June 4, 2018 7:42am

The American Society of Clinical Oncologists (ASCO) Chicago meeting hasn't frustrated so far …

Sunday, some heard about “Compelling Combinations: Raising the Bar with Immunotherapy”

 

Pre-open indications: 3 BUYs and 2 SELL

 

If you were a subscriber, and had read Friday’s closing “brief” you’d understand how today - Monday’s pre-open indications shed light on share pricing!

 

Get set for a higher open

Dow futures are UP +0.56%% (+137 points) and NASDAQ futures are UP +0.37% (+26 points)

 

U.S. stock index futures pointed to a higher open Monday.

European markets higher

Asian stocks closed higher on the first trading day of the week.

 

Data docket: April factory orders numbers due at 10 a.m. ET.

 

Today’s indications:

  • The iShares Nasdaq Biotechnology (IBB) is indicating an UPSIDE of +0.39% in Monday’s pre-market;
  • The SPDR S&P Biotech ETF (XBI) is NOT indicating in Monday’s pre-market;
  • The Health Care Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLV) is NOT indicating in Monday’s pre-open;
  • The iShares Russell 2000 (IWM) is indicating an UPSIDE of +0.51% in Monday’s pre-open

 

Henry’omics:

From Friday’s night’s newsletter: “a good day for the upside, volume is still low; so I say consider where your portfolio wants to be through the summer months as volatility will always be a given.”

I also stated, “I suggest reducing positions, producing cash for the “swoon” days – I am NOT saying SELL all but reduce around the edges of many positions, add to some but remain QUICK to DEPART on sins of divergence and they have BEEN flashing!”

 

Monday’s moves:  Despite ASCO’s upbeat mood and BIO’s Seaport’s freneticism, it just might be time for some profit-taking!

 

June begins with one (1) session with a positive close;

  • In Friday’s (beginning of June) session, the iShares NASDAQ Biotechnology (IBB) was up +1.28% after Thursday’s -0.06%, Wednesday’s +1.34%, Tuesday’% and last Monday was a holiday - it’s tilting to an upside – today +0.39%;
  • Friday’s decliners ranged from -0.09% <IONS -$0.04 > to -26.40% <ONVO -$0.52 > in 15 equities;
  • Friday’s gainers ranged from +0.25% <CLBS +$0.01> to +9.09% <BSTG +$0.25 > in 29 equities;

 

Last five (5) sessions:

  • Friday (June 1st) closed was POSITIVE with 15 decliners, 29 advancers and 1 flat;
  • Thursday (May 31) closed was POSITIVE with 12 decliners, 31 advancers and 2 flats;
  • Wednesday closed was POSITIVE with 12 decliners, 31 advancers and 2 flats;
  • Tuesday closed NEGATIVE with 27 decliners, 15 advancers and 3 flat;
  • Last Monday was a holiday

 

Companies in my headlights:

Bellicum Pharmaceuticals (BLCM) closed up +$0.45 to $8.53 after Thursday’s $8.08, Wednesday’s $7.93 and Tuesday’s $7.95. BPX-501 is in P3 clinical studies in both the U.S. and Europe targeting treatment of blood disorders and farther along in Europe. BLCM expects to report top-line data from its BP-004 study of BPX-501 in treating malignant and nonmalignant pediatric patients undergoing haploidentical hematopoietic stem cell transplant (haplo-HSCT) by the end of 2018. If those results are positive, Bellicum plans to file for European approval next year. There's certainly a solid market opportunity for BPX-501 if it's successful in the registrational studies considering the FDA placed a clinical hold on studies involving BPX-501. This clinical hold resulted from three cases of encephalopathy in patients taking the drug (MotleyFool). The good news, though, is that this clinical hold was lifted in April after BLCM agreed to implement an amended study protocol that monitors patients for potential adverse neurological events. ASCO aside, BLCM will present at the Jefferies 2018 Global Healthcare conference on Wednesday –BUY;

bluebird bio (BLUE) closed up +$3.35 to $182.40 and is DOWN -$10.70 or -5.87% in the pre-market. BLUE had some not-too- great-but-not-good-enough results in multiple myelomatrial. At ASCO, BLUE watchers were hoping that the latest data would show progression-free survival (PFS) as high as 15 months. They didn't get what they wanted. Instead, PFS came in at 11.8 months, or just under the anticipated 12-month to 15-month range. Motley Fool had stated, “The knee-jerk reaction to the data was a post-market 5% sell-off in shares, however, investors might not want to be too pessimistic. The response rates and PFS data trounce anything seen in this patient population before and “there's nothing in the data about bb2121's chances at eventual FDA approval.” – Err on the side of caution to come back after a downdraft –SELL;

Neuralstem (CUR) closed up +$0.02 to $1.69 with low 75.2 K shares traded <3 month average = 156 K shares> and is UP +$0.09 or +5.33% in the pre-market on news of results from a study published in the journal Cell Stem Cell that support the potential of transplanted NSI-566, a human spinal cord-derived neural stem cell line (HSSC) to benefit patients with chronic spinal cord injury (SCI). The manuscript entitled “A First-in-Human, P1 Study of Neural Stem Cell Transplantation for Chronic Spinal Cord Injury”. The study’s primary objective was to evaluate the safety of NSI-566 transplantation in subjects with stable thoracic spinal cord injury, but additional endpoints were also measured including changes in neurologic deficits, neurophysiology, and neuropathic pain. Subjects were evaluated for at least 18 months and up to 27 months after implantation of neural stem cells and showed no evidence of serious adverse events, suggesting the procedure is well-tolerated.  Analysis of motor and sensory function and electrophysiology results showed improvement in three of the four patients after NSI-566 transplantation – BUY;

Pluristem (PSTI) closed up +$0.02 to $1.35 and is UP in the pre-market (+$0.04 or +2.96% on news that the top-line results of the multi-national P2 clinical trial of PLX-PAD cells in the treatment of Intermittent Claudication (IC) will be released on June 12, 2018. This P2 trial is evaluating the safety and efficacy of PLX-PAD cells as compared to placebo in 172 patients with IC, Rutherford category 2-3. Enrollment took place at 30 clinical sites in the U.S., Germany, South Korea and Israel. – 0n new – BUY;

Vericel (VCEL) closed up +$0.95 to $14.40 after Thursday’s $13.45, Wednesday’s $13.95 and Tuesday’s $14.00. The offering of 5 M shares priced at $13.00 with a 750 K overallotment (dramatically increased) increased the “take” to $65 M. How many brokers will be selling post the deal, there’s a lot of money on the table for a “flip” - Maintaining SELL;

 

 

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.