RegMed Competitive and Market Intelligence 2/24/12, stock gains struggle after economic reports, TGIF
The 6 W’s: Who, what, where, when, why and what of it …
Today’s Gospel: The “improving” labor market … trumped rising gasoline prices in influencing confidence … which is “good” in that new jobs and wages can certainly help cushion the blow of an ever-rising cost of living … but, retail investors are still inhibited!
Mid-Day: The NASDAQ is UP +11.59 (+0.33%) to 2,968.51 while the Dow is also UP +25.12 (+0.19%) to 13,009.81.
Mid-Day Market Commentary: Stocks turned narrowly mixed Friday, as investors digested a better-than-expected but, still marginal consumer sentiment gains <.3%> against a dip in new home sales <totally expected>. With traders reluctant to make any significant moves, stocks have shown a lack of direction over the course of mid-day trading on Friday. The major averages have been lingering near the unchanged line after ending the previous session firmly positive. The choppy trading comes as traders seem to be staying on the … sidelines amid questions about whether the global economic situation supports further upside for the markets.
The markets have largely …. shrugged off the release of a report showing improvement in consumer sentiment in the month of February as well as a report showing that new home sales came in well above estimates in January. Trading … seems to be impacted by the release of Reuters and the University of Michigan’s final report on consumer sentiment in the month of February.
Who is UP … Mid-Day:
- Athersys (ATHX);
- Cryto-Cell (Otc BB : CCEL);
- Cytori (CYTX);
- BioTime (Amex: BTX):
- Dendreon (DNDN);
- Fibrocell (otc bb: FCSC);
- ImmunoCellular (OTC BB: IMUC);
- Osiris (OSIR);
- ReNeuron (RENE.L);
- StemCells (STEM).
What’s new in the regenerative medicine/stem cell market … 5 … things to know today …
Stem cell bank wants to raise up to $10M to expand operations: Indian firm Stemade Biotech intends to raise $8 million to $10M in private equity financing to support expansion in India and other Asian markets. By 2014, the dental stem cell bank hopes to have sites in 8 new cities inIndia and a facility in Singapore or West Asia.
Memory Formation Triggered by Stem Cell Development: Researchers at the RIKEN-MIT Center for Neural Circuit Genetics have discovered an answer to the long-standing mystery of how brain cells can both remember new memories while also maintaining older ones. They found that specific neurons in a brain region called the dentate gyrus serve distinct roles in memory formation depending on whether the neural stem cells that produced them were of old versus young age. The study will appear in the March 30 issue of Cell and links the cellular basis of memory formation to the birth of new neurons — a finding that could unlock a new class of drug targets to treat memory disorders. The Bottom Line: Findings also suggest that an imbalance between young and old neurons in the brain could disrupt normal memory formation during post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and aging. “In animals, traumatic experiences and aging often lead to decline of the birth of new neurons in the dentate gyrus. In humans, recent studies found dentate gyrus dysfunction and related memory impairments during normal aging,” said the study’s senior author Susumu Tonegawa, 1987 Nobel Laureate and Director of theRIKEN-MITCenter.
Organovo, $6.5M Private Placement to Advance 3D Bioprinting for Medical Applications: OTCQB: ONVO announced the successful completion of a merger on 2/8/12, with Organovo, Inc. (the “Merger”), a company focused on the development of three-dimensional bioprinting technology for research and medical applications. Concurrent with the merger, Organovo closed a private placement consisting of approximately 6.5M units of its securities to qualified accredited investors, for total gross proceeds of $6.5M.
InVivo Therapeutics, Prices Public Offering: OTC/BB: NVIV, a developer of groundbreaking technologies for the treatment of spinal cord injuries, today announced the pricing of an underwritten public offering of 8,281,574 shares of its common stock, offered at a price to the public of $2.10 per share, for gross proceeds of approximately $17.4M.
Baxter Completes Acquisition of Synovis: BAX company has completed its planned acquisition of Synovis Life Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ: SYNO), following approval of the transaction by Synovis shareholders. The acquisition expands Baxter’s regenerative medicine and BioSurgery franchise by adding biological and mechanical products from Synovis used for soft tissue repair and microsurgery in a variety of surgical procedures.
