Baillie Gifford-backed Denali secures Takeda as partner Baillie Gifford-backed US-biotech Denali Therapeutics has secured its first corporate out-licensing deal, just weeks after completing its Nasdaq IPO. Denali, which features in the Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust SMT portfolio, has signed a development deal with Takada covering three programmes for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease and other neuro-degenerative diseases. […]
Biotech bellwether Celgene to report key update next week Investors in the main sector specialist investment trusts should watch for an important update from Celgene early next week at the annual JP Morgan Healthcare Conference, the largest and most important investor event in the sector. The US biotech group is expected to “pre-announce” Q4 sales […]
Pershing Square settles lawsuit with Allergan – Pershing Square Holdings, Ltd has reached an agreement in principle, subject to court approval, to settle lawsuits concerning the attempted acquisition of Allergan plc. by Pershing Square Capital Management, L.P. and Valeant Pharmaceuticals International, Inc. in 2014. The lawsuits were filed in the Central District of California (Anthony […]
Key guidance expected for biotech trust favourite Biogen Biogen, the neurology-focused US biotech giant and a key holding for several of the UK’s sector specialist investment trusts, will provide a closely-watched update for investors at next week’s JP Morgan Healthcare conference that could be critical to its 2018 outlook. Biogen’s CEO will present at the conference, […]
Prothena drag on Woodford Patient Capital A 45% fall in the value of its large shareholding in Prothena since the end of the third quarter seems to have been the main factor behind a decline in the value of Woodford Patient Capital Trust (WPCT) over the same period, according to the trust’s latest monthly update. WPCT’s shares have […]
Post IPO fall for Nightstar hits Syncona A fall in the post IPO share price of Nasdaq-listed, UK-based gene therapy specialist Nightstar Therapeutics marred an otherwise strong performance for UK biotech investment trust Syncona (SYNC) in November, whose NAV dipped by 4% in the month, according to its latest monthly update. Syncona’s 42% ownership of Nightstar […]
Baillie Gifford co-leads $110m financing deal for gene therapy developer Orchard Therapeutics Edinburgh-based fund manager Baillie Gifford is continuing its foray into biotech investing, by co-leading a large $110m (£85m) Series B venture deal for Orchard Therapeutics, a Anglo-US company working on gene therapies for rare disorders. The specific Baillie Gifford-managed funds that have provided the […]
Polar Capital Global Healthcare reflects on year of transition – Polar Capital Global Healthcare, announcing its results for the year ended 30 September 2017, says that its NAV total return for the year amounted to 0.6% compared to a rise in the benchmark (the MSCI Global Healthcare Index) of 8.6%. Meanwhile their share price total […]
HBM Healthcare sees healthy NAV rise but remains at a deep discount Swiss-listed HBM Healthcare Investments (HBMN.S) recorded an impressive 23% rise in NAV and saw a 36% gain in its share price in the 11 months to end November, according to its latest monthly update. However, the trust’s shares currently trade at an 18.5% discount to […]
Worldwide Healthcare maintains strong run and moves to premium Despite seeing a relatively flat-to-down month in November, Worldwide Healthcare Trust (WWH) generated a 15% increase in NAV and 18% rise in its share price in the 11 month year-to-date period, comfortably beating the 9% rise in its benchmark index, according to its latest monthly factsheet. Moreover, the […]
