Healthcare Stocks On The Move (EW, NVO, BBI…)

(RTTNews) - The following are some of the healthcare stocks that touched new highs and new lows.

New Highs

1. Edwards Lifesciences Corporation (EW) hit a new high of $238.36 in intraday trading on Thursday before closing at $228.86. The stock has gained nearly 50% year-to-date.

Edwards Lifesciences provides products and technologies for structural heart disease and critical care monitoring.

The company's PASCAL Transcatheter Valve Repair System in patients with degenerative mitral regurgitation (DMR) is under phase III study, dubbed CLASP IID/IIF.

In September, the company received FDA approval for the CLASP IITR Pivotal Trial to study the PASCAL system in patients with symptomatic severe tricuspid regurgitation.

The PASCAL system is available commercially in Europe.

The FDA approved Edwards Lifesciences' Sapien 3 and Sapien 3 Ultra transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) systems for the treatment of patients with severe aortic stenosis (AS), who are determined to be at low risk of open-heart surgery, on August 16, 2019. However, on 22 August, it issued a Class I recall for the Sapien 3 Ultra delivery system, citing concerns about burst balloons. The Sapien valve was first approved in Europe in 2007.

In September, the company said its SAPIEN 3 TAVR showed early and sustained health status advantages in severe aortic stenosis (AS) patients at low surgical risk.

Edwards Lifesciences reported ' better-than-expected sales of $1.1 billion in the third quarter, up 21% to from last year.

For 2019, the company expects total sales to be in the upper range of $4.0 billion to $4.3 billion. Analysts expect the company to report revenue of $4.3 billion in 2019.

2. Frequency Therapeutics, Inc. (FREQ) jumped to a new high of $14.84 in intraday trading on Thursday before closing at $14.05. The stock debuted on Nasdaq on October 3, 2019, at an opening price of $11.20.

Frequency Therapeutics focuses on harnessing the body's innate biology to repair or reverse damage caused by a broad range of degenerative diseases.

FX-322, the company's lead product candidate, proposed for sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL) completed phase I/II study. A phase II a study is underway. Topline data are expected in the second half of 2020.

SNHL is the most common form of hearing loss that results from damage to the hair cells in the inner ear or problems with the nerve pathways that convert sound waves from the inner ear to the brain.

3. Novo Nordisk A/S (NVO) hit a new high of $54.37 in intraday trading on Thursday before closing at $54.32. The stock has gained 18% year-to-date.

Novo Nordisk has a strong product portfolio chiefly in the area of diabetes.

The company has a robust clinical pipeline including;

Somapacitan, a long-acting human growth hormone that completed phase III study in adults with growth disorder. The company recently filed for approval of the drug to the regulators in the U.S and E.U.

A phase II trial of Somapacitan in children with growth hormone deficiency, dubbed REAL, showed positive results, the company announced in September.

Novo Nordisk reported net sales in the first half of 2019 of DKK 59.33 billion compared with DKK 54.34 billion in the year-ago period.

In 2019, sales growth is expected to be 4-6%, while analysts expect a growth of 3.10%.

New Lows

1. Brickell Biotech, Inc. (BBI) dropped to a new low of $2.44 in intraday trading on Thursday before closing at $2.89. The stock has lost 65% year-to-date.

Brickell Biotech focuses on the development of various prescription therapeutics for the treatment of debilitating skin diseases.

The company's lead product candidate, sofpironium bromide is in phase III trial in patients with axillary hyperhidrosis. A pivotal Phase III study of the drug by Brickell's Japanese partner, Kaken was completed recently.

Brickell, in September, announced the completion of its merger with Vical Inc. Following the merger, approximately 56% of shares are with Brickell's stockholders and about 44% share with Vical's stockholders.

2. Adaptimmune Therapeutics plc (ADAP) hit a new low of $0.86 in intraday trading on Thursday before closing at $0.89. The stock is down by nearly 85% year-to-date.

Adaptimmune Therapeutics focuses on T-cell therapy to treat patients with solid tumors. The company's unique SPEAR (Specific Peptide Enhanced Affinity Receptor) T cell platform enables the engineering of T-cells to target and destroy cancer across multiple solid tumors.

The company's lead drug candidate ADP-A2M4 is in phase II study, dubbed Spearhead 1, in patients with synovial sarcoma or Myxoid Liposarcoma.

Early this month, Adaptimmune, signed an agreement with Cryoport, Inc. (CYRX), a temperature-controlled logistics solutions company dedicated to the life sciences industry, to ensure safe and fully monitored transport of Adaptimmune's cell therapies.

In August, Adaptimmune and Noile-Immune Biotech, Japan signed an agreement to co-develop next-generation SPEAR T-cell products incorporating Noile-Immune's PRIME (proliferation inducing and migration enhancing) technology, based upon co-expression of IL-7 and CCL19.

Adaptimmune will have exclusive rights to develop and commercialize resulting products on a worldwide basis.

Adaptimmune will make an upfront cash payment and milestone payments to Noile-Immune of up to $312M across all programs.

The companies plan to gain regulatory approval for human testing of the first target program by 2021.