The Week in Review #26 IN THE BIOTECH WORLD - RESEARCH - IMPROVING CRISPR GENE EDITING The problem cited with gene editing is that the editing may stay switched on after it succeeded in reaching its goals. To prevent further unwarranted mutations, scientists from the Bath and Cardiff University have invented a switch that aims at controlling protein expression in cultured cells and mouse embryos with the …

The Week in Review #25 When Stocks Plummet for No Relevant Reasons Sometimes investors need to know why some of their stocks plummet when no bad news is broadcast anywhere and when firms announce terrific news promising progressive growth. Yesterday was one of those days where reasons for stocks’ deviant, and probably unwarranted, negative performances must be identified. Let’s have a look at what happened during …

Slashing of the CRISPR gene editing companies’ stocks, including CRISPR Therapeutics (CRSP), Editas (EDIT) and Intellia (NTLA) is caused by two studies published in Nature Medicine, which revealed that cells whose genes are edited by CRISPR/ Cas9 could develop tumors in treated patients. Nobody could blame those who sold the CRSPR gene editing stocks’ because, although many scientists believe that the cited cause can be overcome and others stated that …

A couple of days following the news that the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) of the European Medicines Agency (EMA) has adopted a positive opinion on Amgen’s (AMGN) product Prolia® (denosumab) for the treatment of bone loss associated with long-term systemic glucocorticoid therapy, the same Committee recommended a label variation for KYPROLIS® (carfilzomib) with an addition that includes the final overall survival (OS) data from the Phase 3 ASPIRE trial. In the ASPIRE trial, KYPROLIS …

The Week in Review #21 Part 2 THE  MARKET (2) - Our remarks in the past Week in Review included our confidence that the attempts by negative investors to drive the market crazy will not deprive the market from its innate capability to sense and react to the authentic factors it usually reacts to . . . This content is for paid subscribers. Please click here to …

The Week in Review #21 Part 1 THE MARKET - Like symphonic orchestras that bring to the listeners’ ears, minds and souls melodies composed by legendary authors, the stock market reflects what’s going on in the world, which would positively or negatively impact the lives and well being of the earth’s residents . . . This content is for paid subscribers. Please click here to subscribe or here to …

Prohost Letter #420 REAL BREAKTHROUGHS - One Has Already Been Used and the Other Has Extraordinary Promises In  the  NEWS - THE POWER OF CHECKPOINT INHIBITOR IMMUNOTHERAPY WOW It is about the checkpoint inhibitors immunotherapy, which is bringing to the world of cancer a stunning revelation of a combination treatment offering an almost cure for a lung cancer...

A False Reason for Unwarranted Selling of CRISPR/Cas9 Gene Editing Shares     CRISPRs are bacterial immune systems that contain many defense enzymes such as the Cas9 “molecular scissors,” which scientists have engineered as a powerful DNA-targeting gene-editing tool and created companies specialized in CRISPR gene editing tools. The outstanding revolutionary news, which is wrongly interpreted by Wall Street, which led to a recent selling of the shares of CRISPR gene …

The Week in Review #19 Targeting the Root-­Cause of Diseases - Investing in the Future is Currently the Best Way - Stopping aberrant genes from causing diseases has taken time to move from wishful thinking to reality. Through trial and error, various different approaches have been tested over the years, including attempts at genetic engineering... &nbsp . . . This content is for paid subscribers. …

Prohost Letter #417 Private Lessons - These lessons are overdue and we had to do this homework before we go into further evaluations of our picks and introduction of new companies as we promised in the past issue. We believe that the Prohost readers, the fans and the critics should know how and why we pick our biotech stocks . . . This content is …

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

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 …

About the CRISPR/Cas9 Gene Editing Patent Shareholders of biotechnology firms specialized in CRISPR gene editing technology are in a state of confusion regarding the technology's patents. The confusion is caused by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) decision to sustain the intellectual property awarded to the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard. This ruling has caused the stock of the firm Editas (EDIT), which …

Prohost Letter #403 Part 2 Continued From Wednesday Instead of continuing yesterday article about Agenus, we decided to post it all so that the reader can find it in one place. Important changes and additions have been made especially under the headline “Near-­Term Priorities, Possibilities and Catalysts”, which are important to read. Learning More About AGENUS Since its inception, Agenus (AGEN), previously known as Antigenics, …

Another gene editing firm, CRISPR Therapeutics decided to become publicly traded. On Friday, the private firm filed with the SEC planning for a $90 million initial public offering (IPO). CRISPR Therapeutics is headquartered in Switzerland, but also exists in Cambridge. It was cofounded by Emmanuelle Charpentier, who, together with Jennifer Doudna claim discovering CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing recipe. The firm aim is to use CRISPR/Cas9 genome-editing …

Pfizer accepted to pay $14 billion in cash to acquire Medivation. It is important for investors to know what Pfizer is after with regard to this acquisition so that investors could sense the current deep-pocketed biopharmaceutical firms’ preferences in selecting their takeover targets. Recognizing the facts behind Pfizer’s decision could also protect investors from being mislead by negative bloggers who, while serving their own agendas, …

Gene Editing EDITAS MEDICINE CRISPR gene editing firm Editas Medicine (EDIT) signed a collaboration agreement with a   small cap gene therapy firm called Adverum Biotechnologies (ADVM). The collaboration aims at exploring the delivery of Editas’ genome editing approach with Adverum’s next-generation adeno-associated viral (AAV) vectors to treat up to five inherited retinal diseases that have yet to find treatments or have poor existing remedies. According …

EXELIXIS AGAIN They said: Sell EXEL, as no partner is interested in the firm’s FDA approved cabozantinib to date. What really happened: It did not take long for IPSEN to come forward and take the responsibility of marketing cabozantinib abroad and pay $200 million upfront payment to Exelixis. They said: Although the FDA approved Cabometyx (cabozantinib) for advanced renal cell carcinoma (RCC), the drug will …

Prohost Letter #390 COMPANIES USING CRISPR GENE EDITING TOOLS - The Firms Launched with CRISPR Patents Either Pending or Disputed! What Does This Mean? What are these Firms’ Priorities? But First: A Reminder In the last issue, Prohost #389, we pinpointed the gene editing technologies and techniques and demonstrated the difference between gene editing, which is genetic engineering, i.e., making changes in the genes themselves, and antisense …