August 22, 2025 4:42pm

As Powell ‘dovish” speech sparks an index rally with the wording of “the balance of risks appear to be shifting” which also applies to “our” cell and gene therapy universe

News: Moderna (MRNA +$0.90 to $27.12) Health Canada has authorized its updated COVID-19 mRNA vaccine, Spikevax®, targeting the SARS-CoV-2 LP.8.1 variant, for individuals aged 6 months and older. MRNA is on track to deliver the updated vaccine in time for the 2025-2026 vaccination season.

My insights are conveyed with a simplicity of language to highlight what is informative.

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

 

Friday’s RegMed Investors’ (RMi) pre-open: … Clarity on the interest rate outlook … https://www.regmedinvestors.com/articles/14074

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

 

Friday: The Dow closed UP +846.24 points or +1.89%, the S&P closed UP +96.75 points or +1.52% while the Nasdaq closed UP +396.223 points or +1.88%

  • Theme of the session, possibility of interest rate cuts ahead
  • Week to date, the Dow has risen +0.3, the S&P 500 is down -0.9% and Nasdaq is down -2%

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

  • Fed Chair Powell gave an indication of possible interest rate cuts ahead as he noted a high level of uncertainty that is making the job difficult for monetary policymakers.

Friday’s advance/decline line opened positive with 26 incliners, 8 decliners and 1 flat ending with a positive close of 30 incliners, 4 decliners and 1 flat

Metrics:  Thursday, the IBB was up +1.08%, the XBI was up +1% while the VIX was down -2.38 points or -14.34% at 14.22

 

Q3 – August – 7 negative and 8 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

 

Friday Closing UP (10 of 30) 

  • IQV Holdings (IQV +$5.74 after Thursday’s -$6.64 and Wednesday’s -$0.15),
  • Vericel (VCEL +$1.59),
  • Supernus Therapeutics (SUPN +$1.56 after Thursday’s +$0.64, Wednesday’s +$0.68, Tuesday’s -$0.99 and Monday’s +$0.30),
  • CRISPR Therapeutics (CRSP +$1.50 after Thursday’s -$0.25, Wednesday’s -$1.09, Tuesday’s -$3.43 and Monday’s -$2.14),
  • Moderna (MRNA +$0.90 after Thursday’s -$0.67 and Wednesday’s -$1.02),
  • Regenxbio (RGNX +$0.90),
  • BioLife Solutions (BLFS +$0.83),
  • Mesoblast (MESO +$0.64 after Thursday’s +$0.16, Wednesday’s -$0.13, Tuesday’s -$0.79 and Monday’s -$0.32),
  • Beam Therapeutics (BEAM +$0.63 after Thursday’s -$0.05, Wednesday’s -$0.29, Tuesday’s -$0.75 and Monday’s -$0.72),
  • Precigen (PGEN +$0.54 and Thursday’s +$0.43),

Flat (1)

  • Harvard Apparatus RT (OTCQB: HRGN)

Friday’s Closing DOWN (4 of 4): 

  • Alnylam Pharmaceuticals (ALNY -$13.17 after Thursday’s +$9.24),
  • Ionis Pharmaceuticals (IONS -$0.55 after Thursday’s +$0.42 after Wednesday’s +$0.33 after Tuesday’s -$0.95 after Monday’s -$0.35),
  • Agenus (AGEN -$0.05),
  • Brainstorm Cell Therapeutics (BCLI -$0.01 after Thursday’s -$0.015)

 

The BOTTOM LINE:  Indexes moved and the cell and gene therapy sector grooved …

  • Markets thundered Friday after Fed Chair Powell's speech at the Jackson Hole Economic Symposium raised hopes for a September rate cut.
  • Powell’s remarks shook up rate-cut bets, which had been waning after a weak monthly jobs report.

Traders on Friday are now pricing in about 91.5% odds of a September cut compared to 70% earlier in the morning and 85% a week ago.

  • The Nasdaq jumped 1.9%, helped by a nice recovery as small caps on the Russell 2000 outperformed the major indexes, soaring 3.8%.
  • Winners trounced losers on the Nasdaq by more than 5-to-1.
  • Stocks in the building sector, including homebuilders, rallied sharply, 
  • The SPDR S&P Homebuilders ETF (XHB) jumped 5% and cleared a cup-with-handle base with a 116.24 entry. <IBD>
  • The 10-year (^TNX) and 30-year (^TYX) Treasury yields fell after Powell's remarks slumped 7 basis points to around 4.26%.

 

For “our’ pocketbooks:

Pharmaceutical stocks breathed a sigh of relief Friday after the Trump administration agreed to 15% tariffs on drug imports from Europe.

  • The tariffs would be a major blow for biotech and pharmaceutical companies.
  • Company execs have pushed back on tariff threats, saying the levies would deter investment in health tech and undercut innovation, interrupt the supply chain and put patients at risk.

Trump has argued tariffs on pharmaceuticals would force companies to move their manufacturing operations to the U.S. Companies like Eli Lilly, Johnson & Johnson and AbbVie have already announced big investments to expand their stateside footprints.

  • Meanwhile, drug manufacturers are already bracing for drug-pricing reform under the Most Favored Nation executive order, which they say will put a damper on research and development efforts.
  • They are also facing a slew of policy changes under Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy
  • The much lighter tariff backs-off from President Trump's promise in July to hit pharmaceuticals with tariffs up to 200% after a "year, year and a half."
  • Separately, it's unclear if Eli Lilly will be exempt, as Trump indicated at a press conference earlier this year.
  • Further, the administration is still running a separate Section 232 investigation. This looks into whether importing drugs from abroad could threaten national security.
  • Shares of the SPDR S&P Pharmaceuticals ETF (XPH) and the SPDR S&P Biotech ETF (XBI) rose around 1% apiece. < Allison Gatlin, IBD>

 

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!”
  • Yet, I was again on target … this a.m.

Earnings today: None

  • As earnings slowly come to the last few releases, collaborator revenues and runways has instilled share pricing with forward stability
  • Q2 results so far:  4 net incomes and 25 net losses of 29 releases to date

 

August: understand the “flow” …

  • 8/22 – Friday closed positive with 30 positive, 4 negative and 1 flat
  • 8/21 - Thursday closed positive with 22 positive, 12 negative and 1 flat
  • 8/20 - Wednesday closed negative with 14 positive, 19 negative and 2 flats
  • 8/19 - Tuesday closed negative with 5 positive, 28 negative and 2 flats
  • 8/18 -Monday closed neutral with 18 positive, 17 negative and 0 flat
  • 8/15 – Friday - closed positive with 25 positive, 9 negative and 1 flat
  • 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:   

  • Friday: IQVIA Holdings (IQV), Vericel (VCEL) and Supernus Therapeutics (SUPN)
  • Thursday: Alnylam Pharmaceuticals (ALNY), Lenz Pharmaceuticals (LENZ) and Supernus Therapeutics (SUPN)
  • Wednesday: Alnylam Pharmaceuticals (ALNY), Supernus Therapeutics (SUPN) and Ionis Pharmaceuticals (IONS)
  • Tuesday: Alnylam Pharmaceuticals (ALNY), Precigen (PGEN) and Cellectis SA (CLLS)
  • Monday: Alnylam Pharmaceuticals (ALNY), IQVIA Holdings (IQV) and Lenz Pharmaceuticals (LENZ)
  • Friday: Alnylam Pharmaceuticals (ALNY), IQVIA Holdings (IQV) and Sarepta Therapeutics (SRPT)

The worst three (3) in the session: 

  • Friday: Alnylam Pharmaceuticals (ALNY), Ionis Pharmaceuticals IONS) and Agenus (AGEN)
  • Thursday: IQVIA Holdings (IQV), Moderna (MRNA) and BioNTech (BNTX)
  • Wednesday: CRISPR Therapeutics (CRSP), Moderna (MRNA) and IQVIA Holdings (IQV)
  • Tuesday: CRISPR Therapeutics (CRSP), Lenz Pharmaceuticals (LENZ) and BioNTech (BNTX)
  • Monday: CRISPR Therapeutics (CRSP), BioNTech (BNTX) and Sarepta Therapeutics (SRPT)
  • Friday: Lenz Pharmaceuticals (LENZ), BioLife Solutions (BLFS) and Generation Bio (GBIO)

 

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.