RegMed Competitive and Market Intelligence 2/7/12, stocks are turning higher after morning selling, modest gains and no real headline news
The 6 W’s: Who, what, where, when, why and what of it …
Today’s Gospel: Stocks turn higher after morning selling … Reiterating from yesterday … profit taking is contributing to the … weakness in the market; with the NASDAQ pulling back off the 11 year closing high it set last Friday. This month’s market gains will need more than an improving economic picture and investor willingness to shrug off Europe’s debt crisis,
EconRecon: On the economic front, December consumer credit numbers are out at 3 pm ET.
Mid-Day: The NASDAQ is UP +2.01 (+0.07%) to 2,904.00 while the Dow is also UP +37.80(+0.29%) to 12,882.93.
Mid-Day Market Commentary: After coming under pressure in early trading on Tuesday, stocks have shown a notable recovery attempt over the course of the morning. The major averages have bounced well off their lows for the session. The initial weakness in the market reflects lingering concerns … about a possible default by Greece, where officials continue to struggle to reach an agreement on the reforms needed to receive a new bailout. Selling pressure waned not long after the start of trading, however, as traders seem wary of missing out on any further upside for the markets. Most of the major sectors are showing only modest moves in mid-day trading, although significant strength has been emerging.
Who is UP … Mid-Day:
- BioMimetic (BMTI),
- Geron (GERN),
- ImmunoCellular (OTC BB: IMUC);
- NeoStem (Amex: NBS),
- Neuralstem (Amex: CUR),
- Pluristem (PSTI);
- ReNeuron (RENE.L);
- StemCells (STEM) and
- ThermoGenesis (KOOL) and
- Verastem (VSTM).
What’s new in the regenerative medicine/stem cell market … 4 … things to know today …
Stem cells solve hepatitis C research dilemma or NOT: It is now possible to develop liver like cells in the lab from stem cells derived from human tissue, and infect them with hepatitis. The finding, by researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Rockefeller University and the Medical College of Wisconsin, solves a major problem scientist’s face when trying to figure out why some people are susceptible to the hard-to-treat infection and others aren’t. Ideally, scientists would study liver cells from affected patients in the lab, but they’re hard to get and not easy to grow in a lab dish. (It turns out if you remove liver cells from the body; they lose their normal structure and don’t function the same.) So successfully growing liver like cells from human tissue have plenty of theoretical benefits. First, having a wide variety of easily cultivated hepatitis C liver cells to study could help scientists to better understand how the infection evolves and why certain folks are far more likely to get it. This could also help patients who already have the infection. By reproducing viable liver like cells from their tissue in the lab, doctors could theoretically test which drugs work best, and deliver a personalized treatment, the researchers argue. And controversy is all but eliminated, because embryonic stem cells aren’t even part of the equation. Of course, such advances could still be years away, and several more studies will be necessary to make sure this idea is viable. <Mark Hollmer – Fierce Biotech> The Bottom Line: Researchers created their liver like cells using induced pluripotent stem cells, which the NIH describe as regular adult cells from body tissue, which scientists genetically reprogram “to an embryonic stem cell-like state. This is an apparent first for induced pluripotent stem cells, with scientists successfully infecting cells derived from them. Team members knew the experiment worked because they rigged the viruses to generate a light-producing protein as they lived through their “life cycle.
Cytori (CYTX) Perspective: Christopher J Calhoun, Cytori (CYTX) CEO, Sells 205,000 shares: He executed … expiring and past awarded options, as we all know – one has to sell to pay for the transaction to net-out the difference with CYTX getting $633K from the transaction. The CEO did not net any huge amount to reward past, future and present services but, the company did received … the bulk of the difference.
The following transactions were reported on a Form 4 filed with the S.E.C. on 2/6/12:
Date(s) Trans Type Shares Price(s)
——————- ————– ————— —————–
2/2/12 – 2/3/12 Exercise 205,000 $3.09
2/2/12 – 2/3/12 Sale 205,000 $4.00–$4.11
My Opinion: Let’s not focus on one CEO’s sale … or negative articles … CYTX’s stock dropped from an open of $4.18 (yesterday close $4.32) to $4.05 (mid-day) … Reiterating from “Today’s Gospel” … profit taking is contributing to the … weakness in the market; with the NASDAQ pulling back off the 11 year closing high it set last Friday. I believe this is a shorts down draft <ratio 17.5% or 7.54M shares> … many who have been waiting for a pullback opportunity … as the shares are rebounding slowly, investors have been waiting <anticipated> for a pull-back <it seems to be a common occurrence post when there is an abrupt run-up> and it seem s some investors are accumulating <currently 109K bid – out there> having seen the drop as a BUY – the shorts should be worried by small push forward …my guess is the pull-back is artificial … or maybe not?
- CYTX is currently trading at $4.13 down $0.19 <-4.42%>.
Stem cell transplants in children yield positive outcomes: http://www.physiciansbriefing.com/Article.asp?AID=661438
Children who underwent stem cell transplantation had low levels of adjustment problems at admission and improved average scores on measures of health-related quality of life at 24 weeks, a study in the journal Pediatrics found. Researchers followed 171 patients at St. Jude Children’sResearchHospital inMemphis,Tenn.
Canadian university gets $30M for stem cell research center: http://www.torontosun.com/2012/02/06/large-donation-to-help-stem-cell-research-at-mcmaster McMasterUniversityinOntario,Canada, has received a $30M donation from the Marta and Owen Boris Foundation in support of the establishment of the Boris Family Centre in Human Stem Cell Therapies. The center’s goal is to translate research at McMaster’s Stem Cell and Cancer Research Institute into clinical and commercial uses.
