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Monday, March 2, 2020

Ex-CDC head Tom Frieden says kids may be secret coronavirus carriers

The ex-director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Monday that the deadly coronavirus may be “impossible” to contain — and that kids may be secret carriers of the disease.
“We think it will be very difficult if not impossible to contain it … but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try,” Dr. Tom Frieden told reporters.
Frieden, who ran the agency under President Obama and was the New York City health commissioner under Mayor Mike Bloomberg, said the spread of the virus to more than 89,000 people across the world has been an “unprecedented situation.”
“Never before have we seen a pathogen emerge and have global spread like this. That is scary,” Frieden said.
Frieden pointed to evidence that people with mild or no symptoms, including children, may be secret carriers of the virus.
He cited a report of a 10-year-old boy who visited the outbreak’s epicenter in China and didn’t show any symptoms of the virus. But when the boy’s parents insisted doctors test him, he was diagnosed with the virus, according to the Lancet medical journal.
“The fact that children may get infected but not show symptoms poses a risk to pediatricians,” Frieden said.
The virus, known as COVID-19, has been most deadly with patients who are older or have underlying health problems, he said.
The disease, which has now reached 65 countries, has caused more than 3,000 deaths since December’s outbreak in Wuhan, China.
Symptoms include a fever, cough and shortness of breath.
https://nypost.com/2020/03/02/ex-cdc-head-tom-frieden-says-kids-may-be-secret-coronavirus-carriers/

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Cancels March 3 Presentation at Cowen

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. said Monday it was canceling a planned March 3 presentation and webcast at the Cowen Health Care Conference.
“Following implementation of a companywide travel and meetings policy that is designed to reduce potential disruption from coronavirus, the Vertex senior management team will, as a precautionary measure, no longer attend the conference,” the biotechnology company said.
https://www.marketscreener.com/VERTEX-PHARMACEUTICALS-11321/news/Vertex-Pharmaceuticals-Cancels-March-3-Presentation-at-Cowen-Health-Care-Conference-30095834/

PTC Therapeutics down 5% after hours as product sales growth remains modest

PTC Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PTCT) Q4 results:
Revenues: $96.5M (+11.8%); Translarna sales: $48.4M (-13.6%); Emflaza sales: $32.7M (+9.7%).
Net loss: ($77.7M); loss/share: ($1.37).
2020 guidance: DMD franchise revenue: $320M – 340M.
Shares down 5% after hours.
https://seekingalpha.com/news/3547733-ptc-therapeutics-down-5-after-hours-product-sales-growth-remains-modest

Omeros EPS beats by $0.01, beats on revenue

Omeros (NASDAQ:OMER): Q4 Non-GAAP EPS of -$0.33 beats by $0.01; GAAP EPS of -$0.58 misses by $0.24.
Revenue of $33.42M (+51.8% Y/Y) beats by $1.67M.
Shares +2.5%.
https://seekingalpha.com/news/3547655-omeros-eps-beats-0_01-beats-on-revenue

uniQure EPS misses by $0.29, beats on revenue

uniQure (NASDAQ:QURE): FY GAAP EPS of -$3.11 misses by $0.29.
Revenue of $7.28M (-35.5% Y/Y) beats by $1.19M.
https://seekingalpha.com/news/3547674-precigen-eps-misses-0_19-misses-on-revenue

BeiGene EPS misses by $1.39, misses on revenue

BeiGene (NASDAQ:BGNE): Q4 GAAP EPS of -$6.39 misses by $1.39.
Revenue of $56.89M (-3.0% Y/Y) misses by $3.36M.
https://seekingalpha.com/news/3547680-beigene-eps-misses-1_39-misses-on-revenue

Allscripts Q4 sales up 2%; cash flow ops up 191%

Allscripts Healthcare Solutions (NASDAQ:MDRX) Q4 results:
Revenue: $451M (+2.0%); bookings: $312M (+5.8%).
Net loss: ($19.0M) (-105.1%); non-GAAP net income: $28.0M (-13.8%); loss/share: ($0.12) (105.6%); non-GAAP EPS: $0.17 (-5.6%).
Non-GAAP EBITDA: $73.8M (-0.3%).
Cash flow ops: $12.4M (+191.2%).
Q1 guidance: Revenue: $420M – 430M; bookings: $175M – 200M.
2020 guidance: Revenue: $1.75B – 1.85B (consensus: $1.85B); bookings: $900M – 1,000M; non-GAAP EPS: $0.70 – 0.75 (consensus: $0.76).
CFO Rick Poulton promoted to President & CFO effective tomorrow, March 3, succeeding Dennis Olis who will be leaving the company.
https://seekingalpha.com/news/3547681-allscripts-q4-sales-up-2-cash-flow-ops-up-191