February 25, 2019 6:52am

Roche Holdings NV (RHHBY) is buying Spark Therapeutics (ONCE) with a +122% premium to ONCE’s Friday’s close of +$0.95 to $51.56.

The sector truly needs it, with a reported price that could be nearly $2.36 billion over Spark's market cap of $1.94 billion as of Friday's close;

ANY such ‘event’ will drive value to the upside with a sector redeeming occurrence

Pre-open indications:  2 BUYs wit many 'follow-ons"

 

I answer one question, in which company should investors put, keep and commit their money!

RMi outlines preludes and aftermaths defining the daily dosage of facts and objectivity!

 

Dow futures are UP +0.62% (+162 points), S&P futures are UP +0.48% (+14 points) and NASDAQ futures are UP +0.66% (+47 points)

  • On Friday, the Dow rose 181.18 points, or 0.7%, to 26,031.81, finishing above the 26,000 mark for the first time since Nov. 8. The S&P 500 index rose 0.6% to 2,792.67 and the NASDAQ advanced 0.9% to 7,527.54.

 

U.S. stock futures climb as Trump extends trade-deal deadline;

Market focus is largely attuned to the ongoing trade talks between the U.S. and China;

Major Asian stocks markets closed higher on Monday amid trade optimism

 

Data docket: Chicago Fed National Activity Index is due at 8:30 a.m. ET, followed by Wholesale trade figures and Dallas Fed Manufacturing survey at 10 a.m. ET.

 

Monday’s indications in the pre-market:

The iShares Nasdaq Biotechnology (IBB) is NOT indicating

The SPDR S&P Biotech ETF (XBI) is indicating a POSITIVE +2.58% UPSIDE

The Health Care Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLV) is NOT indicating

The iShares Russell 2000 (IWM) is indicating a POSITIVE +0.4% UPSIDE

 

Henry’omics:

Market focus is largely attuned to the ongoing trade talks between the U.S. and China.

Follow-up from the title, Spark Therapeutics (ONCE) was founded about five years ago out of research from the Philadelphia Children's Hospital, ONCE’s main drug is a therapy marketed by Novartis (NVS) in Europe for treatment of an inherited retinal disease, but it is also working on treatments for hemophilia.

  • Roche is buying Spark for its portfolio of gene therapies for inherited diseases, including blindness, lysosomal storage disorders and neurodegenerative diseases, with three programs in clinical trials as well as the competitive forces with Novartis (NVS)

Spark deal would give Roche a proven platform for getting gene therapies to market, but did not come without risks -- including getting beaten to market by rivals with similar treatments in the works.

From Friday’s closing bell post, “a redemption session, flying higher on momentum from three (3) past down sessions and Monday was a market holiday. A one (1) session rise in stock prices does NOT shrink risk perceptions as more LPS (loss-per-share) “earnings” are on their way.”

  • Range of Friday’s close of 33 upside was +0.25% (ADRO) to +22.85% (VYGR) while the 10 downside ranged from -0.16% (KOOL) to -3.12% (BTX) with 2 flat close (AST and RENE.L);
  • 9 out of the 33 upside had higher (than the 3 month average) volume
  • 3 out of the 10 downside experienced greater volume (than the 3 month average)

 

 

Companies in my headlights – It’s your decision; I provide an idea and context: Many and most sector “participants” will feel the pull of the Roche and Spark “event” …

Spark Therapeutics (ONCE) closed up +$0.95 to $51.56 and has a pre-market indication of +62.43 or +121.08% - BUY;

Voyager Therapeutics (VYGR) closed up +$2.44 to $13.12 and is up +$0.51 or +3.89% in the pre-market after AbbVie (ABBV), announced an exclusive, global strategic collaboration and option agreement to develop and commercialize vectorized antibodies directed at pathological species of alpha-synuclein for the potential treatment of Parkinson’s disease and other diseases (synucleinopathies) characterized by the abnormal accumulation of misfolded alpha-synuclein protein.  VYGR is headed to +13.61, so far - BUY;

 

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.