August 28, 2017 5:11pm

 

… As KITE expects approval for potential treatment of refractory aggressive non-Hodgkin lymphoma around November in the US and next year in EU

 

Some cell therapy stocks are up on KITE +$38.95 (+28%) news - BLUE +$8.45 (+8.64%), BLCM +$1.14 (13.77%), CLLS +$4.29 (+17.03%), JUNO +$5.75 (+18.71%) and SGMO +$0.80 (+7.48%) while the NASDAQ is up +17.37 or +0.28%

 

… Keep an eye on the velocity of these stocks, a trail-off can be expected

 

While the not- unusual suspects or losers continue to decline, BSTG, CAPR, FCSC, IMUC, NWBO and PSTI

 

Pre-open indications: 4 hits and 2 miss (1 by pennies):

Out and about: $11.9 B, a BIG trigger pull for GILD …

 

It’s called premium content for a reason … I define insight  from a real-time perspective discussing equity share pricing, attractiveness and support levels as stock pricing changes by the hour … if not the minute!

Others don’t even come close as we published KITE news at 7:10 am!

 

I answer one question, in which company should investors commit and keep their money.

 

 

Monday’s results have implications to Tuesday’s sector activity as a daily report may say little or a lot and it serves as insurance that all indications are being examined and evaluated!

 

 

Henry’omics:

Entering Monday's session, the Dow, S&P and NASDAQ were all down for the month as investors grapple with lingering worries about the Trump administration's ability to move forward with tax reform.

  • The Dow fell 5 points. The NASDAQ composite outperformed, rising 0.3%. The S&P 500 oscillated between gains and losses, with health care leading three sectors higher

The broader stock market, traded mixed as investors get set to wrap up August.

  • Investors have been pushing Gilead management for a couple years to diversify by making a big deal, because its once-surging revenue from hepatitis C drugs such as Sovaldi and Harvoni has been declining amid increased competition and pressure from insurers for lower prices.

It got those drugs when it acquired Pharmasset, for $11.1 billion in early 2012; GILD is paying a premium on top of Kite's stock price, which had run up so far this year.

  • Remember, GILD has made this kind of a bet before!

Expect approval for KITE's potential treatment of refractory aggressive non-Hodgkin lymphoma around November in the United States and next year in Europe.

Others developing CAR-T therapies include Novartis Corp. Earlier this summer, a Food and Drug Administration advisory panel voted 10-0 in favor of the leukemia treatment developed by the University of Pennsylvania and Novartis. That pushed the treatment for a common childhood blood cancer closer to becoming the first gene therapy available in the United States, with approval possible as early as September. <HWM/RMi and Tom Murphy/AP>

From the pre-open’s investor’s newsletter, at 7:10 am “…Gilead Sciences (GILD) buys Kite Pharma in all cash deal. GILD will pay $180 per share, a 29% premium. The real issue – has the future of all these cell therapy arrived?  We have all been waiting for a sign; has it come or is this just a glimpse?”

 

 

Pre-open indications: 4 hits and 2 miss (1 by pennies):

  • Applied Genetic Technologies (AGTC) closed down -$0.03 – miss;
  • Asterias Biotherapeutics (NYSEMKT: AST) closed flat $0.00 – hit;
  • AxoGen (AXGN) clo0sed down -$0.10 – hit;
  • Bellicum Pharmaceuticals (BLCM) closed up +$1.14 – hit;
  • Cellectis SA (CLLS) closed up +$4.29 – miss;
  • Kite Pharma (KITE) closed up +$38.95 – hit;

 

 

Out and about:

Gilead is set to pay roughly $11.9 billion in an all-cash deal to acquire Kite. GILD’s $180 a share purchase marks a 29% premium from KITE’s Friday close which will reportedly close in the fourth quarter.

  • KITE had a 53.44 M float and 57.18 m shares outstanding. 66.4 % of the shares were held by institutions and 30.86% were held by insiders.

KITE also had $781.11 M in cash and NO debt.

  • According to some analysts, KITE’s therapy is called axicabtagene ciloleucel, or Axi-cel; whose sales could reach $1.7 billion by 2022, which could rank the drug within the top 10 in the industry in terms of sales potential.

Like I said above, more than five years ago, Gilead made a $10.8 billion deal for Pharmasset and a then-experimental hepatitis C treatment, a purchase criticized by some at the time as too expensive. Once on the market, the medicine became the fastest-selling drug in the world.

  • GILD is now hoping Kite’s cancer technologies have similar potential.

Shares of fellow CAR-T developers Bellicum Pharmaceuticals (BLCM) and Juno Therapeutics (JUNO), and ZIOPHARM Oncology (ZIOP) are all trading in positive territory on the back of KITE’s news. 

BLCM and ZIOP -- the late-comers to the adoptive cell therapy party -- have both had trouble garnering much interest from investors: Both have been trading at market caps that are small fractions of their respective CAR-T pipelines'

 

 

The advance/decline line scenario of 43 SCGT & RT covered companies:   

·         The first hour was positive with an A/DL of 25/11 and 7 flats;

·         The mid-day was positive with an A/DL of 28/11 and 4 flat;

·         The close was positive  with an A/DL of 21/14 and 8 flat;

 

 

Regenerative Medicine Earnings Scorecard - Q2/2017 - to date – so far

http://www.regmedinvestors.com/articles/9841

 

 

Daily analytics:

U.S. stocks closed Monday trade little changed, with gains in health-care as investors watched the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey that has left parts of the Houston-area underwater.

·         The Dow closed flat at 21,808.

·         The S&P 500 index ended the session in the green but with a slight gain of 1.18 point, or less than 0.1%, at 2,444.

·         The NASDAQ posted the best performance among the three main U.S. equity benchmarks, up 0.3% at 6,283.

 

The CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) widely considered the best gauge of fear in the market; Monday traded at 11.34, up +0.09% …

  • Friday traded at 11.24, down -8.09% after Thursday traded 12.23, down -0.16% … after Wednesday traded at 11.91, up +4.93% … after Tuesday traded at 11.40, down -13.57% while last  Monday traded at 13.08, down -7.57%

 

 

Welcome to another day of the sector’s roller coaster …

… The iShares Russell 2000 (IWM) indicated:

·         Monday was up +0.44%

·         Friday +0.29%

·         Thursday +0.32%

·         Wednesday -0.18%

·         Tuesday+1.08%

·         Last Monday -0.04%

… The iShares NASDAQ Biotechnology (IBB) indicated:

·         Monday was up +1.88%

·         Friday -0.58%

·         Thursday +1.20%

·         Wednesday -0.44%

·         Tuesday +1.92%

·         Last Monday +0.20%

 

 

The count - decliners versus gainers:

……. look at the differences in the spreads as decliners jump and %

·         Monday’s decliners ranged from -0.06% <MDXG -$0.01> to -5% <CUR -$0.06> in 14  equities;

·         Friday’s decliners ranged from -0.24% <BCLI -$0.01> to -9.89% <OPXA +$0.09> in 21  equities;

·         Thursday’s decliners ranged from -1.35% <RENE.L -$0.025> to -9.78% <IMUC -$0.04> in 11 equities;

·         Wednesday’s decliners ranged from -0.31% <CYTX -$0.001> to -5.13% <RENE.L -$0.10> in 18 equities;

·         Tuesday’s decliners ranged from -0.57% <HSGX -$0.01> to -5.27% <BSTG -$0.0148> in 11 equities;

·         Last Monday’s decliners ranged from -0.30% <IMUC -$0.001> to -6.75% <NWBO -$0.0135> in 20 equities;

 

Versus

… Look at the percentage’s (%) and spreads …

·         Monday’s gainers ranged from +0.48% <RGNX +$0.10> to +28% <KITE +$38.95> in 21 equities;

·         Friday’s gainers ranged from +0.47% <SGMO +$0.05> to +8.70% <CYTX +$0.03> in 17 equities;

·         Thursday’s gainers ranged from +0.60% <HSGX +$0.01> to +9.09% <ADVM +$0.23> in 26 equities;

·         Wednesdays gainers ranged from +0.08% <CLLS +$0.02> to +25.24% <BSTG +$0.067> in 21 equities;

·         Tuesday’s gainers ranged from +0.33% <OSIR +$0.02> to +20.25% <OPXA +$0.16> in 28 equities;

·         Last Monday’s gainers ranged from +0.22% <BLUE +$0.20> to +5.74% <OPXA +$0.04> in 14 equities;

 

 

Some of MY working trend lines or indications:

… The greatest volume to the downside:  MDXG, NWBO, BSTG, IMUC and CUR

… Upside volume was weighted to:  KITE, JUNO, BLCM, SGMO and BLUE

… Biggest $ downside:  AXGN, CUR, AGTC, FCSC and HSGX

… Largest $ upside:  KITE, BLUE, JUNO, CLLS, BLCM and ONCE

… Flat:  AST, ISCO, MESO, RENE.L, BCLI, OSIR, CYTX and PSTI

 

 

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.