Target $124
https://www.benzinga.com/stock/NBIX/ratings
Friday, March 6, 2020
Coronavirus updates, March 6
Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) told employees in the Bay Area to stay home and cancel any trips, while Gap (NYSE:GPS) shuttered its New York City headquarters after a worker tested positive for the coronavirus.
Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) also confirmed that two employees have been diagnosed in Washington’s Puget Sound region, the area that includes its Redmond headquarters.
More bad new for the travel sector… Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) is expecting a hit of up to $300M for first-quarter operating revenue, prompting the carrier to cut its outlook.
https://seekingalpha.com/news/3549300-latest-coronavirus-updates-wfh-for-facebookDe Blasio Asks Travelers Returning From Certain Countries To Isolate Themselves
Mayor Bill de Blasio issued a new directive to international travelers Thursday.
He wants some returning from certain countries to isolate themselves voluntarily.
At JFK Airport, some international travelers were already wearing masks as a precaution to protect themselves from the coronavirus, but de Blasio wants those returning from China, Iran, Italy, South Korea and Japan to take it a step further.
“We’re asking that you isolate yourself for 14 days as a precaution,” he said.
“That’s crazy, though,” said Ali Saab, whose family member returned from Italy. “Because it’s not doable.”
One traveler returning from Italy says she’s going back to work.
“I’m a doctor, so I think that you should use good sense,” one woman told CBS2’s Aundrea Cline-Thomas. “There were no cases by us.”
“I can take online, but maybe after two weeks I can go back to classrooms,” he said.
So will Tyler Frisia, who is in limbo after returning from his study abroad in Italy.
“I would like to just minimize the risk for other people,” he said.
“We think it reduces the already low risk of getting the virus on public transit,” MTA Chairman Pat Foye said.
To lessen growing concerns, City Council Speaker Corey Johnson shared a picture online of him riding the subway with a caption that said, “Take precautions like you would any cold and flu season.”
De Blasio also rode the subway, hoping his example sends a clear message.
He wants some returning from certain countries to isolate themselves voluntarily.
“We’re asking that you isolate yourself for 14 days as a precaution,” he said.
“That’s crazy, though,” said Ali Saab, whose family member returned from Italy. “Because it’s not doable.”
One traveler returning from Italy says she’s going back to work.
“I’m a doctor, so I think that you should use good sense,” one woman told CBS2’s Aundrea Cline-Thomas. “There were no cases by us.”
“I can take online, but maybe after two weeks I can go back to classrooms,” he said.
So will Tyler Frisia, who is in limbo after returning from his study abroad in Italy.
“I would like to just minimize the risk for other people,” he said.
Quarantine is one strategy to prevent the coronavirus from spreading. Disinfecting all MTA stations is another.
“We think it reduces the already low risk of getting the virus on public transit,” MTA Chairman Pat Foye said.
To lessen growing concerns, City Council Speaker Corey Johnson shared a picture online of him riding the subway with a caption that said, “Take precautions like you would any cold and flu season.”
De Blasio also rode the subway, hoping his example sends a clear message.
Coronavirus Update: Mayor Bill De Blasio Asks Travelers Returning From Certain Countries To Isolate Themselves
Thursday, March 5, 2020
Biopharma’s role in tackling coronavirus
The
industry has a duty to develop Covid-19 antivirals and vaccines, but
the nature of clinical trials means that lower-profile measures must
take precedence.
Drug and vaccine development is a long and costly business that
frequently fails to generate a profit for the companies involved. If
this is widely appreciated within biopharma it probably needs repeating
in light of calls – politically driven or otherwise – on the industry to
“do something” about the coronavirus outbreak.
Given this harsh reality it is a minor miracle that Gilead has already managed to initiate two pivotal studies with its antiviral remdesvir. Numerous other biotech and diagnostic companies have been getting in on the Covid-19 act, EvaluatePharma shows, but in many cases enthusiastic press releases amount to empty words.
Vir, Epivax and Generex fall into the category of biotechs announcing the signing of deals aiming to develop vaccines or therapeutics targeting Covid-19. Of course, signing a deal is not the same as actually developing something, which will take a lot longer, but at least the effort is there.
There are more flagrant examples of jumping on the coronavirus bandwagon: Inovio, for instance, this week trumpeted the fact that it was “accelerating the timeline” for its Covid-19 vaccine; Innovation Pharmaceuticals presented a theoretical rationale backing one of its projects; Evelo is “considering developing” another asset; and Adma Biologics apparently has some relevant IP.
As is to be expected in biotech, fund-raisings are seldom far behind, especially if the purported news triggers a share price spike (Coronavirus stock hype proves infectious, February 27, 2020). Tonix and Co-Diagnostics, for instance, have this week raised cash in conjunction with coronavirus-related announcements.
Yet it is Pfizer that perhaps presents the most sober view. On Monday the world’s biggest drug company said it was screening its antiviral pipeline for possible hits; any identified would first need to undergo toxicology testing, Pfizer calmly spelled out, meaning that a clinical trial could start by the end of 2020.
In the case of flu preparations are made months in advance to identify relevant strains, and ensure sufficient manufacturing capacity and infrastructure to ship vaccines. Should the most virulent strain differ markedly there is rarely enough time to switch to a different vaccine within the same season.
A situation like Covid-19, where the virus is only just being characterised, no manufacturing capacity is in place, and the industry effectively has a standing start while incidence is rising exponentially, presents complexity on a completely different level.
This is not to say that development efforts should slacken. Apart from Gilead’s remdesvir, as of today Clinicaltrials.gov reveals 70 Covid-19 studies, virtually all sponsored by Chinese hospitals, testing everything from antivirals to vitamins and traditional Chinese medicine.
But pharma is not designed to be a fast-response unit, and it certainly is not a charity. By the time even a treatment like remdesvir becomes commercially available Covid-19 will have either abated or turned into a full-on pandemic.
Right now, given reports of people in South Korea congregating in their hundreds to buy face masks, for instance, less glamorous but no less important public education is key.
https://www.evaluate.com/vantage/articles/analysis/vantage-views/biopharmas-role-tackling-coronavirus
Given this harsh reality it is a minor miracle that Gilead has already managed to initiate two pivotal studies with its antiviral remdesvir. Numerous other biotech and diagnostic companies have been getting in on the Covid-19 act, EvaluatePharma shows, but in many cases enthusiastic press releases amount to empty words.
Vir, Epivax and Generex fall into the category of biotechs announcing the signing of deals aiming to develop vaccines or therapeutics targeting Covid-19. Of course, signing a deal is not the same as actually developing something, which will take a lot longer, but at least the effort is there.
There are more flagrant examples of jumping on the coronavirus bandwagon: Inovio, for instance, this week trumpeted the fact that it was “accelerating the timeline” for its Covid-19 vaccine; Innovation Pharmaceuticals presented a theoretical rationale backing one of its projects; Evelo is “considering developing” another asset; and Adma Biologics apparently has some relevant IP.
As is to be expected in biotech, fund-raisings are seldom far behind, especially if the purported news triggers a share price spike (Coronavirus stock hype proves infectious, February 27, 2020). Tonix and Co-Diagnostics, for instance, have this week raised cash in conjunction with coronavirus-related announcements.
Yet it is Pfizer that perhaps presents the most sober view. On Monday the world’s biggest drug company said it was screening its antiviral pipeline for possible hits; any identified would first need to undergo toxicology testing, Pfizer calmly spelled out, meaning that a clinical trial could start by the end of 2020.
In the case of flu preparations are made months in advance to identify relevant strains, and ensure sufficient manufacturing capacity and infrastructure to ship vaccines. Should the most virulent strain differ markedly there is rarely enough time to switch to a different vaccine within the same season.
A situation like Covid-19, where the virus is only just being characterised, no manufacturing capacity is in place, and the industry effectively has a standing start while incidence is rising exponentially, presents complexity on a completely different level.
This is not to say that development efforts should slacken. Apart from Gilead’s remdesvir, as of today Clinicaltrials.gov reveals 70 Covid-19 studies, virtually all sponsored by Chinese hospitals, testing everything from antivirals to vitamins and traditional Chinese medicine.
But pharma is not designed to be a fast-response unit, and it certainly is not a charity. By the time even a treatment like remdesvir becomes commercially available Covid-19 will have either abated or turned into a full-on pandemic.
Right now, given reports of people in South Korea congregating in their hundreds to buy face masks, for instance, less glamorous but no less important public education is key.
https://www.evaluate.com/vantage/articles/analysis/vantage-views/biopharmas-role-tackling-coronavirus
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