We have a few small clinical stage firms in the Prohost Portfolio that were established with the goal of designing safer and more effective versions of the very promising CAR T immuno-oncology products. We intend to revisit these firms and see how far they have reached on what can be described as a very hard road towards the realization of these small ambitious firms’ goals. Among …

The Week in Review #35 Politics and the Market The market tumbled today as Theresa May, the Prime Minister of England, delayed the Brexit vote!  The question becomes, what will be put forth next as a legitimate reason for bringing the market down and eroding investors’ gains? The weather? A war among gangs in a fourth-world country? Maybe the resignation of the chairman of a …

At the 60th American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting   CAR T is Still a Star With all the pessimistic views critics have sprayed around in the past few years about the cell therapy for cancer, the CAR T approach remained a star of prominent cancer gatherings. This phenomenon confirms the value of the FDA decision of approving the CAR T products, in spite of their …

Celyad (CYAD) is still a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing advanced or improved CAR-T cell-based therapies. Today, Celyad announced that the first patient has received an injection in Phase 1 of the alloSHRINK clinical trial, evaluating its non-gene edited allogeneic CAR-T therapy known as CYAD-101. In this trial, FOLFOX chemotherapy is used simultaneously with CYAD-101 on patients with unresectable metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC). According to Dr. Christian Homsy, …

Yesterday, the Stock Market skyrocketed and with it a significant number of Prohost Picks that we keep reminding ourselves are undervalued. The outperformance unveiled the interred strength of firms such as: Illumina (ILMN), Amgen (AMGN) and Vertex (VRTX), the gene therapy firms: RegenxBio (RGNX) and Spark (ONCE), and the gene editing firms: Crispr (CRSP), Intellia (NTLA) and Editas (EDIT), as well as others in the Prohost Portfolio. The rebounding in the …

CRISPR Gene Editing Beyond Bringing Cures to disease-causing genes, CRISPR gene editing technology can change the way diseases are being treated and treat diseases that have yet to find a treatment. CRISPR gene editing can play a key role in solving a lot of problems that prevent breakthrough treatments and approaches from reaching their ultimate goals. A best example is chimeric antigen receptor (CAR T) Cell immunotherapy approach to …

The Week in Review #28 The approval of revolutionary products created by biotech firms with solid scientific fundamentals, superior scientists and advanced technologies is what motivates us to pick for investment biotech and biopharmaceutical firms. So, let’s see what has been approved in the parting week  from firms that we picked for investment.       IMPORTANT APPROVALS       Prohost Picked Firm     …

Celyad (CYAD) is an immuno-oncology firm, which created CAR T CELL treatments for cancers, including  solid tumors. Celyad announced its consolidated financial results for the six-month period ending 30 June 2018. Celyad’s report is endorsed by Europe. Dr. Christian Homsy, Celyad’s CEO started by expressing the firm’s great enthusiasm towards the progress it has made in the first half of 2018, which include a significant advancement of …

THE BIOTECH EVOLUTION: AN UNPARALLELED SPEED The Tremendous Regret Investors Will Feel If They Sell the Best of the Best Biotechnology Firms Only Because the Market Is Weird   Even if one is scared and feels he should sell shares, he must be wise enough to select those stocks whose prices are closer to reaching the targets he estimated as representing their fair values. Biotech investors who lend their ears to …

In spite of their successes, Immuno-oncology products, which we still like to call immunotherapy for several reasons, are a work in progress. The most two highlighted approaches that enable the immune system to clear cancers are the checkpoint inhibition and the chimeric antigen receptor (CAR T) genetically engineered immune system T cells therapies. Therapeutic vaccines had some successes, but the outcome was inferior to the two approaches that have …

Celgene (CELG) and Juno (JUNO) announced the signing of a definitive merger agreement upon which Celgene has agreed to acquire Juno. Celgene will pay $87 per share in cash, or a total of approximately $9 billion, net of cash and marketable securities acquired and Juno shares already owned by Celgene (approximately 9.7% of outstanding shares). The transaction was approved by the boards of directors of both companies. Juno …

Juno Therapeutics (JUNO) is one of the casualties that occurred during the 59th American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting. The stock experienced undeserved selloff except for the fact that it had a deserved rally that we believe will remain as long as the firm is spending effort towards improving its cancer treatment. This cancer treatment is the  living genetically engineered chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell expected …

Gilead Sciences (GILD) has unsurprisingly agreed to acquire Cell Design Labs in a structured buy out valued for up to $567 million, including the shares of Cell Design Labs held by Kite, the CAR T firm that Gilead has recently acquired. Brian Atwood, President and CEO of Cell Design Labs, Inc., said, “Bringing our robust technology platforms under the Gilead umbrella, with its outstanding research …

The Treatment is Not A New Way as Being Stated, It is Only the Target, Which Has Been Changed   Outstanding news announced that leukemia patients who relapsed after being treated with the chimeric receptor antigen T cell (CAR T) targeting CD-19 were saved from imminent death by a CAR T targeting CD-22. The new treatment, which is being presented in some articles as a …

The Week in Review #7 A lot more happened in the past week regarding improving the treatment of cancer and of other devastating diseases. This issue contains discoveries that aim at improving breakthrough immuno-­oncology treatment outcomes. Here are some of the breakthrough technologies and treatments that might improve, by-­far, the management of cancer . . . This content is for paid subscribers. Please click here to …

Coming Soon... The Week in Review #3 Gilead Acquisition - Rallying by Association - Improving on Cancer Treatments...

The answer is, indeed, Gilead (GILD) and its CAR T drug approval will be for non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL). This is true, as in May, the FDA has accepted for priority review Kite Pharma’s Biologics License Application (BLA) for its genetically engineered Chimeric Antigen Receptor T Cell (CAR-T) product axicabtagene ciloleucel. The submission follows positive data demonstrated after a single infusion of axicabtagene ciloleucel in the …

CRISPR Therapeutics (CRSP) and Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center (MGHCC) have entered into a two-year research collaboration and license option agreement to develop Novel T cell therapies for cancer. As part of the collaboration, CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing technology will be utilized to improve upon current T cell therapies in development addressing unmet needs in both hematologic and solid tumors.  This improvement is expected to occur by combining the …

When what you predicted, preached, and wished are realized, this is good news. Today’s news is bringing all Prohost predictions into realization, Yes, Kite (KITE) is on its way to be acquired by Gilead (GILD) and yes both stocks have rallied and yes Juno (JUNO) is also rallying on the Kite’s news because both firms are pioneers in the CAR-T Immunotherapy technology and drugs. Rallied …

THE WEEK IN REVIEW Wall Street As we said in yesterday’s article posted under Today’s Highlights, stocks can plummet at any time, regardless of whether they have the best or the worst grades for their financial or accomplishments reports. Stocks can falter (yet quickly recover) for various reasons, as their prices are decided by thousands of stocks exchanging hands between sellers who need to sell …