October 9, 2025 4:43pm

Cell and gene therapy sector share pricing with the A/D line (advance/decline) getting clipped

Down, with still a positive close following a breather when the dip buying strategy wains

After shutdown is dragged into its 9th day with investors assessing current optimism and sentiment

We are getting closer to Q3 LPS (loss-per-share) earnings releases waiting for a share pricing debacle and uplift to the risk curve

Never leave an investor uninformed!  

After a relentless surge from the April meltdowns that showed signs that the stock market is overheated, a call for breather rang

 

Indexes pulled back from fresh all-time intraday highs on Thursday, with both indexes taking a breather from their gains in the previous session as the U.S. government shutdown continues on.

 

Thursday: The Dow closed DOWN -243.36 points or -0.52%, the S&P closed DOWN -18.61 points or -0.28% while the Nasdaq closed DOWN -18.752 points or -0.08%

  • Theme of the session: pulled back from fresh all-time intraday highs

Thursday’s (my) 40-company covered sector’s advance/decline line opened positive with 22 incliners, 17 decliners and 1 flat ending with a positive close of 21 incliners, 19 decliners and 0 flat

Metrics:  Thursday, the RUT was down -15.27 points or -0.61%, the IBB was up +0.06 points or +0.04%, the XLV was down -0.28 points or -0.19%, the XBI was up +1.10 points or +1.04% while the VIX was up +0.200. points or +1.23% at 16.50

 

Q4 – 5 positive and 2 negative closes

Q3 – September - 1 holiday, 9 negative and 12 positive closes; August - 12 negative and 9 positive closes; July - 1 market holiday, 13 positive and 9 negative closes

 

Thursday Closing UP (10 of 21) 

  • Alnylam Pharmaceuticals (ALNY +$6.27 after Wednesday’s -$8.90, Tuesday’s +$7.58 and Monday’s -$4.35),
  • uniQure NV (QURE +$3,68 after Wednesday’s +$2.05, Tuesday’s +$5.01 and Monday’s -$2.01),
  • IQV Holdings (IQV +$2.41 after Wednesday’s -$0.26, Tuesday’s -$4.16 after Monday’s -$1.59),
  • Supernus Therapeutics (SUPN +$1.51 after Wednesday’s -$0.07 andTuesday’s -$0.24),
  • Intellia Therapeutics (NTLA +$0.99 after Wednesday’s +$4.03),
  • Beam Therapeutics (BEAM +$0.87 after Wednesday’s +$1.87,Tuesday’s -$0.76 and Monday’s +$0.14),
  • Wave Life Sciences (WVE +$0.84),
  • Ultragenyx Pharmaceuticals (RARE +$0.80 after Wednesday’s +$1.12, Tuesday’s -$0.45 and Monday’s -$1.02),
  • Encarta Therapeutics (TRDA +$0.63),
  • Adverum Biotechnologies (ADVM +$0.44 after Wednesday’s -$0.06 and Tuesday’s -$0.36),

Flat (0)

Thursday’s Closing DOWN (10 of 19): 

  • Vertex (VRTX -$6.29 after Wednesday’s +$10.87, Tuesday’s +$7.38 and Monday’s -$0.40),
  • Lenz Therapeutics (LENZ -$2,35 after Wednesday’s +$1.66, Tuesday’s -$0.83 and Monday’s -$2.63),
  • CRISPR Therapeutics (CRSP -$1.86 after Wednesday’s +$6.16, Tuesday’s +$0.43 and Monday’s +$2.45),
  • BioNTech (BNTX -$1.80),
  • Vericel (VCEL -$1.36),
  • Arrowhead Pharma (ARWR -$0.88),
  • Moderna (MRNA -$0.74),
  • Sarepta Therapeutics (SRPT -$0.25),
  • Prime Medicine (PRME -$0.22),
  • Mesoblast (MESO -$0.22 after Wednesday’s +$1.66, Tuesday’s +$0.77 and Monday’s -$1.09),

 

The Bottom Line: More of the … WHYs …

I can’t seem to let go of this quote, “It’s always darkest before the pitch dark”

The government shutdown stretches into its 9th day … as US stocks retreated today ...

The crystals and mood rings are muted as shutdown puts off scheduled data releases, including the jobless claims update that had been due today; putting the focus decisively on coming Q3 earnings, watched for insight into the economy's health.

  • Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the US ended the fiscal year of 2025 with a lower deficit-to-GDP ratio than the year before and sounded an optimistic note for 2026, noting that the US is on its way to lowering deficits without causing a recession. <Yahoo Finance>
  • Also, “US mortgage rates fell slightly this week; the average 30-year mortgage rate was 6.3% this week through Wednesday, according to Freddie Mac data, from 6.34% a week earlier. Average 15-year mortgage rates were 5.53%, from 5.55%.

After multiple uplifting sessions, the cell and gene therapy sector remains profitable after being timed out

  • I remain a skeptic, as electronic trading remains the impetus to, I believe the cell and gene therapy sector gets artificially … high and low” … as proven in past sessions by “uncle algo and his electronic trading dwarfs”!
  • Keep your wallet closed!

When dramatic upsides occur, investors are often unsure exactly what to do, but they frequently act as if they do confidently know the best path forward – don’t be LULLED into an uncertainty position!

Maintaining the watch for breakage-down in the risk curve!

 

October: understand the “flow” …

  • 10/9 - Thursday closed positive with 21 positive, 19 negative and 0 flat
  • 10/8 – Wednesday closed positive with 29 positive, 10 negative and 1 flat
  • 10/7 – Tuesday closed negative with 15 positive, 25 negative and 0 flat
  • 10/6 – Monday closed negative with 17 positive, 22 negative and 1 flat

Last week:

  • 10/3 – Friday closed positive with 27 positive, 10 negative and 3 flats
  • 10/2 - Thursday closed positive with 26 positive, 13 negative and 1 flat
  • 10/1 – Wednesday closed positive with 26 positive, 14 negative and 0 flat
  • 9/30 -- Tuesday closed positive with 24 positive, 15 negative and 1 flat
  • 9/29 – Monday closed positive with 33 positive, 5 negative and 2 flats

 

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

  • I am more frequently right than consequentially wrong; if I wanted to be liked, I wouldn’t have been an analyst/journalist.
  • “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!”

 

Why do I keep repeating, framed in a different listing, so investors can make the connection

The top three (3) performing in the session:   

  • Thursday: Alnylam Pharmaceuticals (ALNY), uniQure NV (QURE) and IQV Holdings (IQV),
  • Wednesday: Vertex (VRTX), CRISPR Therapeutics (CRSP) and Intellia Therapeutics (NTLA)
  • Tuesday: Vertex (VRTX), Alnylam Pharmaceuticals (ALNY) and uniQure NV (QURE)
  • Monday: CRISPR Therapeutics (CRSP), Arrowhead Pharma (ARWR) and Vericel (VCEL)

The worst three (3) in the session:

  • Thursday: Vertex (VRTX), Lenz Therapeutics (LENZ) and CRISPR Therapeutics (CRSP)
  • Wednesday: Alnylam Pharmaceuticals (ALNY), IQV Holdings (IQV) and MiMedx (MDXG)
  • Tuesday: IQV Holdings (IQV), Beam Therapeutics (BEAM) and Arrowhead Pharma (ARWR)
  • Monday: Alnylam Pharmaceuticals (ALNY), Lenz Therapeutics (LENZ) and uniQure NV (QURE)

 

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.