Biotechnology Sector Continues Amazing Bull Run Up 40% YTD
The Rayno Life Science Portfolio had nice gains today with 1% + moves from Biogen-Idec (BIIB) and Gilead Sciences (GILD) and with our bellwether ETF (IBB) eking out a 0.5% gain at its 52 week high. Since the bull market began in February 2009 several stocks on our focus list have had huge gains: Alexion 6.7X, Biogen-Idec 3.13X, Regeneron 9X and ViroPharma 2.5X.We have recently provided a list of drivers for the biotechnology sector but added that a bubble is not yet evident even though CNBC-TV is talking it up more lately.
Today two stocks offer a reminder of volatility and speculation in the life science sector:
- Sarepta Therapeutics (SRPT) is up 185% to $42.39 on news of its experimental drug Eteplirsen for treating muscular dystrophy. The Company (formerly known as AVI BioPharma) will push for early FDA approval without Phase 3 data even though the clinical study had only 12 patients. The market cap of SRPT now exceeds $900M with 2012 sales estimates of $44M and cash of $24.5M.
- On Tuesday shares of Arqule Inc. (ARQL) plunged 56% on news that its lung tumor drug failed to meet its goals for survival rates.
| 2012 | Price | Original | P | Price | %Ret | Price | Price | % Ret | ||
| Summary | Jy’10 | Recomm | Dec’10 | 2010 | Apr’11 | 10/3/12 | YTD | |||
| Alexion | ALXN | 50.45 | 2/2/09 | 35 | 80.6 | 130 | 100.8 | 117 | 63.7 | split |
| Albany Mol | AMRI | 2/10/11 | 4.68 | added | 4.32 | 3.5 | 20 | |||
| Astex | ASTX | trade | 12/27/11 | 1.63 | 3 | 58 | ||||
| Amgen | AMGN | 51.7 | 2/2/09 | 55 | 54.9 | 0 | 54 | 86.6 | 16 | |
| Biogen | BIIB | 49.42 | 2/2/09 | 48.5 | 67.1 | 37 | 73.25 | 152 | 38 | |
| Cephalon | CEPH | 55.95 | 2/2/09 | 76.5 | 61.7 | -19 | 76.92 | 80.18 | 30 | acquired |
| Cubist | CBST | 20.7 | 2/2/09 | 21.5 | 21.4 | -3 | 28.35 | 48.6 | 22.7 | |
| Exelixis | EXEL | trade | 9/2/10 | 3.3 | 8.21 | 148 | 11.12 | 4.77 | 1 | |
| First Trust | FBT | 30.4 | 4/15/10 | 37.5 | 39.1 | 3 | 41.3 | 47.6 | 45.6 | |
| Gilead | GILD | 34.9 | 2/2/09 | 51 | 36.2 | -29 | 42.81 | 70 | 71.5 | |
| iShares ETF | IBB | 76.6 | 2/2/09 | 70.5 | 93.4 | 32 | 101.1 | 145.9 | 40 | |
| Micromet | MITI | 6.28 | 2/2/09 | 4 | 8.12 | 103 | 5.46 | 10.91 | 272 | acquired |
| ImmunoGen | IMGN | New | 12/22/11 | 12.4 | 15.2 | 31 | ||||
| Optimer | OPTR | 2/18/11 | 11.8 | added | 13.8 | 13 | 6.6 | |||
| Regeneron | REGN | 21.6 | 2/2/09 | 17.5 | 32.8 | 82 | 45.43 | 157 | 183 | |
| Seattle Gen. | SGEN | 11.85 | 2/2/09 | 9.5 | 15 | 57 | 15.72 | 26.9 | 60.9 | |
| ViroPharma | VPHM | 10.88 | 2/2/09 | 12 | 17.3 | 44 | 20.05 | 30.2 | 0 | |
| Paired Trade | closed | JY 5 | CLOSED | |||||||
| Pharmacycl | PCYC | long | 6/8/12 | 38.2 | 58.45 | 51 | ||||
| Medivation | MDVN | short | 6/8/12 | 86.8 | 95.43 | |||||
| XBI | 95 | 40.6 | ||||||||