November 18, 2015 6:07pm

 

What you're seeing here is an oversold reaction and that's a positive but, don’t call a victory as the speculators will “nibble” the edges of appreciation. 

If you are not listening now, you might not hear the music and if you don't hear the music, how can you expect to find a chair when the music stops?

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I say today what others won't, so you can do what others can't - access insight into sector sentiment and share pricing!

 

 

U.S. equities closed higher on Wednesday as investors digested the release of the Federal Reserve's October meeting minutes.  The minutes showed that many members of the Federal Open Market Committee believe a rates hike next month would be appropriate.

The NASDAQ closed UP +89.19 or +1.79% to 5,075.20 and the DOW is also UP +247.66 or +1.42% to 17,737.16.

 

 

Henry’omics:

The stem, cell and gene therapy RegMed sector opened positive and closed in positive territory (of 43 covered companies)!

  • Looking at the past week, financial results aka earnings did not help at all!

Most would agree the fundamental situation has not changed much, with exception of a handful of “so-so” development status reports as contained in announced financial results/earnings reports, which is … not much different than the previous quarter (Q2/15).

  • The iShares Nasdaq Biotechnology ETF (IBB) traded Wednesday up +2% following Tuesday’s advance of +1.3% while Monday was slightly higher;
  • My fear gauge is flopping – The CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) traded Wednesday above 17 after Tuesday’s near 19 following Monday’s below 19.

 

 

A day in the life of the stem, cell and gene therapy RegMed (SCGT & RM) sector:

  • The SCGT & RM equities opened positive with an Advance/Decline line (A/DL) of 21/16 and 6 flats;
  • The mid-day stayed positive A/DL of 29/12 and 2 flats;
  • The closing bell rang positive to end Wednesday’s session with an A/DL of 26/12 and 2 flats.

 

 

Out and about:

StemCells (STEM) 4 of 6 patients with cervical spinal cord injury show improved motor skills after being treated with StemCells' HuCNS-SC in mid-stage study; shares up 19% after hours.

  • Shares closed UP +$0.01 to $0.46 and were UP in the after-market post the call+$0.19 or +41.1% to a wholesome <sarcasm> $0.64 with 746.3 K shares traded <3 month average = 612.8 k shares>

In a webcast this afternoon, STEM presented six-month interim results from the first cohort in its P2 proof-of-concept Pathway Study evaluating its HuCNS-SC platform (purified human neural stem cells) in cervical spinal cord injury, an open-label dose escalation arm used to determine the cell dose for the second cohort of the trial. Final results from this cohort are expected in Q2 2016.

  • Dose of 40M cells was well tolerated and will be the dose for the 2nd cohort. Safety profile is acceptable. Five of six patients in the first cohort showed improved upper extremity muscle strength and four showed improved function in dexterity;
  • The second cohort, expected to be 40 participants with complete loss of motor function below the point of injury, will be a randomized, single-blind study statistically powered to show efficacy;
  • Final results from the study are expected in 2017.

 

 

Wednesday’s trading indications:  5 hit/ 5 miss

  • Applied Genetics Technologies (AGTC) closed UP – hit;
  • bluebird bio (BLUE)closed UP – hit;
  • Capricor (CAPR) closed UP – miss;
  • Harvard Apparatus RT (HART) closed UP – miss;
  • Juno Therapeutics (JUNO) closed UP – miss;
  • Kite Pharma (KITE) closed UP – hit;
  • Northwest Bio (NWBO) closed UP – miss;
  • Osiris (OSIR) closed DOWN – miss;
  • Spark Therapeutics (ONCE) closed UP – hit;
  • Verastem (VSTM) closed UP – hit;

 

 

Riding the indexes and ETFs roller-coaster:

  • The iShares Biotechnology Stocks ETF (IBB) closed Wednesday +9.60 or +2.92% following Tuesday’s advance of +4.25 or +1.31% after Monday’s advance of +1.25 or +0.39%;
  • The NASDAQ Biotechnology index (NBI) closed Wednesday +100.77 or +2.93% following Tuesday’s up of +45.73 or +1.35% after Monday’s+10.84 or +0.32%;
  • The Russell 2000 (IWM) closed Wednesday +1.94 or +1.69% following Tuesday’s decline of -0.44 or -0.38% after Monday’s advance of +0.98 or +0.86%;
  • The SPDR SD&P Biotech ETF (XBI) closed Wednesday +2.03 or +2.96% following Tuesday’s advance of +0.50 or +0.73% after Monday’s decline of -0.12 or -0.18%;

 

 

Dosing the sector – what a day for the 43 Patients:

  • Open: POSITIVE with 16 decliners, 21 advances and 6 flats;             
  • Mid-day (1 pm): POSITIVE with 14 decliners, 25 advancers and 4 flats;
  • Closing bell: POSITIVE with 12 decliner, 29 advancers and 2 flats

 

 

Who was UP – top 5:

  • Kite Pharma (KITE) closed up +$0.55 to $79.89;
  • Bluebird bio (BLUE) +$4.98 to $84.59;
  • Spark Therapeutics (ONCE) +$3.84 to $55.74;
  • Juno Therapeutics (JUNO) closed up +$1.07 to $54.20;
  • Applied Genetic Technologies (AGTC) closed up +40.87 to $16.77

 

 

Who closed down – top 5:

  • Osiris (OSIR) closed down -$0.43 <after Tuesday’s $3.01> to $10.54;
  • Histogenics (HSGX) -$0.25 to $3.25;
  • Mesoblast (MESO) -$0.22 to $6.83;
  • Aduro Biotech (ADRO) -$0.14 to $28.73;
  • AxoGen (AXGN) closed down -$0.10 to $5.37

 

 

Flat:

  • ReNeuron (RENE.L) at $3.12;
  • VistaGen (VSTA) at $6.00;

 

 

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.