February 7, 2023 4:55pm
After the sector got whip-lashed again – thank you, Jerome; however, investors are fed-up waiting for CEOs and management teams to step-up to the plate and personally invest validating the management skills or lack there-of (AVRO is a prime example)!
News: Precigen (PGEN -$0.06) P1 trial of its investigational candidate PRGN-2012, a gene-based immunotherapy designed to inhibit or prevent the growth of the dreaded papillomas in the hopes of reducing the number of surgeries. (Continued below)
The Biostage (OTCQB: BSTG) Chronicles: the pump/promote is back as stock dives -$0.48 with 572 shares traded) followed by a 2,307 share buy while stock continues its decline (-$0.47). Question: Does a Ponzi scheme come to mind?
Pre-open Indications: 2 Hits and 2 Miss
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The Dow closed UP +265.67points (+0.78%), the S&P closed UP +52.92 points (+1.29%) while the Nasdaq closed UP +226.34 points (+1.90%)
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 progressed upward Tuesday following Fed Chair Powell’s comments that inflation was on the decline.
The major indexes ricocheted during and shortly after “Jerome’s” results. At one point, the Dow gained more than 275 points, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq each traded up more than 1%,
Another quote to be read, “The market’s doing the best that it can to try to discount two very different scenarios, both of which are really driven by what the Fed is going to do. The scenario is we get a recession or do we not, and it’s highly dependent, in the market’s eyes, on how quickly the Fed nears the end of its rate hike campaign.” < Dave Grecsek, managing director of investment strategy and research at Aspiriant>
Economic Data Docket: speech from Powell at the Economic Club of Washington
- “The disinflationary process, the process of getting inflation down, has begun and it’s begun in the goods sector,” Powell said. “But it has a long way to go. These are the very early stages of disinflation.”
- On-target quote, “Just as the Fed is data dependent, investors are Powell-comment-dependent,” said Sam Stovall, chief investment strategist at CFRA Research. “With his speech to the Economic Club of Washington today, I think people are going to pay attention to see if he says anything new.” <CNBC>
Pre-open Indications: 2 Hit < CRISPR Therapeutics (CRSP +$0.16), Verve Therapeutics (VERV +$0.11)> and 2 Miss < Alnylam Pharmaceuticals (ALNY -$3.19), Beam Therapeutics (BEAM -$0.26)>
News (continued): Precigen (PGEN) Clinical data presented showed a strong response in RRP patients with 50% of patients in complete response, requiring no post-treatment surgeries, following PRGN-2012 treatment at Dose Level 2.
Tuesday’s …RegMed Investors’ (RMi) pre-open: sentiment is dominated by electronic trading. That leaves investors holding a handle that doesn’t turn as we wait for Jerome, again” https://www.regmedinvestors.com/articles/12821
RegMed/Stem/Cell and Gene Therapy’s 35 covered equities’ Advance/Decline (A/D) lines: what happened – differences
- Tuesday’s advance/decline line opened negative at 12 up/ 23 down and 1 flat, stayed negative with 14 up/ 21 down and 0 flat at the mid-day, ending with a positive close of 23/12 and 0 flat
- Monday’s advance/decline line opened neutral at 17 up/ 17 down and 1 flat, flipped negative with 1 up/ 25 down and 1 flat at the mid-day, ending with a negative close of 11/23 and 1 flat
Key Metrics:
The iShares NASDAQ Biotechnology (IBB) and the SPDR S&P ETF (XBI) indicators:
- Tuesday, the IBB was up +0.60% and the XBI was up +0.69%
The CBOE Volatility Index (VVIX: INDEX) tracked:
- Tuesday was down -0.76 points or -3.91% at 18.67
Closing Down (12 of 12):
- Alnylam Pharmaceuticals (ALNY -$3.30 after Monday’s -$9.23),
- BioLife solutions (BLFS -$1.52),
- Biostage (OTCQB: BSTG -$0.47),
- Beam Therapeutics (BEAM -$0.38 after Friday’s -$0.34),
- Cellectis SA (CLLS -$0.130,
- Sangamo Therapeutics (SGMO -$0.125),
- Caribou Biosciences (CRBU -$0.09 after Monday’s -$0.16),
- Bellicum Pharmaceuticals (BLCM -$0.07 after Monday’s +$0.12),
- Homology Medicine (FIXX -$0.06),
- Precigen (PGEN -$0.055),
- Avrobio (AVRO -$0.050,
- Adverum Biotechnologies (ADVM -$0.0027),
Closing Up (10 of 23):
- Ultragenyx (RARE +$1.87 after Monday’s +$0.21),
- Intellia Therapeutics (NTLA +$1.06 after Monday’s +$0.62),
- Sage Therapeutics (SAGE +$0.92 after Monday’s +$1.56),
- Regenxbio (RGNX +$0.74 after Monday’s -$0.49),
- Vericel (VCEL +$0.70 after Monday’s -$0.46),
- Chinook Therapeutics (KDNY +$0.56 after Monday’s +$0.05),
- uniQure NV (QURE +$0.48),
- Ionis Pharmaceuticals (IONS +$0.44 after Monday’s -$0.42),
- Prime Medicine (PRME +$0.36 after Monday’s -$0.82),
- CRISPR Therapeutics (CRSP +$0.31 after Monday’s +$0.24),
Q1/23 – February
- Tuesday closed positive with 23 incliner, 12 decliners and 0 flat
- Monday closed negative with 11 incliner, 23 decliners and 1 flat
The BOTTOM LINE: I try to keep it simple … and short!
A decline HAD (yesterday) been fore-shadowed followed by an upswing as Jerome spoke shifting the market narrative re inflation.
Past upsides were profited upon and will be continued focus on SELLING-into-Strength before earnings hit.
Upcoming Q4 earnings reporting will present challenges to share pricing.
· Sage Therapeutics (SAGE) 2/16 - Thursday
· Alnylam Pharmaceuticals (ALNY) 2/23 - Thursday
If you thought of buying on weakness, you might be jumping onto a sinking ship.
Attention remains… laser-focused on week’s busy economic calendar; there’s still a bit of hesitation in front of inflation data to really see the reality of the markets and cell and gene therapy sector ability or capacity to move upward.
There are VERY clear losers today … Alnylam Pharmaceuticals (ALNY), BioLife Solutions (BLFS) and Biostage (OTCQB: BSTG)
With winners … Ultragenyx (RARE), Intellia therapeutics (NTLA) and Sage Therapeutics (SAGE)
Avrobio (AVRO) closed down -$0.06 to $0.86 with 201,388 shares traded <3-month average = 352,521 shares>
The many sessions since acknowledging the de-listing “issue” say a lot of addressing the NASDAQ issue <is their investment bank buying the shares?> as AVRO filed a S-3 for $250 million common stock, preferred stock, debt securities, warrants and unit offering within draft prospectus by Cowen as stock sinks while de-listing continues?
STILL, just another “screw-job” of investors! < Read, SELL and Weep - see hyperlink below>
Avrobio (AVRO) files S-3 (Registration Statement) for offering with draft prospectus by Cowen … https://investors.avrobio.com/node/9116/html
· Also, RA Capital has sold its position in the company – a sign of dissatisfaction!
· While, President, CEO and director Geoff Mackay carries home a HUGE salary of $754.39 K per year?
Biostage (OTCQB: BSTG)
Tuesday closed flat on Monday and Friday with 90 shares traded after Thursday’s flat with 0 shares traded, Wednesday’s +$0.28 with 467 shares traded, Tuesday’s -$0.73 with 3,710 shares traded after Monday closed down -$0.03 with772 shares traded and last Friday’s flat with 1,695 shares traded. <3-month average volume = 1,285 shares>
· BSTG has “pulled” its proposed offering … “Withdrawal of Registration Statement on Form S-1 (File No. 333-265741)”
· This IND – now almost 4 years old without a clinical trial that will last 3-5 years for ADULT patients before BSTG can EVEN consider a pediatric venue!
Question; is OTCQB: BSTG a Ponzi scheme (the pump/promote buy and sell agenda) as shares are bought to replace those sold??
My question that resounds, that should be asked is how many companies are at the end of sentiments … leash?
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.
