Category: Sciences

• Experienced Attorney Chris Cook Joins Executive Team as General Counsel

• The new role is expected to be critical to operations and strategic initiatives.

Austin, TX, October 27, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Cassava Sciences, Inc. (Nasdaq: SAVA), a clinical Alzheimer’s disease biotechnology company, announced the expansion of its executive team with the appointment of Christopher Cook as senior vice president and general counsel. This is a newly created position reporting to President and CEO Remy Barbier.

“Chris is a seasoned lawyer, a seasoned lawyer and a recognized leader in legal matters,” said Remy Barbier. “We are delighted that Chris will soon be joining us as a Senior Advisor to Cassava Sciences. I am confident that his knowledge and rich experience will be a valuable addition to the company’s business operations and strategic initiatives.”

Chris has over 25 years of experience in healthcare, private practice and government. He moved to Cassava Sciences from medical company Alcon, where he has been Head of Litigation and Government Investigations since 2017. Prior to Alcon, he was Vice President and General Counsel for Walmart Central America in San Jose, Costa Rica. Chris practiced law for seventeen years at the multinational law firm Jones Day, where he was a litigation partner in the firm’s Washington, D.C., and Chicago offices. Prior to Jones Day, Chris worked as an Assistant US Attorney in Chicago. He holds a BA in English from Emory University and a Juris Doctor from Harvard Law School.

Phase 3 Clinical Program
Cassava Sciences’ current Phase 3 program consists of two double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trials of simufilam, an oral drug that is being studied in approximately 1,750 patients with mild to moderate Alzheimer’s disease. Both Phase 3 studies have been assessed under a specific protocol (SPA) by the US Food and Drug Administration. For more information about Cassava Sciences’ Phase 3 trials, visit ClinicalTrials.gov.

 

About Simufilum
Simufilam is a proprietary small molecule (oral) drug from Cassava Sciences that restores the normal form and function of the modified filamin A (FLNA) protein in the brain. Cassava Sciences owns the global development and commercial rights to Alzheimer’s disease research programs and related technologies without any licensing obligations to third parties.

Cassava Science, Inc. about
Cassava Science, Inc. is a clinical stage biotechnology company based in Austin, Texas. Our mission is to identify and treat neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease. Our new science is based on stabilizing but eliminating an important brain protein. For more information visit: https://www.CassavaSciences.com.

For more information please contact:
Eric Schon, CFO
(512) 501-2450
[email protected]

We discuss an incredible interview with Hilary Metz of Cassava Science |: Small Cap Equity Investing

Vontobel Holding Ltd. sold its interest to Exact Sciences Co. (NASDAQ: EXAS – Get Rating ) by 25.3% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 27,851 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,621 shares during the period. Vontobel Holding AG's holdings in Exact Sciences were worth $1,130,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Capital Advisory Group Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Exact Sciences in the first quarter worth about $37,000. Trustcore Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in Exact Sciences in the first quarter valued at about $41,000. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. grew its position in Exact Sciences by 45.5% in the first quarter. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. now owns 640 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $45,000 after buying an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Elequin Capital LP acquired a new stake in Exact Sciences during the first quarter worth about $46,000. Finally, in the second quarter, Ellevest Inc. It increased its positions in the field of exact sciences by 103.6%. Now Ellevest Inc. now owns 682 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 347 shares in the last quarter. 90.95% of shares are owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Preferential buying and selling

In related news, director Catherine S. Zanotti sold 4,608 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 26th. Shares traded at an average price of $45.14, for a total of $208,005.12. Following the sale, the director now owns 60,318 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,722,754.52. The sale was announced in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, available at this link. In related news, director Catherine S. Zanotti sold 4,608 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 26th. Shares traded at an average price of $45.14, for a total of $208,005.12. Following the sale, the director now owns 60,318 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,722,754.52. The sale was announced in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, available at this link. Also, insider Everett Cunningham sold 16,872 shares of Exact Sciences stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 12th. Shares were sold at an average price of $31.37, for a total of $529,274.64. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 18,654 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $585,175.98. Information on this sale can be found here. Currently, 1.30% of shares are owned by insiders.

Analysts have set new pricing benchmarks

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. BTIG Research reduced their price objective on Exact Sciences to $70.00 from $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 3rd. Credit Suisse Group assumed coverage on Exact Sciences in a research report on Wednesday, August 24th. They assigned an “outperform” rating and a $55.00 target price on the stock. Benchmark decreased their target price on Exact Sciences to $54.00 in a research report on Tuesday, August 9th. Raymond James decreased their target price on Exact Sciences to $70.00 from $80.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 3rd. Finally, Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on Exact Sciences to $75.00 from $90.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 3rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. The company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $69.14, according to MarketBeat .

Shares of Exact Sciences fell 3.8%

NASDAQ:EXAS opened at $30.42 on Friday. Exact Sciences Co. has a 12-month low of $29.27 and a 12-month high of $104.50. The company has a quick ratio of 2.23, a current ratio of 2.48, and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. The company has a market cap of $5.38 billion, a p/e of -7.19 and a beta of 1.34. The 50 day simple moving average is $37.41 and the 200 day simple moving average is $47.05.

Exact Sciences (NASDAQ: EXAS – Get Rating ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 2nd. The medical research company reported ($0.94) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($1.07) by $0.13. Exact Sciences had a negative return on equity of 22.07% and a negative net margin of 37.90%. The company reported revenue of $521.64 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $496.75 million. Stock analysts expect Exact Sciences Co. Earnings per share for the reporting year is -4.22.

Accurate academic profile

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Exact Sciences Corporation provides cancer screening products and diagnostic tests in the United States and internationally. The company offers Cologuard, a noninvasive stool-based DNA screening test for the detection of DNA and hemoglobin biomarkers associated with colorectal cancer and precancerous lesions. It also offers Oncotype DX, a gene expression test for breast, prostate and colon cancers; Oncotype testing, a tissue analysis that creates a tumor profile to help guide therapy choices for patients with advanced, metastatic, refractory, or relapsed cancer; Oncotype DX AR-V7 Nucleus Detect Test, a liquid test for advanced prostate cancer; Oncomap ExTra, which provides a complete biological picture of certain refractory, rare or aggressive tumors; and COVID-19 testing services.

Further reading

Want to see what other hedge funds EXAS has? Visit HoldingsChannel.com for Exact Sciences Co's latest 13F filings and insider trading. (NASDAQ: EXAS – Get Ratings ).

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A recent report indicated that the pandemic will further boost employment.

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This is a great time to own a lab space.

Workers seem to be moving out of traditional offices, crowded labs and research buildings as life science jobs reach new heights. A new report from Cushman & Wakefield shows how U.S. life sciences employment has grown rapidly and doubled over the past 10 years.

According to the Life Sciences Market Survey , the employment rate for scientists and laboratory users during this period exceeded the overall employment rate with an annual growth rate of 6.6% . By comparison, the total annual employment growth rate is only 1.2%.

According to Cushman & Wakefield, this shows that the sector is well positioned to overcome the uncertainty caused by the economic downturn. Indeed, life sciences employment has not declined during the pandemic, with annual job growth of 11.4% in 2021 and 14.5% in June 2022.

Jobs in life sciences have also doubled to pandemic levels. As of August this year, there were a total of 413,120 job offers in the life sciences sector, up 28% over the same period last year.

"The increase in demand for workers in the life sciences sector reflects an increase in lab space as employers try to meet the needs of this growing industry," C&W's Sandy Romero said . “Projects currently under construction in the United States are expected to add an additional 26.6 million square feet of lab space to existing inventory. These brand new state-of-the-art facilities in key markets will be home to the next generation of talent and innovation in the life sciences.”

The San Francisco Bay Area and Boston have two of the largest job bases and the largest list of labs. Boston is home to the largest construction company with 13.9 million square feet of building space, representing 43% of Boston's current lab inventory. For projects expected to be completed in 2022, 60 percent of the space has been vacated.

About 19.9 million square feet of life sciences construction, or 74% of current construction volume, is expected to be completed in the US by the end of 2023. After Boston, the largest pipelines are in San Diego, at 3.7 million square feet; San Francisco 3.5 million square feet; Seattle with 1.5 million square feet; and Los Angeles at 1.4 million square feet.

Although laboratory development in New York City is still in its infancy, thanks to its large research institutions, including Weill Cornell Medicine , it has one of the nation's largest staffs of life science specialists. , NYU Langone and Memorial Sloan Kettering . According to Cushman and Wakefield. Taconic Partners will add more space with a 325,000-square-foot redevelopment of 345 Park Avenue South and a 399,000- square-foot redevelopment of 125 West End Avenue in Deerfield .

“After unprecedented investment, expansion and innovation in 2021, the life sciences industry is poised for continued growth and strong demand in the coming years,” said C&W's Jason D'Orlando . “Over the past seven years, the life sciences sector has grown significantly and the fundamentals remain strong. We expect the life sciences sector to continue to perform well in the coming years.”

In the first half of 2022, National Life Sciences' leasing business totaled 7.2 million square feet. The three most active markets in the first half were San Diego, Boston and the Bay Area. Asking rent in the US is up 67% this year compared to 2015, and inventory is up 29% in markets monitored by Cushman & Wakefield.

While its track record looks solid, the life sciences sector is not immune to broader economic factors such as inflation, high interest rates and tightening capital markets. While rental demand in some markets has continued to rise since the end of the year, including double-digit growth in Seattle with increases of 27.2% and 31.3% in San Diego, some markets have slowed, including Boston and the Bay Area, where rentals decreased. The decrease was 4.5 percent and 3.3 percent, respectively.

Gregory Cornfield can be contacted at [email protected] .

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There are rumors on social media that Exact Sciences will buy Invitae. Investors should stop dreaming.

One of the most important lessons learned from the stock market correction is that the power of positive thinking can only push investors so far.

For Invited Shareholders ( NVTA ): Get the Invited Corporation report , this can lead to even more pain and suffering.

As genetic testing stocks fall, some investors predict that a larger competitor such as Exact Sciences ( EXAS ), reported by Exact Sciences Corporation , will step in and buy Invitae on the cheap.

The speculation may seem plausible given that rumors of a possible merger were circulating in August 2021.

However, hopes for such a deal seem unlikely given investors' assessment of the difficult operating environment affecting all companies and the promising performance of its larger peer.

Profits are the next big thing

Invitae embodied the "growth at any cost" business model that became common at a time when interest rates were extremely low.

Flaws in the company's approach were exposed almost as soon as Wall Street began to assess the impact of rising interest rates. Shares of the genetic testing company are down 83% in 2022.

Investors are aware of the company's performance and recovery, including lower growth expectations, issuing service bills to 33% of its employees and replacing the CEO.

The company expects sales to be flat in 2023. If sales pick up again in 2024, annual growth could be less than half of previous promises.

Some important nuances are lost in the acquisition speculation. One detail is that the work environment of the genetic testing industry has changed. Sema4 ( SMFR ) , 23andMe ( ME ) – Get 23andMe Holding Co. Report and other colleagues also vowed to abandon the incremental business model at all costs.

Exact sciences have never used such an approach. It wasn't meant to be. The company relies on colorectal cancer screening tool Cologuard, which last year was the first and only diagnostic product to generate at least $1 billion in annual sales. The flagship continues to grow at more than 20% per year despite, or perhaps because of, its size.

However, management promised to be profitable by 2024 based on adjusted EBITDA. The main difference between Exact Sciences and its competitors is that this promise was announced before the stock market started to wobble. Even if not, Wall Street will likely demand more efficient operations given the growing macroeconomic uncertainty.

For this reason, Exact Sciences is not expected to acquire Invitae anytime soon. An analysis of the financial details shows that this would jeopardize the increasingly strong position of the largest competitor.

• Quality of Revenue : Exact Science generates more revenue each quarter than Visitor does in a year. However, the biggest competitor reports lower operating losses, with operating margins lower by 30% for Exact Sciences and 170% for Invitae. The purchase will lead to an immediate deterioration in the quality of earnings.
• Money is everything: Exact Sciences will soon spend about $350 million on operating expenses in 2022, although about half of that amount was spent in the first quarter of the year. Invitae expects cash losses of at least $600 million in 2022 (less likely) and at least $225 million in 2023. The acquisition would double Exact Sciences' cash costs. In addition, the acquisition could cost close to a billion dollars, an amount that a larger competitor does not have. And the money could have been better spent elsewhere.
• PreventionGenetics : Exact Sciences made an acquisition to venture into the early detection of inherited cancers. But she won a small company. PreventionGenetics was already profitable. It may only generate $41 million in revenue by 2022, but it can expand quickly within the business infrastructure of its new parent company. Acquiring Invitee would not fit well with the current profitable growth strategy in this new business category.

Don't invest in rumours

It's easy to get caught up in speculation and excitement when investing in growth stocks. Of course, it's fun to imagine what would happen if you made the right bet that a failed business could be restored to its former glory.

However, Invitee's new management has made it clear that growth expectations will be limited at least until 2024. Investors have no reason to expect more than the projections.

Invitae could still be a takeover target for a larger party, eventually. But investors shouldn't expect Exact Sciences to be a competitor anytime soon.

Exact Sciences is on the verge of profitability with its existing product portfolio and development portfolio. For example, an updated version of Cologuard could come out in 2024. If it meets expectations, adjusted Ebitda may not be the right metric to judge the company by.

The new Cologuard could help the company achieve positive operating margins and cash flows by 2025 or 2026.

Simply put, the acquisition of Invitee by Exact Sciences will reduce the quality of the company's earnings and make profitable operations impossible for the foreseeable future. No amount of positive thinking can change that.

The importance of positive results of non-invasive prenatal screening

Other sectors may be facing rising interest rates and inflation, but sales and supply data for the growing life sciences sector have yet to show signs of improvement.

A new report from Commercial Edge shows that the average sales price for a life sciences property will be $645 per square foot in 2022, which is 150% higher than the overall average price per PSF for shared offices. Buildings that qualify for redevelopment also fetch higher prices; for example, DivcoWest bought a 138,400-square-foot site in south San Francisco from Johnson & Johnson for $164.5 million and renovated it "on the fly." turning the building into a laboratory.

Developers are struggling to build enough space to keep up with demand. In general, about 22 million sq. San Diego was second with eight lots, 2.9 million square feet, followed by San Francisco (10 lots, 2.6 million square feet). The third market, meanwhile, is emerging as a viable contender, with PNB and Montgomery Street Partners recently announcing they will develop the 365,000-square-foot Coal Creek Innovation Park, Boulder County's first speculative life sciences property in Colorado. And in the residential community of Maricopa outside Phoenix, S3 Biotech is developing 2.5 million square feet of space that will include life sciences, medical offices and exercise.

According to CommercialCafe, life sciences employment in 2021 was highest in Boston (23,900 jobs), New York (18,100) and San Francisco (14,200), while the metro areas with the most STEM workers last year were in New York (515,540) and In Armenia. Washington. . It was DC (364,140), Los Angeles (342,870) and San Francisco (289,960).

According to CBRE, growth in the life sciences sector has outpaced what are typically considered "prime markets". Nashville leads the United States in the percentage of life science job growth, while Houston has a high percentage of graduates and quality. affordable offers. Since 2001, life science jobs have grown 79% to 500,000, according to the company.

Global Life Sciences Mergers and Acquisitions. market overview and trends

IRVING, Texas , Sept. 15, 2022 / PRNewswire / — Caris Life Sciences® (Caris), a molecular science and technology leader actively developing and delivering innovative solutions that revolutionize healthcare, today announced that Russ Denton has joined the company as a senior. vice president The President, General Counsel and Secretary, and will lead the corporate governance and legal activities of Caris.

Prior to joining Caris, he partnered with Denton Shearman & Sterling LLP, representing clients in M&A and equity financings, including partnering with Caris as outside counsel in connection with Caris Growth equity financing transactions. Prior to joining Shearman & Sterling, Denton was a partner at Andrews Kurth Kenyon LLP and legal counsel at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher and Flom LLP.

"Caris is revolutionizing healthcare by providing new approaches to categorize, visualize and detect disease in ways not previously possible," said David D. Halbert, president and CEO of Caris Life Sciences. "We are pleased to welcome Russ Caris to the team, as his leadership and sound advice have served us well and will be invaluable as we continue to fulfill our mission."

"I am thrilled to join Caris and work at a pioneering healthcare company," said Denton. "I look forward to continuing to support Carys and her mission."

Mr. Denton received his J.D. from Stanford Law School and his J.D. from Duke University.

Information about Caris Life Sciences

Caris Life Sciences® (Caris) is a leading molecular science and technology company that actively develops and delivers innovative solutions that revolutionize healthcare and improve patient outcomes. Through comprehensive molecular profiling (whole exome and transcriptome sequencing) and the application of advanced artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning algorithms, Caris built the clinical genomic and computational cognitive databases necessary to explore and unravel the molecular complexity of disease. This information provides an unprecedented resource and an ideal avenue for basic and basic research to accelerate screening, diagnosis, monitoring, therapeutic selection, and discoveries to improve the human condition.

With a specific focus on cancer, Caris' market-leading molecular profiling suite evaluates DNA, RNA and protein to reveal molecular patterns that help patients, physicians and researchers better detect, diagnose and treat cancer. Caris' latest development is a blood-based circulating nucleic acid sequencing (cNAS) test that combines comprehensive molecular analysis (whole-exome sequencing and whole-blood transcriptome) with serial monitoring, making it the most powerful tool ever developed for liquid biopsy.

Based in Irving, Texas, Caris has offices in Phoenix, New York, Denver, Tokyo, Japan and Basel, Switzerland. Caris provides services in the United States, Europe, Asia and other international markets. For more information, visit CarisLifeSciences.com or follow us on Twitter (@CarisLS).

Caris Life Sciences Media Contact: Lisa [email protected] 214.294.5606

To download the original media, see: https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/caris-life-sciences-announces-appointment-of-russ-denton-as-general-counsel-301625049.html

SOURCE Caris Life Sciences