia Therapeutics (NTLA +$1.22), Vericel (VCEL +$0.62), CRISPR Therapeutics (CRSP +$0.92), Prime Medicine (PRME +$0.435)> and 1 Miss < Ionis Pharmaceuticals (IONS +$0.40)

 

Monday’s RegMed Investors’ (RMi) opening bell: “waiting and watching for the exhale of share pricing value. LPS (loss-per-share), cash, revenue and runways get perspective as well as who will be looking for financing.” …  https://www.regmedinvestors.com/articles/13437

 

Advance/Decline (A/D) Line:

  • Monday’s advance/decline line at the open was positive with 27 incliner, 7 decliners and 1 flat; ending with a positive close of 26 incliners, 8 decliners and 1 flat

 

Ebb and flow of MY covered sector cell and gene therapy session daily “endings”:

Q2/24:

  • April, 15 negative and 6 positive closes

Q1/24:

  • March, 1 holiday, 8 positive and 12 negative closes
  • February, 1 holiday, 9 negative and 11 positive closes
  • January: 2 holiday, 12 negative and 8 positive closes

 

Key Metrics:

The iShares NASDAQ Biotechnology (IBB) and the SPDR S&P ETF (XBI) indicators:

  • Monday, the IBB was up +1.49% and the XBI was up +2.53%

The CBOE Volatility Index (VVIX: INDEX) tracked:

  • Monday was down -0.34 point or -2.,26% at 14.69

 

Monday’s Closing Down (8 of 8):

  • Ultragenyx Pharmaceuticals (RARE -$0.22 after Friday’s +$0.39)
  • Solid Biosciences (SLDB -$0.19 after Friday’s +$0.44),
  • Regenxbio (RGNX -$0.14 after Friday’s +$0.13
  • UniQure NV (QUIRE -$0.14),
  • Generation Bio (GBIO -$0.05 after Friday’s -$0.11
  • Precigen (PGEN -$0.01),
  • MiMedx (MDXG -$0.01),
  • Bellicum Pharmaceuticals (BLCM -$0.0054 after Friday’s -$0.0054),

Flat (1):

  • Harvard Apparatus RT (OTCQB: HRGN)

Monday’s Closing Up (10 of 26):

  • Alnylam Pharmaceuticals (ALNY +$4.05 after Friday’s -$0.40),
  • Intellia Therapeutics (NTLA +$1.22 after Friday’s +$0.74),
  • Agenus (AGEN +$1.07 after Friday’s +$3.39),
  • CRISPR Therapeutics (CRSP +$0.92 after Friday’s +$0.18),
  • Mesoblast (MESO +$0.86),
  • Lenz Therapeutics (LENZ +$0.78) <was Graphite Bio (GRPH)>,
  • Beam Therapeutics (BEAM +$0.67 after Friday’s -$0.22),
  • Vericel (VCEL +$0.62 after Friday’s +$0.60),
  • Sage Therapeutics (SAGE +$0.49),
  • Prime Medicine (PRME +$0.435),

 

Q2/24 – April:

  • (4/29) Monday closed positive with 26 incliners, 8 decliners and 1 flat

 

The BOTTOM LINE: I can’t wait for April to be over; although the next few months are sure to be bumpy.

The cell and gene therapy sector bounded Monday after Friday’s rebound

The old saying, "Sell in May and go away" is not just folklore — stock market history supports it.

  • History shows stock market performance tends to sag from May to October compared with the November-April period. Still, investors can expect low single-digit gains over the next six months.
  • But the results have been less dramatic in the last 10 years, with the November-April period gaining 5.5% vs. a 4% increase the other six months. And the gap has widened slightly over the last five years, to 6% vs. 4%. <IBD>

 

An appropriate quote, “We are still in that pullback phase.” But, “I think … it is going to turn out to be just that: a pullback. I don’t think it’s a change of trend.” <Larry Tentarelli, chief technical strategist of the Blue-Chip Daily Trend Report>

 

Q1/24 Reporting Season, it’s all about LPS (loss-per-share), cash positions and runways:

  • MiMedx (MDXG) on 4/30,
  • Alnylam Pharmaceuticals (ALNY), Ultragenyx Pharmaceuticals (RARE), AxoGen (AXGN), Blueprint Medicine (BPMC) on Thursday, 5/2;
  • Ionis Pharmaceuticals (IONS) and Agenus (AGEN) on Tuesday, 5/7
  • Vericel (VCEL) on Wednesday, 5/8

 

Reiterating:  Is Agenus (AGEN preparing for an offering … $300 common stock, preferred stock, warrants and debt securities … Shelf Filing … Post Effective Amendment … reasoning for the Share Reverse?

Agenus (AGEN) shares jumped Monday +$1.07 after Friday’s +$3.39 after Thursday’s +$0.88, Wednesday +$0.96, Tuesday’s +$0.39, Monday’s $5.70 and last Friday’s $5.31 +$0.

•              4/12, a stock reverse of 1/20 split

•              Notice how AGEN is pushing its earnings release much earlier than is has in past!

https://d18rn0p25nwr6d.cloudfront.net/CIK-0001098972/2aeed437-11b5-4133-be70-d8c22ec43843.pdf

  • A sales agreement prospectus supplement that covers the potential offering, issuance and sale from time to time of up to 134,512,851 shares of Agenus’ common stock pursuant to a sales agreement with B. Riley Securities, Inc. (formerly B. Riley FBR, Inc.).

 

The top three (3) performing in the session:  

  • Monday: Alnylam Pharmaceuticals (ALNY), Agenus (AGEN) and Intellia Therapeutics (NTLA)

The worst three (3) in the session:

  • Monday: Ultragenyx Pharmaceuticals (RARE), Solid Biosciences (SLDB) and Regenxbio (RGNX)

 

Welcome to my world of defining the “grey’ in our universe!

  • Right up front, “I also hate to be so negative or contrarian but, this is a NO spin zone and facts are its product; I can always be WRONG but … I am mostly EARLY!”

 

Opinions expressed are those of the author and are subject to change, and not intended to be a forecast of future events, a guarantee of future results, nor investment advice. Whether information or intelligence is good, bad, or somewhere in between; I put into context what is relevant and useful for investors.  All investments are subject to risks. Investors should consider investment objectives.

Henry McCusker, the editor, and publisher of RegMed Investors does not hold or have positions in securities referred to in this publication. Regulation Analyst Certification (Reg AC): The research analyst primarily responsible for the content of this report certifies the following under Reg AC: I hereby certify that all views expressed in this report accurately reflect my personal views about the subject company or companies and its or their securities.

I also certify that no part of my compensation was, is or will be, directly or indirectly, related to the specific recommendations or views expressed in this report.