April 21, 2016 6:01pm
Do you care what happened today, you should … because it has implications to Friday'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.
The Dow fell more than 100 points in afternoon trade, while In afternoon trade, the Nasdaq held a touch below the flatline but, both closed down.
The NASDAQ closed DOWN -2.24 or -0.05% to 4,945.89 and the DOW closed DOWN – 113.75 or -0.63% to 17,982.52.
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. Thursday, the SCGT&RM sector:
- Opened barely positive with an A/DL of 20/19 and 4 flats;
- The mid-day stayed positive with an A/DL of 24/17 with 2 flats;
- The closing bell rang positive with A/DL of 26/16 with 1 flat
Henry’omics:
The stock market is a huge, psychological voting mechanism, where all the “votes” are cast in the form of stock trades.
- Rather than trying to predict the future of market movements, it is advisable to observe what the market is showing you and then adapt accordingly.
Today's jump sets-up for ... some disappointment ...
- Conditions such as those being observed in the current market landscape are ones that I advise – caution!
Review my fear gauge or the CBOE Volatility Index (VIX):
- Thursday traded near 13.7;
- Wednesday traded near 12.7;
- Tuesday traded near 13.4;
- Monday traded near 13;
- Friday traded below 14;
- Last, Thursday below 14;
Out and about:
Avalanche Biotechnologies (AAVL) closed UP +$0.46 or +8.14% to $6.11, the biggest move since Feb. 10, and more than triple its industry group.
- The shares climbed to $6.03 from $5.65 in the previous session. Trading volume was 30% more than the average for this time of day.
- The stock is 50% below the <Bloomberg> consensus one- year target price.
- It returned a negative 37% so far this year and a loss of 85 percent in the past 52 weeks.
- Short interest was 3.4 times the company's average daily trading and represented 5.5% of the shares available as of the latest quarterly filing.
Biostage (BSTG) closed UP +$0.07 to $1.82
- I have stated the stock was oversold!
Capricor (CAPR) jumped +$0.84 or +25.24% to $4.17 with 116.8 k shares traded <3 month average = 17.4 K shares>.
- Something else UP with a 25.11% increase and roll-up in volume?
Fibrocell (FCSC) closed UP +$0.14 to $3.10, after announcing that the last patient visit for primary endpoint analysis has been completed in its P2 clinical trial of azficel-T for the treatment of vocal cord scarring resulting in chronic or severe dysphonia.
- Fibrocell’s azficel-T has the … “potential” to … “address” the underlying cause of chronic dysphonia by using the patient’s own cells for localized treatment of the scarred vocal cords to improve voice quality.
Intrexon (XON) dropped -$26.42 to $27.10 as shares of XON have plunged 26.42% as the company's Oxitec subsidiary gears up to test its mosquito control system in Florida. Growing concerns about the safety of the technique, as well as a damaging new short-selling report, have sent the stock sliding.
- Oxitec's control system includes the release of a genetically modified strain of mosquito that would breed infertile offspring. The basic idea is that the more this new strain breeds with wild populations, the quicker the species dies off.
- XON has been working on a trial for nearly seven years and hopes to receive FDA approval to test in controlled areas of Florida within the next three months. Over 10,000 people have signed an online petition to the FDA to stop the release.
- Even more importantly, shares plunged today as investors reacted to a scorching report on SeekingAlpha. The site's short-selling research team published the first section of an 8-part mini-series on Intrexon, calling into question the legitimacy of the gene modification technique and asserting that the “hype” surrounding the Zika virus is unwarranted.
Juno Therapeutics (JUNO) closed at $44.05 – UP +$1.19 after clinical responses demonstrated by product candidates was encouraging …
- JUNO announced, in partnership with its collaborators, early clinical data from two oral presentations for two product candidates at the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2016 in New Orleans, Louisiana. JCAR018 is a chimeric antigen receptor T cell product candidate targeting CD22, and had data from a Phase I trial in pediatric and young adult patients with relapsed or refractory B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia.
- JTCR016, a T cell receptor cell product candidate targeting Wilms tumor-1, had data from a Phase I trial in patients with acute myelogenous leukemia at high risk of relapse following an allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplant and patients with either mesothelioma or non-small cell lung cancer. "As we advance our CD19-directed portfolio, we are encouraged by the early signs of clinical activity from product candidates against different targets. 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," said Mark J. Gilbert, M.D., Juno's Chief Medical Officer.
Pluristem (PSTI) closed UP +$0.03 to $1.75 having entered into a “Licensing Agreement” with TES Holdings Co., Ltd., a venture company derived from the University of Tokyo, to acquire rights for Placental Cell Therapy Patent for a variety of Ischemic Conditions including Heart Disease and Stroke
- This license follows Pluristem’s recent announcement that the Japan Patent Office granted PSTI two key patents addressing three-dimensional methods for expanding placental and adipose cells, and specified cell therapies produced from placental tissue using these methods.
- A venture backed company with two patents – who is kidding whom? The BIG question is who is the venture funder???
Who was leading the declines – to of the bottom 5?
- Intrexon (XON) closed down -$9.73 to $27.10;
- Cellectis SA (CLLS) -$0.51 to $28.98;
- International Stem Cell (ISCO) -$0.32 to $3.92;
- Histogenics (HSGX) -$0.15 to $2.38;
- BioLife Solutions (BLFS) closed down -$0.08 to $1.88
Who was UP – top 5:
- bluebird bio (BLUE) closed up +$3.25 to $47.56;
- Spark Therapeutics (ONCE) +$1.93 to $39.66;
- uniQure (QURE) +$1.58 to $14.47;
- Juno therapeutics (JUNO) +$1.47 to $40.33;
- Kite Pharma (KITE) closed up +$1.46 to $50.44;
Most active sector stocks + and -:
- Intrexon (XON) -26.42%;
- International Stem Cell (ISCO) -7.55%
- BioLife Solutions (BLFS)-4.08%;
Versus …
- Capricor (CAPR) +25.11%;
- uniQure (QURE) +12.26%;
- Avalanche (AAVL) +8.14%
Who was FLAT?
- ReNeuron (RENE.L) at $3.125;
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.
