June 28, 2023 4:40pm

The cell and gene therapy sector is still creeping, looking for direction

Pre-open Indications: 2 Hits and 0 Miss

Subscription is coming, it is not conscription but, an offer to join our collective of like-minded investors!  Join me … in the NO spin zone.

Never leave an investor uninformed! Framing the main takeaway … pricing, volume and machine trading creates volatility and liquidity!

If I have learned one thing as a former research analyst in a venture and public fund, operating executive, adjunct (MBA) business school professor now a journalist; it is that your life and your portfolio are largely tied to your knowledge of price movements and questioning pricing targets.

 

The Dow closed DOWN -74.08 points (-0.22%), the S&P closed DOWN -1.55 points (-0.04%) while the Nasdaq closed UP +36.08 points (+0.27%)

 

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 were mixed as traders digested Fed Chair Powell latest comments on monetary policy i.e., more interest rate hikes.

The Nasdaq bucked the trend, and closed higher for a second day.

This week, month and quarter are coming to an end.

Economic Data Docket: Retail and wholesale inventories rose in May. Auto inventories spiked and may support cooling inflation in the second half of the year and in 2024. Powell, however, indicated back-to-back rate hikes may be needed.

·         Fed Chair Powell said there is more interest rate hikes at future meetings during a monetary policy session in Sintra, Portugal.

 

Wednesday (6/28) … RegMed Investors’ (RMi) pre-open: “there's still risk even after a positive close on Tuesday's that buying opportunities will evaporate. Another weak pre-open indication for today, Tuesday had also very weak aftermarket; has sentiment divorced us without serving the papers?” …  https://www.regmedinvestors.com/articles/13022

 

Pre-open Indications: 2 Hits< Sage Therapeutics (SAGE -$0.21), Vericel (VCEL -$0.65)> and 0 Miss

 

RegMed/Stem/Cell and Gene Therapy’s 35 covered equities’ Advance/Decline (A/D) lines: what happened – differences …

  • Wednesday’s advance/decline line opened negative at 16 up/ 17 down and 2 flats, flipped barely positive with 18 up/ 16 down and 1 flat at the mid-day, ending with a positive close of 21 incliners, 14 decliners and 0 flats

 

Key Metrics:

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

  • Wednesday, the IBB was up +0.57% and the XBI was up +1.28%

The CBOE Volatility Index (VVIX: INDEX) tracked:

  • Wednesday was down -0.26 point or -1.89% at 13.48

 

Closing Down (10 of 14):

  • Vericel (VCEL -$0.65 after Tuesday’s +$0.86 and Monday’s +$0.02),
  • Ultragenyx (RARE -$0.54 after Tuesday’s -$0.07 and Monday’s -$1.58),
  • BioLife Solutions (BLFS -$0.33 after Tuesday’s +$0.21 and Monday’s -$0.31),
  • Sage Therapeutics (SAGE -$0.21 after Tuesday’s -$0.88 and Monday’s -$1.83),
  • Fate Therapeutics (FATE -$0.16),
  • Brainstorm Cell Therapeutics (BCLI -$0.12),
  • uniQure NV (QURE -$0.11 after Tuesday’s -$0.20 and Monday’s +$0.02),
  • AxoGen (AXGN -$0.09 after Tuesday’s +$0.10),
  • Solid Biosciences (SLDB -$0.08),
  • Precigen (PGEN -$0.02),

Closing Up (10 of 21):

  • Alnylam Pharmaceuticals (ALNY +$7.76 after Tuesday’s -$2.55 and Monday’s -$1.34),
  • Blueprint Medicine (BLMC +$2.10 after Tuesday’s +$0.27 and Monday’s -$1.10)
  • Ionis Pharmaceuticals (IONS +$ after Tuesday’s +$0.26 and Monday’s -$0.54),
  • CRISPR Therapeutics (CRSP +$1.49 after Tuesday’s -$0.41 and Monday’s +$0.20),
  • Intellia Therapeutics (NTLA +$1.35 after Tuesday’s -$1.08 and Monday’s +$0.90),
  • Beam Therapeutics (BEAM +$1.06),
  • Regenxbio (RGNX +$ after Tuesday’s +$1.27 and Monday’s -$0.48),
  • Verve Therapeutics (+$0.70 after Tuesday’s +$0.69 and Monday’s -$0.45),
  • Editas Medicine (EDIT +$0.34),
  • Generation BIO (GBIO +$0.29 after Tuesday’s -$0.89),

 

Q2/23 – June

  • Wednesday closed positive with 21 incliners, 14 decliners and 0 flat
  • Tuesday closed positive with 18 incliners, 15 decliners and 2 flats
  • Monday closed negative with 8 incliners, 26 decliners and 1 flat

 

The BOTTOM LINE: I try to keep it simple … and short!

I follow the dictum, quoting Churchill that “short words are best, and the old words when short are best of all.”

After stabs to the heart of share pricing – the execution of electronic and algorithmic trading alleviated losses (Tuesday and somewhat on Wednesday) to turn into … gains as I had predicted on Monday – again I was early … as I also wrote “there's still risk even after a positive close on Tuesday's that buying opportunities will evaporate.”

The coming issue is the end of Q2 next week; yet, Q reporting is weeks if not a month away.

 

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

Reiterating, there was VALUE out there as electronic trading and algorithms stated their claim to the upside on Tuesday, it’s STILL about playing or betting and timing of the sector.

 

Unresolved issues --- political investigation of the White House and the Bidens, future rate increases, escalation of the Ukraine war, a Russia uncertainty after a on mercenary versus Russia fight and the major issue - recession - US and global could freezing investors' mood.

A long holiday is upon us, it will be good to get this market and sector out-of-mind and yet another birthday (7/2)!

 

The top three (3) performing in the session:

·         Wednesday: Alnylam Pharmaceuticals (ALNY), Blueprint Medicine (BPMC) and Ionis Pharmaceuticals (IONS) 

·         Tuesday: Regenxbio (RGNX), Vericel (VCEL) – again, and Verve Therapeutics (VERV)

·         Monday: Intellia Therapeutics (NTLA), CRISPR Therapeutics (CRSP) and Beam Therapeutics (BEAM)

While The worst three (3) in the session:

·         Wednesday: Vericel (VCEL), Ultragenyx (RARE) and BioLife Solutions (BLFS)

·         Tuesday: Alnylam Pharmaceuticals (ALNY), Intellia Therapeutics (NTLA) and Generation Bio (GBIO)

·         Monday: Sage Therapeutics (SAGE), Ultragenyx (RARE) and Alnylam Pharmaceuticals (ALNY) - again

 

WHY (?) do I keep posting, so investors can get a daily update of the sector's share pricing and some individual companies TRUTHS while electronic trading chews on our portfolio edges.

I am definitely considered a contrarian depending on the session – one has to be a watcher of the ups and downs as well as measurer of sentiment. I am also a NO trust investor but, a validate and verify journalist/analyst.

 

The NO spin zone! U.S. public shareholders deserve accountability …

 

Biostage (OTCQB: BSTG) … so many issues from the past as many of those “miscreant management” members are still employed!

Wednesday closed up +$0.02 with 425 shares traded after Tuesday closed down-$0.05 with 624 shares traded, Monday closed flat with 0 shares traded, Friday closed down -$0.19 with 2,673 shares traded, Thursday closed down -$0.40 with 5,400 and last Wednesday closed down -$0.12 with 2,676 shares traded <3-month average = 862 shares>

·         Question: Review the number of shares traded on a weekly and monthly basis … is OTCQB: BSTG a Ponzi scheme (with their pump/promote buy and sell agenda) as shares are bought to replace those sold?

·         Accumulated deficit:  $85,901 M – still NO product in sight – a 4-to-5-year clinical trial BEFORE they can evolve to a pediatric protocol!

·         OTCQB: BSTG is holding their annual meeting on 7/19, to vote the Beijing, China designated directors …??? Certainly NOT a US company ANYMORE!

 

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.