Friday, October 5, 2018
Cytokinetics price target lowered to $21 from $24 at H.C. Wainwright
H.C. Wainwright analyst Joseph Pantginis lowered his price target on Cytokinetics shares to $21 from $24 after partner Astellas reported that both primary and secondary endpoints were not met in a trial of reldesemtiv in COPD patients and another trial testing reldesemtiv in elderly frailty was discontinued. However, omecamtiv drives the “lion’s share” of his valuation of Cytokinetics shares, said Pantginis. The analyst, who noted that the omecamtiv mecarbil pivotal
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Tweed, Uber, MADD Canada in national campaign on risks of driving when high
With the legalization of recreational cannabis coming to Canada in just over one week, Tweed, Uber, and MADD Canada are launching a national awareness campaign focused on informing Canadians on the risks of driving high.
On Wednesday, October 10, the advocacy partnership will be launched with an event inviting media for an early look at the education focused campaign, including its interactive features.
Tweed’s President and Co-CEO, Mark Zekulin, will unveil the campaign and media in attendance will also have the opportunity to discuss this new approach to informing Canadians about issues and perceptions around cannabis use and impaired driving.
Date: October 10, 2018 (Yes, one week before legalization.)
Time: 09:00 am ET – 10:30 am ET (We’ll have coffee and snacks don’t worry.)
Location: Artscape Sandbox, 301 Adelaide Street West, Toronto, ON (We’ll have lots to showcase at the venue.)
RSVP: If you’re planning on attending, please RSVP to Caitlin O’Hara by Tuesday, October 9, 2018.
ABOUT TWEED
Tweed is a globally recognized cannabis brand and subsidiary of Canopy Growth Corporation (TSX:WEED, NYSE:CGC). It has built a large and loyal following by focusing on quality products and meaningful customer relationships. Tweed doesn’t just sell cannabis, it facilitates a conversation about a product we’ve all heard about but haven’t met intimately yet. It is approachable and friendly, yet reliable and trusted. As cannabis laws liberalize around the world, Tweed will expand its leading Canadian position around the globe. Learn more at www.tweed.com.
Tweed is a globally recognized cannabis brand and subsidiary of Canopy Growth Corporation (TSX:WEED, NYSE:CGC). It has built a large and loyal following by focusing on quality products and meaningful customer relationships. Tweed doesn’t just sell cannabis, it facilitates a conversation about a product we’ve all heard about but haven’t met intimately yet. It is approachable and friendly, yet reliable and trusted. As cannabis laws liberalize around the world, Tweed will expand its leading Canadian position around the globe. Learn more at www.tweed.com.
ABOUT UBER CANADA
Co-founded by Calgarian entrepreneur Garrett Camp in 2009, Uber is evolving the way the world moves. Present in communities across Canada, Uber has revolutionized transportation and offers Canadian driver-partners a new way to earn income in their spare time by offering an affordable transportation alternative to riders across the country. For more information, visit uber.com.
Co-founded by Calgarian entrepreneur Garrett Camp in 2009, Uber is evolving the way the world moves. Present in communities across Canada, Uber has revolutionized transportation and offers Canadian driver-partners a new way to earn income in their spare time by offering an affordable transportation alternative to riders across the country. For more information, visit uber.com.
ABOUT MADD CANADA
MADD Canada is a national, charitable organization that is committed to stopping impaired driving and supporting the victims of this violent crime. With volunteer-driven groups in more than 100 communities across Canada, MADD Canada aims to offer support services to victims, heighten awareness of the dangers of impaired driving and save lives and prevent injuries on our roads. To learn more, visit www.madd.ca.
MADD Canada is a national, charitable organization that is committed to stopping impaired driving and supporting the victims of this violent crime. With volunteer-driven groups in more than 100 communities across Canada, MADD Canada aims to offer support services to victims, heighten awareness of the dangers of impaired driving and save lives and prevent injuries on our roads. To learn more, visit www.madd.ca.
Tilray Inc. Upsizes and Prices Offering of US$450 Million Convertible Senior Notes
Tilray Inc. (NASDAQ:TLRY), a global leader in cannabis research, cultivation, production and distribution, today announced the pricing of US$450 million aggregate principal amount of Convertible Senior Notes due 2023 (the “notes”) in a private placement to qualified institutional buyers pursuant to Rule 144A under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”). Any notes sold in Canada will only be sold to accredited investors pursuant to an exemption from the prospectus requirements of Canadian securities laws. Tilray also granted the initial purchasers of the notes an option to purchase up to an additional US$67.5 million aggregate principal amount of notes. The offering was upsized from the previously announced US$400 million aggregate principal amount.
The sale of the notes to the initial purchasers is expected to settle on October 10, 2018, subject to the satisfaction of customary closing conditions, and is expected to result in approximately US$435.0 million in net proceeds to Tilray (or approximately US$500.5 million if the initial purchasers exercise their option to purchase additional notes in full) after deducting the initial purchasers’ discount and estimated offering expenses payable by Tilray.
Tilray intends to use the net proceeds from this offering for working capital, future acquisitions and general corporate purposes, and to repay the approximately US$9.1 million existing mortgage related to its facility in Nanaimo, British Columbia.
The notes will be senior unsecured obligations of Tilray and will bear an interest at a rate of 5.00% per year, payable semiannually in arrears on April 1 and October 1 of each year, beginning on April 1, 2019. The notes will mature on October 1, 2023, unless earlier repurchased, redeemed or converted.
The initial conversion rate for the notes is 5.9735 shares of Class 2 common stock per US$1,000 principal amount of notes (which is equivalent to an initial conversion price of approximately US$167.41 per share). Conversions of the notes will be settled in cash, shares of Tilray’s Class 2 common stock or a combination thereof, at Tilray’s election. The initial conversion price represents a conversion premium of approximately 15% over the last reported sale price of US$145.57 per share of Tilray’s Class 2 common stock on the Nasdaq Global Select Market on October 4, 2018.
Prior to the close of business on the day immediately preceding April 1, 2023, the notes will be convertible at the option of the holders only upon the satisfaction of specified conditions and during certain periods. On and after April 1, 2023 until the close of business on the second scheduled trading day immediately preceding the maturity date, holders may convert their notes at their option regardless of these conditions.
Holders may require Tilray to repurchase their notes upon the occurrence of a fundamental change (as defined in the indenture governing the notes) at a cash purchase price equal to the principal amount thereof plus accrued and unpaid interest, if any.
Tilray may not redeem the notes prior to October 1, 2021. On or after October 1, 2021 and on or before the 30th scheduled trading day immediately before the maturity date, Tilray may redeem for cash all or part of the notes if the last reported sale price of Tilray’s Class 2 common stock has been at least 130% of the conversion price then in effect for at least 20 trading days (whether or not consecutive), including the trading day immediately preceding the date on which Tilray provides a notice of redemption, during any 30 consecutive trading day period ending on, and including, the trading day immediately preceding the date on which Tilray provides notice of redemption. The redemption price for the notes will equal the principal amount of the notes to be redeemed, plus accrued and unpaid interest, if any.
Neither the notes, nor any shares of Tilray’s Class 2 common stock issuable upon conversion of the notes, have been registered under the Securities Act or any state securities laws, or qualified for distribution by prospectus in Canada, and unless so registered, may not be offered or sold in the United States absent registration or an applicable exemption from, or in a transaction not subject to, the registration requirements of the Securities Act and other applicable securities laws, or sold in Canada absent an exemption from the prospectus requirements of Canadian securities laws.
Enthusiasm on Liquid Biopsies Drives Guardant IPO to $1.59B Valuation
Guardant Health went on the Nasdaq yesterday under the symbol GH. Shares climbed almost 70 percent on the first day of trading, selling 12.5 million shares at $19 per share in the initial public offering (IPO). It closed up 69.47 percent at $32.20 per share.
Guardant was founded in 2012 in Redwood City, Calif. The company offers liquid biopsy tests that provide genomic data for advanced cancers, which helps match the correct cancer treatments. One of its primary products is Guardant360 for advanced solid tumor cancers.
Liquid biopsies, as compared to a solid tissue biopsy, are tests performed on blood to look for cancer cells or DNA from a tumor circulating in the blood. They are also used to detect other diseases. The key difference between a liquid biopsy and a traditional clinical blood test is the focus on identifying cells or DNA from whatever illness is being tested for. Traditional lab tests do this as well, but generally not by trying to identify and sort so much information. In some cases, the liquid biopsy is conducted as a broad screening test utilizing next-generation sequencing.
It’s an increasingly competitive area for biopharma. Another Redwood City, Calif.-based company, Karius, developed a liquid biopsy test that can diagnose infectious disease in July. A year ago, Verily Life Sciences, one of Google/Alphabet’s companies, invested in Freenome,which is working on a liquid biopsy diagnostic platform to detect the cell-free DNA of cancer. Another company, Apostle, is developing a bioinformatics diagnostics liquid biopsy platform in cancer. In early January 2016, Illumina launched GRAIL Bio to develop a liquid biopsy cancer test.
According to Crunchbase, Guardant had already raised $550 million prior to the IPO. With the success of yesterday’s offering, the company is now valued at around $1.59 billion.
MarketWatch writes, “The startup sets its total market opportunity at more than $35 billion in the U.S. That includes a market Guardant is already in—using liquid biopsies in late-stage cancers (an about $6 billion opportunity, by the company’s estimates)—plus two that it is working toward, the cancer recurrence detection market (about $15 billion) and early cancer risk detection (about $18 billion).”
The Guardant360 tests cost about $6,800 and takes seven days. That is both cheaper and faster than a traditional tissue biopsy. The company’s goal is to develop tests for early cancer detection. The company is working on that. The data collected using Guardant360 and other products is being used to develop its next-generation assays, such as Lunar-1 for cancer recurrence and Lunar-2 for early cancer detection. MarketWatch notes, “Lunar-2 is geared toward individuals who don’t have symptoms but do have a higher risk of cancer due to genetics, smoking, health conditions and other factors.”
Guardant’s co-founder and chief executive officer, Helmy Eltoukhy, told MarketWatch in January that with additional data, “the better we are at decoding signals in the blood.” But collecting enough takes time and there’s usually plenty of “static” in blood—which is filled with a broad assortment of enzymes, proteins and other molecules—that has to be sorted out as well. Eltoukhy believes that an early cancer detection is “certainly” possible within years, rather than decades.
But there are currently concerns about the reliability of liquid assays. Researchers at Johns Hopkins evaluated Guardant360 with another company’s test, Personal Genome Diagnostics’PlasmaSELECT, and found “very low congruence” between the two. They published their work in June in the journal JAMA Oncology.
They conclude, “These data cannot determine which test is more accurate but suggest that reported gene alterations will not be the same across different platforms, raising the specter that patients could potentially receive different treatments depending on the cfDNA platform. Insufficient genetic profiling congruence could jeopardize the clinical benefit of personalized medicine.”
At the moment, at least, investors are thrilled with the products Guardant is currently offering and are optimistic about its future.
Evotec and Sanofi Join to Further Cutting-Edge Therapeutic Drug Discovery
Yesterday, Evotec AG (EVT) announced that Sanofi will be participating in an organized Public Private Partnership (PPP) that involves the initiation of brand newly formed BRIDGE, or LAB031, which was created to further the discovery of therapeutic drugs in multiple areas.
Evotec Execute is described on the company’s website as representing “Evotec‘s core discovery and development alliance businesses built on a systematic, unbiased and comprehensive innovation infrastructure. In this segment, the Company serves its partners intellectual property with its innovative drug discovery and development integrated tools and expertise. Evotec has evolved into one of the global leaders in providing complete drug discovery and development solutions on a stand-alone basis or through holistic, fully integrated solutions. In EVT Execute, these services are provided on a typical fee-for-service basis or through a variety of commercial structures including research fees, milestones and/or royalties. Evotec never takes development risks within such alliances.”
“EVT Execute offers the life sciences industry a variety of ways to access drug discovery innovation in a time efficient manner, through variable cost models but still with the highest standards of scientific execution,” additions Dr. Mario Polywka, Coo of Evotec. “Partners can access our drug discovery platform on a stand-alone or integrated project basis and have the confidence that through creative deal making and high-quality alliance and project management, their programmes are in safe hands.”
Throughout the course of the next three years, Sanofi will make funds available to utilize Evotec’s drug discovery and industrial screening platforms. Sanofi will additionally make known milestone criteria from which to determine and confirm development on each individual project. The BRIDGE LAB031 will give Evotec connections to academic institutions all over the globe, entering into research collaborations and initial-stage discoveries with groundbreaking information on subjects of disease where there is largely unmet medical demand.
Sanofi, a “global healthcare leader”, invested 5.5 billion pounds into Research and Development in 2017 alone. They currently have 70 “projects under development” and boast 7 “new molecular entities and vaccines approvals since 2015”. “Life is a health journey, with its ups and downs, and its challenges. These can be big or small, lifelong or temporary. Everyone, from children to elderly people, face health challenges and needs, wherever they are. We at Sanofi, are there beside people in need, as a health journey partner. Many patients are depending on us. We aim to protect, enable and support people facing health challenges, so they can live life to its full potential,” states its website.
In June of this year, Evotec established the partnership with Sanofi while furthering its effect on the infectious disease sector. By signing a three-month-old deal with Sanofi, Evotec integrated its anti-infectives unit, which included much of Sanofi’s extensive infection disease research portfolio.
“This BRIDGE announced today is another strategic expansion of Evotec’s relationship with Sanofi. Supporting academic initiatives globally through BRIDGEs is designed to enable Evotec to validate translational ideas more efficiently,” quoted Dr. Werner Lanthaler, Chief Executive Officer of Evotec.
Shiv Krishnan, Head of Technology Platforms, Global Business Development & Licensing, at Sanofi stated that “we are pleased to expand our relationship with Evotec and establish LAB031. Sanofi is focused on identifying the best resources available in order to translate academic innovation into clinical assets.”
BRIDGE LAB031’s name is meant to nod to the section of the Garonne in which Toulouse, France has been a fruitful birthplace for Sanofi and Evotec’s collaborations.
Pacific Biosciences checks show Sequels placements decline, says Piper Jaffray
Piper Jaffray analyst William Quirk says channel checks found 10 Sequels placed in Q3, which suggests Pacific Biosciences had a sequential decline in placements, consistent with management comments. The analyst found 15 placements in his Q2 checks. Quirk trimmed his Q3 instrument expectations from 27 Sequels to 20 and his instrument revenue forecast by $2.2M to $6.4M. Despite being encouraged with the company’s continued progress on the 8M chip, he remains Neutral on the shares ahead of the earnings release.
Bluebird Bio announces EMA acceptance of MAA for LentiGlobin gene therapy
Bluebird Bio announced that the European Medicines Agency accepted the company’s marketing authorization application, or MAA, for its investigational LentiGlobin gene therapy for the treatment of adolescents and adults with transfusion-dependent beta-thalassemia, or TDT, and a non-beta0/beta0 genotype. LentiGlobin was previously granted an accelerated assessment by the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use, or CHMP, of the EMA in July 2018, potentially reducing the EMA’s active review time of the MAA from 210 days to 150 days.
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