August 14, 2025 5:03pm

The inflation shock zapped some of the enthusiasm out of a roaring market this week. What’s changed … not the summer doldrums, econs and the LPS (loss-per-share) earnings cycle have led to cell and gene therapy sector rotations in July and August hopefully begetting an upcoming rise?

News: Sarepta Therapeutics (SRPT -$0.10 to $20.30) sold its 9.2 M shares of Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals (ARWR) stake expecting to earn at least $174 M in gross proceeds to stretch Its cash runway; ARWR stock tumbled as SRPT liquified its entire stake.  SRPT also transferred nearly 2.7 M shares back to ARWR to satisfy half of a $100 M milestone payment tied to a pact the duo signed back in November paying the other 1/2 in cash. Beam Therapeutics (BEAM +$0.11 to $17.63) the FDA has granted Regenerative Medicine Advanced Therapy (RMAT) designation to BEAM-101, an investigational genetically modified cell therapy for the treatment of sickle cell disease (SCD).

Earnings: Brainstorm Cell Therapeutics (BCLI) <see The Bottom Line>

  • Q2 results so far:  4 net incomes and 25 net losses of 29 releases to date

The thing about trading stocks is everyone has an opinion. There is a distinct difference between investing with indication intelligence and/or guidance to understand potential risks and reward.

Never leave an investor uninformed!  

“When you’re riding’ ahead of the sector herd, take a look back every now and then to make sure your share pricing “cows” are moving”

I answer or qualify the sector’s equity’s movement; with an emphasis on which company is gaining or losing stride in their portfolio for the short-term

 

Thursday’s RegMed Investors’ (RMi) pre-open: An econ jig or downward shuffle? … https://www.regmedinvestors.com/articles/14063

RegMed Investors (RMi) Financing note: Compass Therapeutics (CMPX) Launches $129 M offering … https://www.regmedinvestors.com/articles/14061

RegMed Investors (RMi) Research Note: Harvard Apparatus GT (OTCQB): Just another wrinkle – Q2/25’s 10-Q – liabilities exceed cash position … https://www.regmedinvestors.com/articles/13812

 

Thursday: The Dow closed DOWN -11.01 points or -0.02%, the S&P closed UP +1.96 points or +0.03% while the Nasdaq closed DOWN -2.47 points or -0.01%

  • Theme of the session, shaking-off a hot inflation report

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

  • The spike +0.09% in the Producer Price Index (PPI) shows inflation is coursing through the economy, even if it hasn’t been felt by consumers yet. While the labor market has split into low firings and tepid hiring: Initial claims for state unemployment benefits dropped 3,000 to a seasonally adjusted 224,000 for the week ended August 9. Continuing claims, which run a week behind, slipped to 1.95 M, down 15 K from the prior week.

Thursday’s advance/decline line opened negative with 8 incliners, 22 decliners and 0 flat ending with a barely positive close of 18 incliners, 17 decliners and 0 flat

Metrics:  Thursday, the IBB was up +0.12%, the XBI was up +0.06% while the VIX was up +0.34 points or +2.35% at 14.83

 

Q3 – August – 6 negative and 4 positive closes

  • July – 1 market holiday, 13 positive and 9 negative closes

Q2/25: June – 1 market holiday, 1 neutral, 9 negative and 11 positive closes, May – 1 market holiday, 10 negative and 11 positive closes and April – 11 positive and 10 negative closes

 

Thursday Closing UP (10 of 18) 

  • Alnylam Pharmaceuticals (ALNY +$10.21 after Wednesday’s +$2.59 after Tuesday’s -$5.07 after Monday’s -$3.93),
  • CRISPR Therapeutics (CRSP +$1.55),
  • Lenz Therapeutics (LENZ +$1.56 after Wednesday’s +$3.03 after Tuesday’s -$2.44 after Monday’s +$4.09),
  • uniQure NV (QURE +$1.18),
  • Mesoblast (MESO +$0.67),
  • Wave Life Sciences (WVE +$0.15),
  • AxoGen (AXGN +$0.14),
  • Regenxbio (RGNX +$0.13)
  • Adverum Biotechnologies (ADVM +$0.11),
  • Beam Therapeutics (BEAM +$0.07)

Flat (0)

Thursday’s Closing DOWN (10 of 17): 

  • Vericel (VCEL -$2.16 after Wednesday’s +$1.39 after Tuesday’s +$1.11 after Monday’s -$0.81),
  • IQVIA Holdings (IQV -$0.83 after Wednesday’s +$4.27 after Tuesday’s +$5.90 after Monday’s +$0.28),
  • Solid Biosciences (SLDB -$0.51),
  • Supernus Pharmaceuticals (SUPN -$0.47 after Wednesday’s +$1.40 after Tuesday’s +$0.67 after Monday’s -$0.66),
  • BioLife Solutions (BLFS -$0.36 after Wednesday’s +$1.62 after Tuesday’s +$1.69),
  • Ionis Pharmaceuticals (IONS -$0.25 after Wednesday’s+$1.69 after Tuesday’s +$0.57 after Monday’s -$0.80),
  • Moderna (MRNA -$0.20),
  • Prime Medicine (PRME -$0.175),
  • Compass Therapeutics (CMPX -$0.15),
  • MiMedx (MDXG -$0.12)

 

The BOTTOM LINE:  The cell and gene therapy sector closed barely positive following a disappointing update on inflation.

The hotter-than-expected inflation report forced traders to second guess the widespread consensus that the Fede will deliver relief next month by cutting interest rates.

While treasury yields rose in the bond market.

As indexes wavered for much of the session, with the Dow closing down slightly, and the benchmark S&P rising just above the flatline following the Nasdaq closing just below its record high.

For the week:

  • The S&P 500 is up 79.09 points, or 1.2%.
  • The Dow is up 735.65 points, or 1.7%.
  • The Nasdaq is up 260.65 points, or 1.2%.
  • The Russell 2000 is up 80.66 points, or 3.6%.

My perspective is ... retail investors should roll-the-dice with econ readings as earnings season kicks-in and momentum wains in the cell and gene therapy sector.

  • NO all ins as historically “our” universe slips and slides as the “season’ resumes; so, hang-in with those with solid partners, lengthened runways and solid cash positions leveraged by solid/stable management teams!

This week, investors will assess a fresh inflation print in the lead-up to the Fed's Jackson Hole symposium.

  • Optimism over a September Fed rate cut has grown since last week's poor labor market data release. Trump's nomination of Miran to serve as a Fed board governor has also fueled speculation that the central bank will be less restrictive in its monetary policy.

Reiterating, the market is … has braced for a historically weak month … August is the worst month for the Dow in data going back to 1988, and the 2nd worst for the S&P 500 and Nasdaq according to the Stock Trader’s Almanac.

Welcome to my world of defining the “grey’ in our universe!

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

 

Earnings today: As earnings slowly come to the last few releases, collaborator revenues and runways has instilled share pricing with forward stability

  • Brainstorm Cell Therapeutics (BCLI) a net loss of -$2.9 M or -$0.34 per share, zero (0) revenue, a cash position of $1.03 M and a runway until Q3/25

 

August begins as July ends: understand the “flow” …

  • 8/14 – Thursday closed barely positive with 18 positive, 17 negative and 0 flat
  • 8/13 – Wednesday closed positive with 32 positive, 2 negative and 1 flat
  • 8/12 - Tuesday closed positive with 28 positive, 6 negative and 1 flat
  • 8/11 – Monday closed negative with 10 positive, 25 negative and 0 flat
  • 8/8 – Friday closed negative with 11 positive, 23 negative and 1 flat
  • 8/7 – Thursday closed negative with 9 positive, 24 negative and 2 flats
  • 8/6 - Wednesday closed negative with 11 positive, 22 negative and 2 flats
  • 8/5 – Tuesday closed negative with 15 positive, 19 negative and 1 flat
  • 8/4 – Monday closed positive with 27 positive, 8 negative and 0 flat
  • 8/1 – Friday closed negative with 9 positive, 20 negative and 6 flats

 

“I 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!”

  • If I have learned one thing as a former research analyst in a venture and public fund, operating executive, x-FBI, x-military officer and an adjunct (MBA) business school professor now a journalist; my life and your portfolio are largely tied to knowledge of price movements and questioning pricing targets and more.
  • I was once told by a “very” prominent figure early in my career, “write it right, keep it tight without hype and never lose the stride to guide the reader” – they were pretty simple instructions to follow!

 

Why do I keep repeating, so investors can make the connection …

The top three (3) performing in the session:   

  • Thursday: Alnylam Pharmaceuticals (ALNY), CRISPR Therapeutics (CRSP) and Lenz Pharmaceuticals (LENZ)
  • Wednesday: CRISPR Therapeutics (CRSP), IQVIA Holdings (IQV) and Alnylam Pharmaceuticals (ALNY),
  • Tuesday: IQVIA Holdings (IQV), BioLife Solutions (BLFS) and BioNTech (BNTX)
  • Monday: Lenz Pharmaceuticals (LENZ), uniQure NV (QURE) and Compass Therapeutics (CMPX)

The worst three (3) in the session: 

  • Thursday: Vericel (VCEL), IQVIA Holdings (IQV) and Solid Biosciences (SLDB)
  • Wednesday: Compass Therapeutics (CMPX) and Agenus (AGEN)
  • Tuesday: Alnylam Pharmaceuticals (ALNY), Lenz Pharmaceuticals (LENZ) and Beam Therapeutics (BEAM)
  • Monday: BioNTech (BNTX), Alnylam Pharmaceuticals (ALNY) and Vericel (VCEL)

 

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 it’s 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.