Market Trends Show Opportunities For Investors

April 12, 2018 - By: Baystreet Staff


If one thing is certain, it’s that investors in today’s market are looking for a real edge.  Stock screening, charting techniques, and even “tip lines” are all tactics used by some who think they can gain that split second advantage over the rest of the market. But could it be easier? Some would say yes and that one of the key attributes of gaining that edge is simply paying attention to what the actual trends in the market are showing.

A quick look right now and you’ll notice that there are a few sectors leading the charge for the bulls and it isn’t something that is widely advertised by the mainstream media outlets.  The key to finding the real opportunities are to identify potential for growth before the masses catch on.

Analysts at Wells Fargo, remain positive on the continuation of growth across the global economy, “We remain positive on the continuation of growth across the global economy, while acknowledging the risk recent actions pose for the potential performance of the global expansion. We anticipate that calm heads will ultimately prevail in this new trade spat, as global growth has been driven in the past several decades by an expansion of trade across the world.”

Innovation Strategies Boost Biotech Stocks

There is no more notable industry targeting innovation than the biotechnology industry. Over the last 5 years, junior firms have been focused on changing the way information is given and how it is accessed.  Different therapies and new technology have been a boon to this market segment & investors have been able to capitalize on early opportunities from key companies.

Imagin Medical (IME) for example recently closed on valued at $2,579,012 in gross proceeds, which will be used, in part, to expand on the corporate growth for its imaging solutions for minimally invasive surgical procedures where endoscopes are used.

Imagin has targeted this segment specifically for the early detection of cancer and the application of its i/Blue Imaging System. The first target for their imaging systems is focused on bladder cancer. This is the sixth most prevalent cancer in the U.S. and the most costly cancer to treat due to a greater than 50% recurrence rate. This is a very expensive cancer to treat whereby Imagin will look to impement a technology to more appropriately identify certain cancers earlier than typical methods used today like endoscopic procedures.

E. James Hutchens is the company’s CEO and holds a long track record of involvement within this space and the markets in general. Mr. Hutchens served in senior executive positions at Microvasive Endoscopy, a division of Boston Scientific (BSX). Additionally Hutchens spent time at Millipore, which was sold to Merk (MRK) for over $7 billion.

The company’s ultrasensitive imaging technology is based upon improved optical designs and advanced light sensors. Because of the limitations of white light in visualizing bladder cancer, various companies have begun to explore the use of blue light in conjunction with fluorescence imaging agents, or chemical dyes. The company’s i/Blue Imaging System “sees” the cancer in less than 15 minutes with optics that are 100 times more sensitive.

Imagin has expressly stated that its imaging technology will dramatically reduce bladder cancer recurrence rates, addressing $750M growing market. Further, the company is looking to redesign for commercialization, proof of concept, and have clinical studies going during 2018 at two sites: The University of Rochester and UC Davis.

Other companies bucking this uptrend in the market include Boston Scientific (BSX).  On Thursday morning, shares of the stock gapped up to near 2 month highs. Earlier this month the company announced the acquisition of Securus Medical Group, Inc., a privately-held company that has developed a thermal monitoring system for the continuous measurement of esophageal temperature.

Boston Scientific has been an investor in Securus since 2016, and the transaction price for the remaining stake not already owned consists of $40 million in cash up-front, as well as up to $10 million in contingent payments based on regulatory achievements and commercial milestones.

Futhermore, during late March, Boston Scientific had also announced a deal to acquire NxThera. The company is the maker of the Rezum system to treat benign prostatic hyperplasia, for as much as $406 million. Based in part on these key developments, multiple analysts have made changes to their target prices and ratings. In fact, Bank of America (BAC) raised its price target to $30.

Rounding out the list, Merk (MRK), which is another company that is associated with the CEO of Imagin Medical above, has seen a bullish trend taking over in the market. The company’s stock this week, after the drug maker said its cancer treatment Keytruda met the primary endpoint of a phase 3 trial evaluating the Keytruda as monotherapy for the first-line treatment of metastatic non-small cell lung cancer.

The primary endpoint was overall survival. An independent data monitoring committee determined that treatment with Keytruda resulted in significantly longer overall survival than platinum-based chemotherapy in tested patients.

“With KEYNOTE-042, KEYTRUDA has now shown a significant survival benefit compared with chemotherapy for patients with locally advanced or metastatic nonsquamous or squamous NSCLC expressing PD-L1 at 1 percent or higher by tumor proportion score,” said Dr. Roger M. Perlmutter, president, Merck Research Laboratories. “KEYTRUDA is a foundational treatment for NSCLC and has consistently demonstrated a survival benefit as monotherapy, or in combination with chemotherapy, in the treatment of metastatic lung cancer. We sincerely thank the patients and clinical investigators for their participation in this important study.”

Conclusion

There could be even more opportunity ahead this year as important developments within the biotechnology sector have helped to boost both innovative trends and stock prices within the sector.  The main objective for investors should be to pay close attention to the timeline to marketability on key therapies & new technology. 

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