RBC Capital analyst Frank Morgan says he’s found no company specific news that would explain the weakness today in shares of eHealth. Rather, the analyst attributes the 22% pullback to continued selling in managed care operators and providers, which began yesterday morning. He attributes yesterday’s sell-off to Democratic presidential candidate rhetoric around Medicare-for-All, including a tweet from candidate Bernie Sanders during UnitedHealth’s Q1 earnings call advocating for MFA. Morgan believes investors were looking to take profits in any strong year-to-date performers, like eHealth. The analyst has an Outperform rating on the stock with an $83 price target. eHealth in afternoon trading is down 22%, or $14.05, to $51.38.
Wednesday, April 17, 2019
uniQure granted orphan status for hemophilia B treatment
The FDA granted uniQure orphan status for its treatment of hemophilia B.
AngioDynamics to sell its NAMIC fluid management portfolio for $167.5M
AngioDynamics announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to sell its NAMIC fluid management portfolio to Medline Industries for $167.5 M. The transaction consists of AngioDynamics’ NAMIC brand and its extensive offering of manifolds, contrast management systems, closed fluid systems, guidewires, disposable transducers, and interventional accessories. Additionally, AngioDynamics’ primary Glens Falls, New York manufacturing facility, including all related manufacturing jobs and the sales & marketing teams that support the NAMIC business, will be acquired by Medline as part of the transaction. Upon completion of the transaction, AngioDynamics intends to use the net cash proceeds of approximately $160.0M to pay down all outstanding debt. The cash balance of approximately $74.0M will be used to support strategic investments in the company’s existing portfolio to drive enhanced growth and future profitability.
Alector: First frontotemporal dementia patient dosed in Phase 1b study
Alector announced dosing of the first frontotemporal dementia patient in the Phase 1b portion of the Infront clinical study of AL001 after completion of the healthy volunteer single ascending dose escalation portion of the study. “AL001 was generally well tolerated, with no drug-related serious adverse events in healthy volunteers, achieving the study’s primary objective. Moreover, AL001 successfully demonstrated proof of mechanism in healthy volunteers by showing a dose dependent increase in progranulin levels, a disease specific biomarker, in plasma and in cerebrospinal fluid,” said Robert Paul, M.D., Ph.D., chief medical officer. In a subset of FTD patients, mutations in a single copy of the progranulin gene lead to a 50% or greater decrease in the level of progranulin, which in turn leads to development of FTD with greater than 90% penetrance. This subset of patients is known as FTD-GRN. Alector aims to deploy AL001 to increase the level of progranulin in FTD-GRN patients, by inhibiting a progranulin degradation mechanism. “We are proceeding with the Phase 1b study which will assess the safety of multiple doses of AL001 as a primary objective. AL001’s therapeutic approach is conceptually similar to enzyme replacement therapy and as such AL001 is designed to increase the level of progranulin in these FTD-GRN patients. In addition to the safety, we will also measure the levels of progranulin in plasma and in cerebrospinal fluid to demonstrate proof of mechanism in FTD-GRN patients by increasing the levels of this critical factor,” said Omer Siddiqui, vice president of development operations. “These data will inform future clinical studies, including rational dose selection in potential registrational studies.”
Cardinal Health initiated at Guggenheim
Cardinal Health initiated with a Neutral at Guggenheim. Guggenheim analyst Glen Santangelo initiated Cardinal Health with a Neutral rating and a price target of $51. The analyst says that while the company is “operating in a difficult environment in both its Pharmaceutical and Medical segments”, it is showing signs of stabilization operationally. Santangelo also warns however that Cardinal Health’s upside potential will be limited as long as investors are focused on the “potential for unfavorable regulatory change and the implications of the ongoing opioid litigation.”
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