BB Healthcare to benefit from possible Shire takeover London-listed BB Healthcare Trust (BBH) looks likely to be the main investment trust beneficiary of a potential takeover offer for Shire Pharmaceuticals, which may come about after Takeda released a statement suggesting it was evaluating such a move. Shire, which originated in the UK but is now Irish domiciled and […]
Polar Capital swaps Merck for Lilly – Polar Capital Global Healthcare (PCGH) acquired a large holding, representing ~3% of its NAV, in US pharmaceutical giant Lilly in January, at the same time selling its entire holding in Merck & Co, according to an analysis by Marten & Co. Lilly appears in 14th position by size as […]
Worldwide Healthcare rejigs portfolio, adds BMS, Vertex stakes OrbiMed-managed Worldwide Healthcare Trust (WWH) has added new large shareholdings in Bristol-Myers Squibb and Vertex to its portfolio, displacing holdings in Intuitive Surgical and Cigna from its top 10, according to the trust’s latest factsheet. The changes follow the addition of a holding in Merck & Co in January, and […]
IBT takes profits on Nektar, buys Array SV Health-managed International Biotech Trust (IBT) saw a 2.2% fall in NAV in February, beating the 2.6% decline reported for the sterling-adjusted value of the benchmark Nasdaq biotechnology index by a small margin, one of only a handful of sector specialist trusts to do so. The main positive […]
Biotech Growth’s big-bio focus a cause of underperformance in February OrbiMed-managed Biotech Growth Trust (BIOG) saw a 3.9% fall in its NAV in February, under-performing against a 2.6% decline in the sterling-denominated value of the benchmark NASDAQ Biotechnology Index. The value of investments held by the trust were hit in the market wide sell-off in […]
WPCT gets boost from Prothena-Celgene deal Shares in Woodford Patient Capital Trust (WPCT) have risen by almost 10% this morning to 78p on news of a partnership announced after US markets closed last night between its largest investee company, Prothena (NASDAQ:PRTA) and Celgene (NASDAQ:CELG). The partnership will develop new therapies for neurodegenerative disease, including Alzheimer’s, and […]
WPCT should see benefit on Oxford Nanopore fundraising Neil Woodford-managed Woodford Patient Capital Trust (WPCT) has finally generated something positive for its long suffering investors, with the fund likely to be able to take a roughly £8m fair value gain on its holding in Oxford Nanopore, following a new £100m fundraising by its UK-based investee […]
Trust favourite Alexion notches up a success with important ‘1210 clinical data Alexion (Nasdaq: ALXN) scored an important positive result in the first of two pivotal trials with ALXN1210 in paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria (PNH), boosting its shares by around 8% earlier today. ALXN1210 is a long-acting follow-up molecule to Soliris, Alexion’s blockbuster drug for three […]
BB Biotech remains a top performer in Feb Switzerland’s BB Biotech (BBB.S) recorded a 2% fall in its NAV in February, but achieved a robust 7.8% rise in its portfolio value in the two month year-to-date (YTD) period, on the back of the strong rise in January. BB Biotech enjoyed the second best investment performance in […]
$300m C share issue planned for BioPharma Credit – BioPharma Credit has released its first annual results, covering the period from launch to 31 December 2017. The NAV at the end of the period was $1.0091, up from 98 cents immediately after launch. The original target was to pay a 4% dividend per annum. It declared interim […]