April 20, 2016 5:44pm

 

Do you care what happened today, you should … because it has implications to Thursday's sector activity?   

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There is one thing that everyone needs, and that's interpretation and translation of intelligence, not just news or information - we get too much!

  • To that end, I report a matrix of variables designed for investor’s consideration concerning the stem, cell and gene therapy regenerative medicine portfolio to track and monitor its pricing metric;

The takeaway is that investor need to decide what actions to take, or not take, based on their specific situation.

 

 

U.S. stocks closed higher Wednesday but well off session highs. The Dow closed up about 43 points at its highest since July 2015. Earlier, the index added more than 100 points to hit its highest since June 23, 2015.

The NASDAQ closed UP +7.80 or +0.16% to 4,948.13 and the DOW closed UP +42.67 or +0.24% to 18,096.27.

 

 

A day in the life of the stem, cell and gene therapy RegMed (SCGT & RM) sector – the advance/decline line scenario of our 43 covered companies. 

Wednesday, the SCGT&RM sector:

  • Opened positive with an A/DL of 30/10 and 3 flats;
  • The mid-day strayed negative with an A/DL of 17/21 with 5 flats;
  • The closing bell rang neutral with A/DL of 21/21 with 1 flats

 

 

Henry’omics:

Wednesday opened positive and flipped to the negative at the mid-day and closed … negative.

  • Every time I try to argue the current sector/market environment of one being influenced by the other, I am reminded that they alternate with strength and weakness.

The latest evidence is that it’s time for more offense than defense in these short- term swings in the risk-on and off scenarios!

  • I keep writing about the gradual deterioration of “our” universe, which I have observed since the first of the year 2016 - every othe or two to three days!.

The CBOE Volatility Index (VIX), widely considered the best gauge of fear in the market, traded lower near 12.7 after earlier falling to 12.5, its lowest since August 10, 2015.

  • However, the stem, cell and gene therapy and regenerative medicine sector is trapped in a tight zone revolving around volume and lethargy at its highest level ever!

 

 

Review my fear gauge or the CBOE Volatility Index (VIX):

  • Wednesday traded near 12.7;
  • Tuesday traded near 13.4;
  • Monday traded near 13;
  • Friday traded below 14;
  • Thursday below 14;
  • Last, Wednesday traded below 14;

 

 

Out and about:

Biostage (BSTG) had closed at $1.67 on Tuesday…

However I had felt it was oversold in the pre-open post – BSTG closed UP +$0.08 to $1.75 in a day’s trading range of $1.66 to $1.77 on 66.8 k shares trades <3 moth average = 314 K shares>. Right again …

 

bluebird bio Inc. (NASDAQ:BLUE) stock dropped over -7.15% (-$3.41) after announcing interim data from an ongoing Starbeam study, which evaluates the use of Lenti-D product candidate in pediatric patients, who suffer from cerebral adrenoleukodystrophy (CALD).

BLUE stock tumbled based on some safety issues highlighted in the data.

Starbeam study principal investigator David A. Williams commented: “CALD is a rare and deadly disease, and currently the only available treatment option is allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplant, which is often challenging for patients without a matched sibling donor.”

 

AxoGen (AXGN) financial results …

Will report results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2016 on Wednesday, May 4, 2016 at 4:30 PM ET.

 

Juno Therapeutics (JUNO) stock dropped 0.74% (-$0.32) after announcing early clinical data from two oral presentations for two product candidates at the AACR 2016:

"The data from JCAR018 suggest two paths to improve outcomes -- use in patients with CD19 negative disease and a combination of CD19 and CD22 to decrease the risk of resistant cells and increase the percentage of patients that demonstrate a long-term durable remission in B cell malignancies. Additionally, JTCR016 continues to show an encouraging safety profile and signals of clinical activity, including evidence of tumor reduction as well as significant T cell expansion and persistence in a patient with mesothelioma."

JUNO highlighted encouraging pre-clinical data from a mesothelin-directed TCR for the treatment of pancreatic cancer, demonstrating the potential of these therapies in treating solid tumors, and next-generation strategies to make these T cells more potent.

 

 

Who was leading the declines – to of the bottom 5?

  • bluebird bio (BLUE) closed down -$3.41 to $44.31;
  • Regenxbio (RGNX) -$0.40 to $11.39;
  • Juno therapeutics (JUNO) -$0.32 to $42.86;
  • Stemline (STML) -$0.23 to $5.58;
  • Applied Genetic Technology (AGTC) closed down -$0.16 to $16.41

 

 

Who was UP – top 5:

  • Kite Pharma (KITE) closed up +$2.83 to $49.98;
  • Spark Therapeutics (ONCE) +$2.32 to $37.73;
  • Intrexon (XON) +$1.07 to $36.83;
  • Juno (JUNO) -$1.28 to $43.18;
  • Fibrocell (FCSC) closed up +$0.34 to $2.96;

 

 

Most active sector stocks + and -:

  • bluebird bio (BLUE) -7,15%;
  • Neuralstem (CUR)-4.56%;
  • Cesca Therapeutics (KOOL) -4.06%;

Versus …

  • Fibrocell (FCSC) +12.98%;
  • International Stem Cell (ISCO) +8.16%
  • Fate Therapeutics (FATE) +7.21%;

 

 

Who was FLAT?

  • VistaGen (VSTA) at $7.99;

 

 

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.