December 11, 2017 5:20pm

After a raft of announcements from companies presenting the American Society of Hematology annual meeting …

 

… BLUE (+$30.65) soars along with and STML (+$0.38) as ONCE (-$25.66), JUNO (-$8.41), BLCM (-$0.37), VSTM (-$0.73) and QURE (-$0.46) got hammered while FATE (-$0.03) limped until the session closed to pop +$0.30 or +7.25%

 

With the IBB +0.15%, XLV +0.42% were up and the XBI was down -1.04%

 

Pre-open indications: 2 hits and 4 miss

 

Financing: bluebird bio (BLUE) Proposes offering after closing up +$30.65 or +17.91% to $201.80 having reached a high of $222.03 but, is down -$4.79 or -2.38% after offering announcement

 

Out and about:  the data presented raised more questions than answers (read more)

 

How right does one have to be? You could and should be reading this review of the day’s share pricing activity?

Is the truth so hard to fathom – that’s why my readership has grown exponentially!


 

Monday’s results have implications to Tuesday’s sector activity as a daily report may say little or a lot and it serves as insurance that all indications are being examined and evaluated!

 

Henry’omics:

From the pre-open’s newsletter, “… three initials set the tone of the week – ASH … American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting in Atlanta, Georgia will give the sector a kick … One of the BIG reasons, “Unheard of' responses to bluebird (BLUE) CAR-T therapy seen in myeloma study!”

Investors also kept a close eye on any developments coming out of ASH - the American Society of Hematology annual meeting … and I think the initial buying and selling  is NOT done.

But, the offerings roll-on … BLUE (see above)

 

 

The advance/decline line scenario of 40 SCGT & RT covered companies:   

·         The open was negative with an A/DL of 15/24 and 1 flat ;

·         The mid-day was negative with an A/DL of 12/26 and 2 flats;

·         The close was negative with an A/DL of 12/27 and 1 flat;

 

Pre-open indications: 2 hits and 4 miss

  • Bellicum Pharmaceuticals (BLCM) closed down -$0.37 – miss;
  • bluebird bio (BLUE) closed up +$30.65 – hit;
  • Fate Therapeutics (FATE) closed down -$0.03 – miss;
  • Juno Therapeutics (JUNO) closed down -$8.41 – miss;
  • Regenxbio (RGNX) closed down -$2.55 – hit;
  • Verastem (VSTM) closed down -$0.73 – miss;

 

Out and about:

bluebird bio (BLUE) led gainers with a 21% rise in volume that was almost four times the daily average, after a series of bullish notes following its presentation of data on a cancer treatment called chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapy, or CAR-T, which uses a patient’s immune T-cells and re-engineers them to better fight the disease.

·         After saying, a P1 trial of their bb2121 anti-B-cell maturation antigen (BCMA) CAR T cell therapy in patients with multiple myeloma found that 94% achieved an objective response, 89% achieved a very good partial response, 56% achieved a complete response and 9 out of 10 who were evaluable for minimal residual disease, or MRD, were MRD-negative, after a median follow-up of 40 weeks after treatment. Patients with MRD are those that have fewer than 5% of cancer cells in the bone marrow at the time of CAR therapy.

BLUE and partner Celgene (CELG) said a P I trial of their bb2121 anti-B-cell maturation antigen (BCMA) CAR T cell therapy in patients with multiple myeloma found that 94% achieved an objective response, 89% achieved a very good partial response, 56% achieved a complete response and 9 out of 10 who were evaluable for minimal residual disease, or MRD, were MRD-negative, after a median follow-up of 40 weeks after treatment. Patients with MRD are those that have fewer than 5% of cancer cells in the bone marrow at the time of CAR therapy.

It was a different story for Spark Therapeutics (ONCE) which tumbled more than 40% in volume that was more than 17 times the daily average, after the company reported data from trials of a hemophilia treatment that analysts said look less competitive than a rival product from BioMarin Pharmaceutical (BMRN) which was up 

·         ONCE presented early data from a trial of its SPK-8011 in hemophilia A involving five patients, but the results disappointed.

Juno Therapeutics Inc. JUNO, was down, after an update of results from an early-stage trial of a treatment for aggressive lymphoma showed three-month complete remission rates were slightly lower than earlier data.

UniQure N.V. (QURE) shares rose, then edged lower, after the company reported positive results in an early-stage trial of a treatment for hemophilia B. QURE said eighteen-month follow-up data from a P1/2 trial of AMT-060 in the second-dose cohort found “substantial improvement” in disease state in all five patients, and that all those who previous required frequent infusions were able to stop them.

 

Later news:

Fate Therapeutics (FATE) announced today that IND-enabling production of FT500 has commenced at University of Minnesota, Molecular and Cellular Therapeutics, a state-of-the-art, FDA-registered Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) facility. Jeffrey S. Miller, M.D., Professor of Medicine, Deputy Director of the Masonic Cancer Center, University of Minnesota presented an overview today at the 59th American Society of Hematology Annual Meeting and Exposition of the clinical translation of FT500, a first-of-kind natural killer (NK) cell cancer immunotherapy generated from a self-renewing clonal master pluripotent cell line (MPCL). The clonal MPCL was created from a single induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) using the Company’s proprietary iPSC product platform. FATE expects to file an Investigation New Drug (IND) application in the first quarter of 2018 for the clinical testing of multiple dosing cycles of FT500 in combination with FDA-approved checkpoint inhibitor therapies for advanced solid tumors in the outpatient setting.

 

 

MY working trend lines or indications:

The greatest volume to the downside:  ONCE, VSTM, JUNO, VTGN and IMUC

Upside volume was weighted to:  BLUE, NWBO, RENE.L, STML and VCEL

Biggest $ downside: ONCE (-$25.566), JUNO (-$8.41), RGNX (-$2.25), SGMO (-$1.05) and VSTM (-$0.73)

Largest $ upside:  BLUE (+$30.65), STML (+$0.38), AXGN (+0.25), CLLS (+$0.22) and BLFS (+$0.14)

Flat:  ONVO

 

 

Daily analytics:

U.S. stocks finished higher Monday, as Wall Street shrugged off news of a terrorism incident in the heart of New York City earlier in the session, which resulted in no fatalities. Investors mostly looked ahead to the Federal Reserve’s two-day monetary-policy meeting, which is slated to conclude Wednesday.

·         The Dow gained 56.87 points, or 0.2%, to 24,386.03.

·         The S&P 500 rose 8.49 points, or 0.3%, to 2,659.99.

·         The NASDAQ rose 35 points, or 0.5%, to 6,875.08.

 

The CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) widely considered the best gauge of fear in the market; Monday traded at 9.34, down -2.51% …

  • Friday traded at 9.58, down -5.71% after Thursday traded at 10.22, down -7.26% after Wednesday traded at 11.02, down -2.74%, Tuesday traded at 11.33, down -3% and last Monday traded at 11.68, up +2.19% …

 

Welcome to another day of the sector’s roller coaster …

… The iShares Russell 2000 (IWM) indicated:

·         Monday was down -0.05%

·         Friday +0.10%

·         Thursday +0.69%

·         Wednesday -0.48%

·         Tuesday -1%

·         Last Monday -0.39%

… The iShares NASDAQ Biotechnology (IBB) indicated:

·         Monday was up +0.15%

·         Friday +1.94%

·         Thursday +1.53%

·         Wednesday -0.73%

·         Tuesday -0.67%

·         Last Monday -1.58%

 

 

The count - decliners versus gainers:

……. look at the differences in the spreads as decliners jump and %

·         Monday’s decliners ranged from -0.56% <MESO -$0.03> to -34.97% <ONCE -$25.66> in 27 equities;

·         Friday’s decliners ranged from -0.48% <FATE -$0.02> to -11.33% <VTGN -$0.23> in 19 equities;

·         Wednesday’s decliners ranged from -0.57% <BLFS -$0.03> to -34.95% <CUR -$1.08> in 29 equities;

·         Tuesday’s decliners ranged from -0.51% <HSGX -$0.01> to -19.23% <FCSC -$0.25> in 21 equities;

·         Last Monday’s decliners ranged from -0.34% <KOOL -$0.01> to -8.67% <NWBO -$0.0247> in 32 equities;

Versus

 

… Look at the percentage’s (%) and spreads …

·         Monday’s gainers ranged from +0.88% <CLLS +$0.22> to +17.91% <BLUE +$30.65> in 12 equities;

·         Friday’s gainers ranged from +0.69% <CLLS +$0.17> to +9.07% <VSTM +$0.36> in 19 equities;

·         Thursday’s gainers ranged from +0.54% <ATHX +$0.01> to +13.47% <QURE +$2.02> in 24 equities;

·         Wednesday’s gainers ranged from +0.65% <AGTC +0.03> to +93.55% <VTGN +$0.87> in 7 equities;

·         Tuesday’s gainers ranged from +0.13% <QURE +$0.02> to +175.89% <CUR +$1.97> in 18 equities;

·         Last Monday’s gainers ranged from +0.35% <MDXG +$0.04> to +7.78% <VCEL +$0.35> in 7 equities;

 

 

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.