Prohost Letter #439 The Coronavirus Outbreak - COVID-19 The news announced that the coronavirus (now known as COVID-19) outbreak would affect not only people’s health and survival but the world’s economy, Wall Street’s performance, and especially the international giant industrial firms that are committed to China. British AstraZeneca (AZN

Gilead Stock Is UP Gilead Sciences’ (GILD) provided its antiviral experimental drug remdesivir to physicians for a small number of patients infected with the 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) as a possible emergency savior. Gilead might have also signed an agreement with the Chinese authorities to conduct a clinical trial with remdesivir to treat coronavirus infected patients. Remdesivir was intended to treat the Ebola virus but …

Time to Remember Compugen The time has ripened for our readers and biotech investors to remember what we posted in the past years about Compugen (CGEN). The importance of the reminder is that the firm has taken a long time to bring its target discoveries and its targeted treatments into clinical trials whose preliminary results have demonstrated promise. Compugen is headquartered in Israel with offices …

Nektar in the NEWS The FDA's Anesthetic and Analgesic Advisory Committee (AADPAC) and Drug Safety and Risk Management Advisory Committee (DSaRM) unanimously voted no regarding the approval of Nektar Pharmaceuticals’ (NKTR) New Drug Application (NDA) for its opioid product oxycodegol (formerly NKTR-181). In a short

Nektar Therapeutics and Bristol-Myers Squibb Agreement Nektar Therapeutics (NKTR) and Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMY) announced their agreement for a new joint development plan aimed at advancing the combination of Nektar’s bempegaldesleukin (bempeg) + Bristol-Myers’ Opdivo (nivolumab) into multiple new registrational trials. The decision is based on a revision of the strategic collaboration agreement. It includes a new plan where both firms will expand the active clinical development …

Nektar Therapeutics Presents NKTR-255 at ASH Nektar Therapeutics’ (NKTR) IL-15 agonist investigational candidate NKTR-255 presentations at the 61st American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting & Exposition have been promising. Positive data presented from Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center preclinical studies conducted in collaboration with researchers from the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and more. NKTR-255 is currently . . . This content is for paid subscribers. …

Firstly, Forty-Seven and IVERIC bio  We remind that the two condemned stocks Forty-Seven (FTSV) and  IVERIC bio (

The Week in Review #47 What A Week For Biotechnology Synopsis In this “Week in Review” there is no complicated scientific and clinical information, leaving the details to the articles that we usually post on the Prohost website. Most of the Prohost picked firms’ Q3 financial results have beaten expectations. Three firms have reached the Prohost 2019 targets, and more firms have outperformed, with some …

News from Nektar Nektar Therapeutics (NKTR) announced that new data from patients with metastatic triple-negative breast cancer, who were enrolled in the PIVOT-02 study, will be presented at the upcoming 5th CRI-CIMT-EATI-AACR Cancer Immunotherapy Conference being held from September 25 to September 28, 2019 in Paris, France. The PIVOT-02 study is evaluating NKTR-214 . . . This content is for paid subscribers. Please click here to subscribe …

Amgen Agreement with Celgene for Otezla® In the News Amgen (AMGN) entered into an agreement with Celgene (CELG) to acquire worldwide rights to Otezla® (apremilast), the only oral, non-biologic treatment for psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis, and certain related assets and liabilities for $13.4 billion in cash. Amgen cited the benefits of this agreement as follows: A strong fit with Amgen’s long-standing expertise in inflammation and …

Nektar Therapeutics Story Everything was going well with Nektar Therapeutics (NKTR) stock during the Conference call regarding the firm’s Q2 financial results. (See the firm's press release under our Impacting News column). Following the Conference call the company unveiled that some of the patients treated in . . . This content is for paid subscribers. Please click here to subscribe or here to log in.

Gilead Sciences Activities There is no doubt that Gilead Sciences (GILD) is doing whatever it takes to expand, improve and upgrade its pipeline products. For the last couple of months, each and every week, we heard news about collaborations with some companies and investment in others as well as licensing products from large, medium-sized and small firms. In less than ten . . . This content is for …

Nektar Announced Results for NKTR-358  During an oral session at the Annual European Congress of Rheumatology (EULAR) 2019, in Madrid, Nektar Therapeutics (NKTR) announced results of the first-in-human Phase 1a study evaluating single-ascending doses of NKTR-358 for the treatment of autoimmune and other chronic inflammatory conditions.  The . . . This content is for paid subscribers. Please click here to subscribe or here to log in.

CRISPR Therapeutics' (CRSP) stock added around $8 today while reporting financial results for the fourth quarter and full year ended December 31, 2018. Here is what Samarth Kulkarni, Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer of CRISPR Therapeutics, has stated,“This past year was truly transformational for CRISPR Therapeutics as we achieved milestones across our key programs in β-thalassemia, sickle cell disease and immuno-oncology. We’re pleased with the progress we’ve made in …

Keytruda and Cabometyx Are Both Winners Keytruda failed to meet co-primary endpoints in Pivotal Phase 3 trial The pivotal Phase 3 KEYNOTE-240 trial evaluating Keytruda, Merck’s (MRK) checkpoint inhibitor anti-PD-1 therapy plus best supportive care, for the treatment of patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) who were previously treated with systemic therapy, did not meet its co-primary endpoints of overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival …

From the American Society of Clinical Oncology Genitourinary Cancers Symposium (ASCO GU) Prostate Cancer A presentation by Bayer demonstrated improvement in the treatment of non-metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer. Separate presentations by Bristol-Myers and Janssen also demonstrated improvement in metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer. Non-Metastatic Castration Resistant Prostate Cancer Bayer Results from pivotal Phase 3 ARAMIS trial with Bayer’s (BAYRY) and Orion Corporation’s jointly-developed product darolutamide plus …

Today, at the 2019 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Genitourinary Cancers Symposium (GU) held at Moscone West in San Francisco, CA, Nektar (NKTR) will present preliminary efficacy, safety and immune monitoring data from the ongoing metastatic urothelial carcinoma (mUC) patient cohort in the PIVOT-02 study evaluating NKTR-214 in combination with Bristol-Myers immunotherapy product OPDIVO (nivolumab). NKTR-214 is a CD122-biased agonist designed to provide sustained …

Now You See it, Now You Don’t Deliberate Omissions of Real Facts Real facts might be displayed or concealed depending on the news announcers’ or bloggers’ self-interests. The following contains cases of deliberate or unintentional omission of facts that led to the decline of fundamentally sound biotech and biopharmaceutical firms in bullish market during the departed trading week . . . This content is for paid subscribers. Please …

Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMY) will acquire Celgene (CELG) in a cash and stock transaction with an equity value of approximately $74 billion. Under the terms of the agreement: Celgene shareholders will receive 1.0 Bristol-Myers Squibb share and $50.00 in cash for each share of Celgene. They will also receive one tradeable Contingent Value Right (CVR) for each share of Celgene, which will entitle the holder to receive a …

The Week in Review #34 Improving on Immunotherapy and preventing one of its serious side effects. Removal of glutamine leads to a substantial reduction in cell growth or induces cell death in certain types of cancer cells, indicating that these cells are dependent on, or "addiected" to, glutamine. Normal cells do not depend much on glutamine . . . This content is for paid subscribers. …