Mad Hedge Biotech and Healthcare Letter
June 9, 2022
Fiat Lux
Featured Trade:
(THE FUTURE OF BIOTECH IS IN GOOD HANDS)
(CRSP), (VRTX), (EDIT)
Posts
No advancement in the biotechnology and healthcare sector is quite as mysterious, promising, and powerful as CRISPR.
It has long captivated the attention and imagination of serious scientists and researchers alongside the media and the public. It’s an understatement to say that it’ll be a significant area of development for decades to come, thanks to its capacity to remodel our genetic code accurately.
Among the frontrunners in the burgeoning CRISPR segment are CRISPR Therapeutics (CRSP) and Editas Medicine (EDIT).
Both biotechs have promising pipelines packed with innovative and potential cures for previously incurable genetic conditions.
The CRISPR programs appear to be the most advanced among their candidates despite still being in the early stages.
Nevertheless, any progress reported could likely push the entire CRISPR group to surge substantially.
Fortunately for this sector, there are at least two major catalysts in 2022.
CRISPR Therapeutics, which leverages the CRISPR technique, aims to submit its blood disorder treatment candidate, CTX001, for regulatory review by the end of 2022.
This program, which is developed in collaboration with Vertex Pharmaceuticals (VRTX), specifically plans to target sickle cell disease and beta-thalassemia.
So far, results have been positive, and the consensus is that it’s only a matter of time before both companies finally launch the much-awaited treatment commercially.
Another catalyst opportunity for CRISPR stocks this year is from Editas Medicine.
While this stock is not as popular as CRISPR Therapeutics, I think it holds the potential to become a massive star in the CRISPR gene-editing sector. What makes this biotech fascinating is the sheer number of candidates in its pipeline and the variety of options and applications they have for the technology.
At this point, Editas is focused on exploring the application of its in-vivo CRISPR genome editing therapy, called EDIT-101, to patients suffering from Leber congenital amaurosis 10 (LCA10).
LCA10 is an inherited and severe eye disorder that primarily affects the cornea and leads to a severe loss of vision or even blindness at an early age. This is caused by the mutation of the CEP290 gene.
This condition is an ideal target for Editas because CEP290 gene mutation can be found among 20% to 30% of LCA10 patients.
More than that, there is no existing approved treatment for it. This means that if Editas successfully completes the clinical trials for EDIT-101, it will possess a monopoly of this market.
Thus far, Editas has been delivering promising results on this treatment, and shareholders can expect definitive results from the study by the second half of 2022. Needless to say, positive data from the trials would tremendously boost Editas shares.
Aside from EDIT-101, Editas is also working on EDIT-301, which could be a competitor of CRISPR Therapeutics and Vertex’s CTX001.
However, the more exciting development for Editas is its advanced cell treatments in the oncology sector.
Recently, Editas announced its new gene-editing technology, called “SLEEK,” which means SeLection by Essential-gene Exon Knock-in.
This is groundbreaking because it improves cell therapies in a couple of factors. For example, it can deliver better knock-in of trans gene cargos. This means that SLEEK is more efficient in terms of artificially introducing a new gene into the genome of a patient.
It remains to be seen how Editas plans to take advantage of SLEEK in its future candidate. One thing’s for sure, though; this biotech has multiple shots on goal, making it hard for Editas to miss.
Taking all these into consideration, it’s safe to say that it’s not yet too late for investors to position themselves for lucrative long-term gains courtesy of these CRISPR stocks.
Despite the sharp decline in the gene-editing biotechnology sector over the past months, practically all the applications of CRISPR technology remain untapped to this day.
The most convincing tailwind for CRISPR-focused stocks is that the market for CRISPR-based treatments is estimated to multiply in value by approximately 13-fold between 2019 and 2030.
For that target to be reached, cutting-edge biotechnology companies should step up and develop the first generation of CRISPR-centered treatments. Considering where things stand right now, it looks like they are on the right track.
Global Market Comments
June 3, 2022
Fiat Lux
Featured Trade:
(JUNE 1 BIWEEKLY STRATEGY WEBINAR Q&A),
(AAPL), (GOOGL), (MSFT), (JPM), (BAC), (C), (UUP), (FXA), (FXC), (EEM),
(VIX), (CRM), (AAPL), (TSLA), (COIN), (EDIT), (CRSP), (LMT), (RTX), (GD)
Below please find subscribers’ Q&A for the June 1 Mad Hedge Fund Trader Global Strategy Webinar broadcast from Silicon Valley.
Q: What are the 3 best stocks to own for the end of the year?
A: Apple (AAPL), Alphabet Inc. (GOOGL), and Microsoft (MSFT). Those you want to buy on meltdown days, kind of like today. Make sure you scale into these—so maybe buy 20% on every down-500-point Dow day. Eventually, you’ll end up with a pretty decent position at a market low in a stock that will double in 3-5 years.
Q: Why these three stocks?
A: Lots of reasons: They’re huge, they’re safe, two out of three pay dividends, Alphabet is about to split, and they have huge moats so nobody can get into their sectors. They have near monopolies in what they do, and they have immense cash on the balance sheet. These are the kind of stocks that portfolio managers dream about. And watch what rallied the hardest in the last dead cat bounce we had—it was these three names. That tells you that they will lead any long-term bull market in the future. These are the stocks that people want to own.
Q: What will bring your predicted second half-bull market in the stock market?
A: Inflation drops from 8% to 4%. That will happen for a couple of reasons. The year-on-year comparisons become highly favorable starting from next month when inflation started to take off a year ago. Inflation numbers are going to be climbing the wall of worry from here on out. That could get us down to 4% by the end of the year. The second reason is the Ukraine War either ends or becomes a stalemate and is no longer a factor in the global markets, and we’ve had time to replace all the Russian oil and Ukrainian wheat.
Q: Are banks positioned to benefit from the coming rally?
A: Absolutely. I think big tech and banks will be the top-performing stock sectors for the next five years because inflation will go away, recession fears will go expire, and credit quality will improve, but interest rates will remain 300 basis points higher than they were during the pandemic. Buy (JPM), (BAC), and (C) on dips.
Q: What will be the worst performing sector?
A: Energy—anything energy-related will get absolutely slaughtered, which is why I don't want to touch it with a ten-foot pole right now. That includes oil companies, exploration companies, E&P companies, and master limited partnerships, as well as coal and other natural gas stocks. So, if you’re long these names don’t forget to sit down when the music stops playing. You could get your head handed to you at the end.
Q: Can we make lower lows?
A: Yes, that’s entirely possible. Market moves are basically random when you get down to these levels— down more than 20%. And on all future downturns, I would be spending your cash going back into the market expecting a second half rally.
Q: What about green energy?
A: Unfortunately, green energy is very tied to old energy because $120 oil makes green companies much more competitive from a cost point of view. So, I’m not going to go piling into green companies right here, especially if I think oil is topping out in the near future. Buying green energy companies here is the same as buying oil at $120 a barrel.
Q: What is the best way to play the declining US dollar?
A: Buy the iShares MSCI Emerging Markets ETF (EEM). Also, the Aussie dollar (FXA) and the Canadian Dollar (FXC), which benefit tremendously from commodity prices, which will rise for another decade in a global economic recovery.
Q: Why will energy be the worst sector?
A: If you end the war in the Ukraine or you replace Russian oil, either by finding new sources of oil, getting other producers to increase production which they can do (including the US), or by accelerating the move to alternatives, then you move oil back to pre-invasion prices which were about $70 a barrel or $50 lower than they are here.
Q: Best way to hedge a falling market?
A: Do what I'm doing: keep a balanced portfolio of longs and shorts, that way you always have something that’s going up. And if you do it through the options, you have time decay working for you on both sides of the equation. If you want to go outright, buy outright puts on individual stocks because they had double the moves of the indexes. And go to my short selling school which you can find by going to my website at https://www.madhedgefundtrader.com. There’s actually 12 different ways to benefit from falling markets.
Q: How deep in the money can we go on our call spreads?
A: Wait for the Volatility Index (VIX) to go over $30, and then go 15-20% in the money. And yes, you only make 10, 15, or 20% on those positions in a month but then you put together ten of them and that adds up to quite a lot of money. You want to find the position that has the greatest probability of happening—i.e. something that’s 20% in the money. Do that when the market has just dropped 20%, which it already has, and then you have a position that has a minuscule chance of losing money.
Q: How much longer do you see this current bear market bounce lasting?
A: Until yesterday.
Q: What's your favorite commodity ETF?
A: My favorite commodity stock is Freeport McMoRan (FCX), the world’s largest copper producer. Rather than pay the extra management fees for an ETF, I prefer just to go straight to the source and buy (FCX).
Q: When do you think the Fed will pivot to dovish or neutral?
A: This summer. It’s just a question of whether it’s the July or the September meeting.
Q: When you say “buy on dips”, what does that mean? 1%, 3%, 5%?
A: Well in this market, a dip would be a retest of the previous lows which is going to be down 10% or 15% on the major positions in your portfolio. If you’re day trading, a dip is only 1%, so it really depends on your timeframe and your risk tolerance. That’s why I always tell people to scale by doing everything in incremental pieces—20%, 25%, and so on. You never know what the market’s actually going to do on a short-term basis. Randomness can’t be predicted.
Q: If you plan to enter a LEAPS on Apple, what strikes would you do?
A: Well, first of all, I want to see if Apple drops all the way to $125, which is a lot of people’s downside target. If it did, then I would do the $125/$135 call spread two years out, and that will probably double. And if it starts a long term up trend, then I’ll keep rolling up the strike prices. If, say, Apple goes to $125, you put your LEAPS on. If the stock rises to 150, then take profits on the $125/$135 and roll into the $150/$160. That’s how you can get like 1,000% returns like we got on Tesla (TESLA) a few years ago. You just keep rolling up your strike prices on every weak day and maintain your leverage.
Q: When do we bet the farms on Editas Medicine Inc. (EDIT) and Crispr (CRSP) Therapeutics?
A: Never. These are small, highly speculative companies which will make money someday, but if the someday is in five years and you’re betting the farm with a LEAPS, you lose the farm. It's going to take a long time for these smaller biotech stocks to come back. If you want to play biotech, go with the big ones like Amgen. It takes a long time to convert cutting-edge technology into profits. The big companies already have a stable of reliable money-making drugs on hand.
Q: Salesforce Inc. (CRM) is up big on earnings—what should I do with the stock?
A: Buy the dips. It’s still way, way below its all-time highs, so use the weekdays to accumulate Salesforce for the long term. It’s one of the best cloud plays out there.
Q: What do you think about NVIDIA Corporation (NVDA)?
A: I absolutely love it. It rallied 20% off the bottom. Use any other additional weak days like today to increase your position. This stock someday is worth $1,000, up from today’s $195.
Q: Do you like SPACS?
A: No, I hate them and think they’re a rip-off. And a lot of them have become totally illiquid and untradable, so you have no choice but for them to shut down and return their money if they have any left. I’ve hated SPACS from day one and people are now getting their comeuppance on these.
Q: What do you think about the weakness in Coinbase Global Inc. (COIN) down here?
A: It’s just going down with all the other high-risk, speculative, meme stock type plays, which include all of the crypto plays like Bitcoin. I would avoid all of those. You want to buy quality at the discount now, and you want to buy the Cadillacs at Volkswagen prices and leave the speculative plays for the next generation, Gen Z, who are already highly interested in stocks.
Q: What is your favorite non-US country to invest in?
A: Australia, because you get a double play there on the currency, which should go up 30% from here, and they will benefit from a global commodity boom which continues for another ten years. They pretty much sell a lot of the major commodities like iron ore, wheat, sheep, and so on. It’s also a really nice country to visit. The only negative with Australia are the sharks.
Q: Biotech takeover targets?
A: Well (EDIT) and (CRSP) would be two of them. Things in the sector are so cheap that they are all potential takeover targets. M&A (Mergers and Acquisitions) will be a major play in the biotech sector for the foreseeable future.
Q: Should we sell short the defense industry here?
A: No, even if the war ends tomorrow, you might get some profit-taking, but the fact is that long term military spending is increasing permanently. The peace dividend now has to be paid back, and that is great for all the defense companies, so I would not be shorting them. If anything, I’d be buying on dips. Buy Lockheed Martin (LMT), Raytheon (RTX), who make the Javelin antitank missile for which there is now a two-year order backlog. You can also throw in General Dynamics (GD) for good measure which builds nuclear submarines and the Stryker armored vehicle.
To watch a replay of this webinar with all the charts, bells, whistles, and classic rock music, just log in to www.madhedgefundtrader.com, go to MY ACCOUNT, click on GLOBAL TRADING DISPATCH, then WEBINARS, and all the webinars from the last 12 years are there in all their glory.
Good Luck and Stay Healthy,
John Thomas
CEO & Publisher
The Diary of a Mad Hedge Fund Trader
Keep Those Defense Plays
Mad Hedge Biotech and Healthcare Letter
May 24, 2022
Fiat Lux
Featured Trade:
(FROM A BORING BIOTECH TO A TRAILBLAZING PIONEER)
(VRTX), (ABBV), (MRNA), (CRSP), (EDIT), (BEAM), (NTLA)
When will the turmoil in the stock market come to an end? Unfortunately, nobody can offer a definitive answer.
At this point, there’s still no end in sight to high inflation, climbing interest rates, and the continuing war in Ukraine.
Needless to say, all these issues are affecting the stock market. However, not all stocks are getting negatively affected by the turmoil.
There are still relatively safe bets to buy, with some crushing the market these days.
One of them is Vertex (VRTX).
Vertex stock soared by over 30% year-to-date by mid-April.
While it has given up some of that gain in the past weeks, this biotechnology and healthcare stock is comfortably outperforming the rest of the market, with its shares still up by around 15%.
One reason for Vertex’s good performance is its undisputed monopoly in the cystic fibrosis (CF) market. In fact, its closest potential competitor is AbbVie (ABBV), which recently announced disappointing results for its Phase 2 trials for a CF combo.
This means Vertex’s dominance in the CF space is set to go on for quite some time.
Here’s a bit of background. Vertex has 4 CF treatments.
Among these, the latest treatment, Trikafta, generates the lion’s share of the profits. It raked in $1.7 billion in the first quarter of 2022 alone, with the total revenue for the entire CF pipeline recording $2 billion.
Considering its approved indications and potential approvals, Trikafta is anticipated to treat 90% of the entire CF patient population.
Looking at its current performance and how strong its hold is in the CF market, it appears that Vertex’s prediction that it can sustain its dominance in this segment until at least the late 2030s will be proven right.
Moreover, it’s evident that Trikafta has yet to reach its peak revenue. However, Vertex isn’t depending on this particular treatment alone.
Rather, the company is working on developing a worthy competitor to this top-selling treatment.
That is, Vertex is working on a CF candidate that may potentially be even more effective than Trikafta.
So far, this new drug candidate not only has the capacity to beat Trikafta in terms of efficacy but also offers a more convenient option.
Trikafta is a twice-a-day oral drug that comes in the form of 3 tablets. Meanwhile, this potential competitor is a once-a-day alternative.
If everything goes according to plan, the Phase 3 trial for this Trikafta challenger could start by the end of 2022 or early 2023.
This means that the closest potential rival for the company’s top-selling treatment is its own candidate.
Apart from this, Vertex is working with Moderna (MRNA) to come up with an mRNA therapy for CF patients.
The goal is to offer an alternative option to patients who are not eligible for the current CF therapies.
Although this continued dominance in the CF sector is already a good enough reason to buy Vertex shares, they may be an even better one.
To date, Vertex has at least 6 programs queued in mid to late-stage clinical studies, all of which are projected to become multi-billion dollar revenue streams.
Outside its CF segment, Vertex could have another big winner in the form of gene-editing treatment CTX001.
This is a treatment for sickle cell disease and transfusion-dependent beta-thalassemia that the company has been working on with CRISPR Therapeutics (CRSP).
While CTX001 is promising, it won’t be entering the gene therapy market without any competition. It has to battle the likes of Editas (EDIT), Beam Therapeutics (BEAM), and Intellia (NTLA).
Nonetheless, CTX001, if approved, is a game-changer because it is developed as a one-time cure for genetic blood disorders.
So far, trial results have been positive, and the collaborating duo is expected to file for regulatory approval by the end of 2022 and possibly launch the product by the first half of 2023.
This gene-editing therapy is a significant milestone for Vertex, with CTX001 expected to become another blockbuster, raking in roughly $1 billion in annual sales for the company even after giving CRISPR its share of the profits.
Recently, Vertex added another $900 million to its collaboration with CRISPR to boost its share from 50% to 60%, indicating that it values CTX001 at roughly $10 billion.
Other critical treatments outside the CF space are VX548, an opioid alternative targeting acute pain, and VX800, a stem cell-derived therapy developed to treat Type 1 diabetes.
Vertex has been accused as a company scared of getting out of its comfort zone for quite some time.
With these new ventures, Vertex has become something of a pioneer—a strategy that is projected to open long-term and lucrative revenue streams for the company.
Overall, all these efforts paint an obvious picture. That is, Vertex is a well-balanced company with a main business that capably and reliably generates billions and is complemented by an exciting pipeline that holds the potential to replicate the success of its already established portfolio.
Mad Hedge Biotech and Healthcare Letter
May 4, 2022
Fiat Lux
Featured Trade:
(A PICK AND SHOVELS BUSINESS POISED TO EXPLODE)
(TMO), (CRSP), (MRNA), (BNTX), (A), (DHR), (ILMN)
There’s never a wrong time to begin investing. In 2021, the markets generated positive buzz when things started to heat up again.
That same optimism has recently transformed into bearishness following the decline in share prices.
Nevertheless, there’s still good news.
Given the lower valuations, investors can now get more bang for their buck.
In the past two years, we’ve experienced so many unprecedented events. Among the most heavily affected by the pandemic is the life sciences sector.
One of the biggest names in this field is Thermo Fisher Scientific (TMO).
With a market capitalization of roughly $200 billion, it’s no longer accurate to describe this as an under-the-radar company. TMO has received minimal fanfare among investors despite its massive size for decades.
A key reason for this is its lowkey steady execution of a well-established or tried-and-tested strategy.
Although it lacks the pizzazz of more exciting companies these days like CRISPR Therapeutics (CRSP), Moderna (MRNA), and BioNTech (BNTX), TMO has rewarded its investors with substantial returns.
Over the last 40 years, TMO has recorded an annual growth rate of 16.5%, hitting a 27,000% return in total by 2021.
In fact, TMO came off a strong 2021.
Its sales grew by 22% from 2020 to report $39.2 billion. While acquisitions played significant roles in the company’s growth, the 17% organic revenue growth of TMO served as its primary growth driver behind its solid numbers in 2021.
Even its COVID-19-related sales, particularly its testing products, contributed to reach $9.2 billion.
Looking at TMO’s business model, it’s evident that the company offers investors great exposure to the entire healthcare field via a single investment only.
That is, TMO is a broad business. It covers practically all life sciences solutions, analytical tools, specialty diagnostics, lab items, and even clinical, biotechnology, and pharmaceutical services.
Spanning the entire industry, such portfolio of products and services allow TMO to confidently go toe-to-toe against industry heavyweights like Agilent Technologies (A), Danaher (DHR), and Illumina (ILMN).
Actually, all of its segments grew last year, with TMO showing off quicker revenue increases than its competitors in the previous five years.
Hence, it is no surprise that TMO expects its numbers to climb in 2022. For this year, the company’s projected revenue is estimated to rise by at least 7% to reach $42 billion.
TMO strategically leveraged more significant acquisitions to build its diverse and deep portfolio today.
In 2011, the company spent $3.5 billion to buy Sweden’s blood-testing firm Phadia and cleverly maneuvered a relatively cheap deal to also grab chromatography company Dionex for only $2.1 billion.
In 2013, TMO bought a fast-growing genetic testing company called Life Tech for $13.6 billion.
At that time, Life Tech was the leader in this field and already possessed the technology to become a front-runner in the personalized medicine space.
In 2016, it shelled out $4.2 billion for electron microscopy company FEI and dropped another $7.2 billion in 2017 to buy pharmaceutical contract manufacturer Patheon.
To date, TMO’s most substantial deal is its $17.4 billion acquisition of contract research business Wilmington’s PPD.
This particular deal created a gateway between the biopharma giant and other drug developers, with TMO boosting its services segment focused on its biotechnology and pharmaceutical clients.
Between 2019 and 2021, the pharmaceutical and biotechnology market has experienced a promising over 20% growth.
This field is expected to grow to an additional $20 billion in 2022, following the growing interest in the industry in this post-pandemic era.
There is another emerging sector within the pharmaceutical and biotechnology market: the precision medicine and gene sequencing field.
Taking into consideration the growing demand for the products and services from this space, this market is estimated to reach roughly $1.6 trillion by 2030.
This makes TMO’s PPD acquisition timely, as it would allow the company to gain a bigger market share and expand its reach across the globe.
Furthermore, the previous acquisitions would bolster the company’s hold on the current market and ensure its position as a first-mover in potential groundbreaking innovations in the biotech and pharma sector.
Considering its expansion strategies and growth history, TMO doesn’t seem to be stopping anytime soon.
While the environment for mergers and acquisitions did become a bit more restrictive these days, there are still several potential buyout targets that could deliver favorable returns. So, we might hear about another TMO-linked acquisition sometime soon.
Overall, TMO is a healthcare stock offering robust and stable growth and a promising future regardless of economic downturns.
Moreover, its pick-and-shovels play makes it an excellent stock that looks poised to sustain its momentum and is well-positioned for global expansion. Hence, it would be wise to buy the dip.
Mad Hedge Biotech and Healthcare Letter
April 21, 2022
Fiat Lux
Featured Trade:
LET’S GET READY TO RUMBLE)
(MRNA), (PFE), (BNTX), (AZN), (ABBV), (MRK), (BMY), (TAK), (GILD),
(SNY), (ALNY), (NVS), (REGN), (IONS), (GSK), (BIIB), (CRSP)
As we gradually reach the pinnacle of biotechnology formation, a war is brewing in the life sciences world.
This can be one of the most exciting times for medical innovations for patients. Meanwhile, investors can be picky when picking where to put their money.
Even up-and-coming scientists can seize the opportunities to lay the groundwork for their own dream organizations.
At the same time, those aspiring to climb the corporate ladder have better chances at becoming CEO without the need to slog through the biopharma sector and scramble for whatever opening is available.
However, as more and more companies launch practically every day, claiming to offer groundbreaking and revolutionary breakthroughs, it’s critical to keep in mind that not all biotechs will succeed.
Actually, the number of biotech companies has been steadily rising since 2015.
In that year, 177 firms were formed, with biotech birth rates breaching the 200-per-annum mark by 2017 and 2018.
Seeing as many more have emerged even during the pandemic, it looks like the biotech world won’t be slowing down anytime soon.
Even funding hasn’t been deterred by economic downturns.
From 2015 to 2018, the total funding for biotech companies averaged between $68.6 million to roughly $90.2 million.
After a bustling, record-breaking 2020, the bar leading to 2021 was expectedly high.
Surprisingly, 2021 blew those figures out of the water as private investors opted to raise the bar even higher.
It’s the type of climb that’s truly hard to believe.
Biotechs raised over $22 billion in private funds in 2020 following a sluggish 2019. In 2021, that figure rose to $28.5 billion.
The top earner in these funding rounds last year was China’s Abogen, which took $1 billion in private investors’ money across two rounds.
Abogen is an mRNA-centered firm that’s currently working on a COVID-19 vaccine.
What makes its product different and possibly better than Moderna (MRNA), Pfizer (PFE), BioNTech (BNTX), and AstraZeneca (AZN) is that it would be thermostable. That is, it could be used in areas without access to refrigeration.
Another big winner in 2021 is Massachusetts-based biotech ElevateBio, which aims to be a one-stop shop for cell and gene therapies.
The idea is to develop a technology that fuses its gene-editing platform, cell engineering structure, and manufacturing warehouse into one system to ease and accelerate the drug development process.
Although not entirely the same, this plan has similarities with the strategies of Big Pharma names like AbbVie (ABBV) and Merck (MRK).
Amid the growing number of biotechs, a key challenge is how to stand out among companies that target the same disease areas. This kind of competition could hamper innovation.
The clearest indicator of success would be receiving approval and being able to launch the products commercially.
Ultimately, the goals are to offer safe and effective treatments and provide value to their shareholders.
Unfortunately, the reality is only a handful of startups do make it all the way to the top.
The more feasible scenario is that bigger businesses would acquire these companies—and that seems to be the case these days.
Alongside the booming biotech formation rate are the increasingly aggressive biotech buyout deals.
We’ve seen this before.
It started in 2019, with Bristol Myers Squibb (BMY) buying Celgene, followed by AbbVie splurging on Allergan and Takeda (TAK) merging with Shire.
In 2020, AstraZeneca bought biotech superstar Alexion Pharmaceuticals while Gilead Sciences (GILD) snapped up Immunomedics.
Meanwhile, Sanofi (SNY) stacked its deck with the $3.2 billion acquisition of Translate Bio. As for Merck, this biopharma sneaked in a massive win with an $11.5 billion buyout of Acceleron.
For this year, several names have already been eyed by Big Pharmas.
There’s Alynlam Pharmaceuticals (ALNY), an RNA-centered company, which seems to be the target of both Novartis (NVS) and Regeneron (REGN).
Another RNA-focused company, Ionis Pharmaceuticals (IONS), appears to be a key target as well, with the likes of GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), Bayer, and even Biogen (BIIB) waiting for an opportunity to pounce.
After all, acquisitions form an integral lifeline of the biotech world. Huge businesses with the resources swoop up promising buyout candidates to bolster their own pipelines.
However, M&A isn’t the only option for biotechs. There’s also the path where they can seek companies with similar focus and consolidate to become larger and more competitive entities.
This has been the expected plan for CRISPR Therapeutics (CRSP) for a long time. Hence, it is no surprise if other biotechs with their own groundbreaking technologies decide to follow the same route.
Overall, the biotech industry is booming amid its recent struggles with the market.
The faster growth rate of companies can be attributed to more investors seeing the industry's potential and, of course, better access to technology and scientific advancement.
Moreover, the world has become more interested in the biotech world and what the industry can offer due to the pandemic.
COVID-19 has shone a light on this sector following the quick and effective results of the vaccines and treatments.
That is, people have finally caught on to the idea that there is an incredible opportunity in biotech.
While a correction is to be expected at some point, the critical thing to bear in mind is that great ideas will always generate funding no matter what.
