Investing in biotech stocks - My experience so far

Voyager2002

Does anyone know why a law firm is investigating Sorrento (SRNE)?

The press release includes these words:
Newman Ferrara LLP announced today that the firm is conducting an investigation on behalf of shareholders of Sorrento Therapeutics, Inc. (“Sorrento” or the “Company”) (NASDAQ:SRNE) into potential breaches of fiduciary duty by the Company’s Board of Directors (the “Board”).

Sorrento, headquartered in San Diego, CA, is a biopharmaceutical company that develops and offers clinical and commercial stage therapies for cancer, autoimmune, inflammatory, viral, and neurodegenerative diseases. Newman Ferrara’s investigation focuses on decisions made by the Board, without shareholder approval, the result of which significantly diminish shareholder value and do not benefit the Company. Considering the Company’s lackluster performance since its 2007 initial public offering, it is clear that the Board lacks the ability to fairly assess and oversee the Company’s direction and leadership.

https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220131005932/en/

adindas

Voyager2002 said:

Does anyone know why a law firm is investigating Sorrento (SRNE)?
The press release includes these words:
Newman Ferrara LLP announced today that the firm is conducting an investigation on behalf of shareholders of Sorrento Therapeutics, Inc. (“Sorrento” or the “Company”) (NASDAQ:SRNE) into potential breaches of fiduciary duty by the Company’s Board of Directors (the “Board”).

Sorrento, headquartered in San Diego, CA, is a biopharmaceutical company that develops and offers clinical and commercial stage therapies for cancer, autoimmune, inflammatory, viral, and neurodegenerative diseases. Newman Ferrara’s investigation focuses on decisions made by the Board, without shareholder approval, the result of which significantly diminish shareholder value and do not benefit the Company. Considering the Company’s lackluster performance since its 2007 initial public offering, it is clear that the Board lacks the ability to fairly assess and oversee the Company’s direction and leadership.

https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220131005932/en/

"Newman Ferrara’s investigation focuses on decisions made by the Board, without shareholder approval, the result of which significantly diminish shareholder value and do not benefit the Company. Considering the Company’s lackluster performance since its 2007 initial public offering, it is clear that the Board lacks the ability to fairly assess and oversee the Company’s direction and leadership. "

It happened many times in the past the law firm case like this got paid by the shortsellers when the short sellers are launching a massive short to scare people to sell their shares so they could get it cheap. But majority of cases the case fails to materialise. But in a few cases like Nikola (NKLA) they are right with their claim.

I don’t know if this is the case with SRNE as it will need time to be investigated.  But the short interest has reduced from time to time.

BrockStoker

Voyager2002 said:

Does anyone know why a law firm is investigating Sorrento (SRNE)?

The press release includes these words:
Newman Ferrara LLP announced today that the firm is conducting an investigation on behalf of shareholders of Sorrento Therapeutics, Inc. (“Sorrento” or the “Company”) (NASDAQ:SRNE) into potential breaches of fiduciary duty by the Company’s Board of Directors (the “Board”).

Sorrento, headquartered in San Diego, CA, is a biopharmaceutical company that develops and offers clinical and commercial stage therapies for cancer, autoimmune, inflammatory, viral, and neurodegenerative diseases. Newman Ferrara’s investigation focuses on decisions made by the Board, without shareholder approval, the result of which significantly diminish shareholder value and do not benefit the Company. Considering the Company’s lackluster performance since its 2007 initial public offering, it is clear that the Board lacks the ability to fairly assess and oversee the Company’s direction and leadership.

https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220131005932/en/

As Adindas suggested, it's just bluster/noise. It's almost a badge of honor, that every "real" biotech has one - if it doesn't it's not behaving like a biotech in terms of volatility/unpredictability. I'm not sure it's always connected with short attacks. I think in many cases it's purely that "investors" made a bad investment decision, like buying too high, and then when the SP drops, which is obviously typical for biotech stocks, they go crying to one of these weasel lawyer firms who are willing to "give it a go" even though there's a high chance there's nothing of substance there.

Obviously there is the occasional case where a CEO gets found guilty of doing something dodgy, but from what I've seen, they are very few and far between.

I'm guessing you picked up a few SRNE shares then Voyager?

Three green days in a row now (if today holds up). It's looking more like the bottom has come and gone to me.

ARWR earnings tomorrow of course. Fingers crossed for good updates/news!

Voyager2002

BrockStoker said:

Voyager2002 said:

Does anyone know why a law firm is investigating Sorrento (SRNE)?

The press release includes these words:
Newman Ferrara LLP announced today that the firm is conducting an investigation on behalf of shareholders of Sorrento Therapeutics, Inc. (“Sorrento” or the “Company”) (NASDAQ:SRNE) into potential breaches of fiduciary duty by the Company’s Board of Directors (the “Board”).

Sorrento, headquartered in San Diego, CA, is a biopharmaceutical company that develops and offers clinical and commercial stage therapies for cancer, autoimmune, inflammatory, viral, and neurodegenerative diseases. Newman Ferrara’s investigation focuses on decisions made by the Board, without shareholder approval, the result of which significantly diminish shareholder value and do not benefit the Company. Considering the Company’s lackluster performance since its 2007 initial public offering, it is clear that the Board lacks the ability to fairly assess and oversee the Company’s direction and leadership.

https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220131005932/en/

As Adindas suggested, it's just bluster/noise. It's almost a badge of honor, that every "real" biotech has one - if it doesn't it's not behaving like a biotech in terms of volatility/unpredictability. I'm not sure it's always connected with short attacks. I think in many cases it's purely that "investors" made a bad investment decision, like buying too high, and then when the SP drops, which is obviously typical for biotech stocks, they go crying to one of these weasel lawyer firms who are willing to "give it a go" even though there's a high chance there's nothing of substance there.

Obviously there is the occasional case where a CEO gets found guilty of doing something dodgy, but from what I've seen, they are very few and far between.

I'm guessing you picked up a few SRNE shares then Voyager?

Three green days in a row now (if today holds up). It's looking more like the bottom has come and gone to me.

ARWR earnings tomorrow of course. Fingers crossed for good updates/news!

Remarkable that this has not yet happened to Evofem (or maybe it did and I missed it).

BrockStoker

Voyager2002 said:

BrockStoker said:

Voyager2002 said:

Does anyone know why a law firm is investigating Sorrento (SRNE)?

The press release includes these words:
Newman Ferrara LLP announced today that the firm is conducting an investigation on behalf of shareholders of Sorrento Therapeutics, Inc. (“Sorrento” or the “Company”) (NASDAQ:SRNE) into potential breaches of fiduciary duty by the Company’s Board of Directors (the “Board”).

Sorrento, headquartered in San Diego, CA, is a biopharmaceutical company that develops and offers clinical and commercial stage therapies for cancer, autoimmune, inflammatory, viral, and neurodegenerative diseases. Newman Ferrara’s investigation focuses on decisions made by the Board, without shareholder approval, the result of which significantly diminish shareholder value and do not benefit the Company. Considering the Company’s lackluster performance since its 2007 initial public offering, it is clear that the Board lacks the ability to fairly assess and oversee the Company’s direction and leadership.

https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220131005932/en/

As Adindas suggested, it's just bluster/noise. It's almost a badge of honor, that every "real" biotech has one - if it doesn't it's not behaving like a biotech in terms of volatility/unpredictability. I'm not sure it's always connected with short attacks. I think in many cases it's purely that "investors" made a bad investment decision, like buying too high, and then when the SP drops, which is obviously typical for biotech stocks, they go crying to one of these weasel lawyer firms who are willing to "give it a go" even though there's a high chance there's nothing of substance there.

Obviously there is the occasional case where a CEO gets found guilty of doing something dodgy, but from what I've seen, they are very few and far between.

I'm guessing you picked up a few SRNE shares then Voyager?

Three green days in a row now (if today holds up). It's looking more like the bottom has come and gone to me.

ARWR earnings tomorrow of course. Fingers crossed for good updates/news!

Remarkable that this has not yet happened to Evofem (or maybe it did and I missed it).

It has

Clive_Woody

BrockStoker said:

Right at the start of this now almost epic thread (for me at least!) @Clive_Woody suggested that identifying BP companies early is not easy.

I think it would be fair to say I proved Clive wrong right off the bat with Moderna (MRNA) which was actually the first stock I had intended to buy back in late 2019 (but when my money came through it had just gone up so I ended up buying SPCE instead, and had to wait a few days more before buying MRNA!) and I had wanted to buy more, but after a few attempts where I set the limit price a bit too low to trigger the buy, I gave up to just watch it climb, then sold it too early (live and learn). I bought 60 shares for $18.38 average, and a total investment of £855.24. I sold it for £2895.62 on 260620, a gain of around 230%. While I didn't hold on quite long enough, many now class MRNA as BP.

Perhaps that was beginners luck, but I'd also argue that CRSP is a very strong candidate, and showing early signs of greatness, although it is early days and there are some question marks (version#2,if it exists, might be the winner) over it's tech. Back on page 3 of this thread I posted a screenshot of my portfolio which held 19 stocks (a few of which I decided to sell after holding for a few weeks) back then including MRNA, CRSP, BCRX, and a few others which also did well for me. It was actually not a bad portfolio, and I still expect many of the stocks in it to do well (I may even buy one or two back at some point), but at this point in time I believe the hand I currently hold is just as strong, if not stronger.

All of that said, I want to remind everyone once again, not to risk anything they can not afford to loose. I'm mostly going on my instinct when it comes to sniffing out the kind of tech that should do well, and it might not necessarily always be the case that it does, so don't assume you are guaranteed to make big profits in a short space of time, though that is one *possibility* with stocks like these.

A broken clock is right twice a day. Congratulations on getting in early with Moderna, many other companies had looked at mRNA constructs as therapies, but Moderna’s timing with Covid was fortuitous. I was on a call with some Moderna folk just last week, very interesting company. 

For every Moderna there is 101 biotechs who go nowhere, that’s the nature of drug development. 

BrockStoker

So quite an interesting update from Arrowhead. Two new pulmonary indications (ARO-RAGE and ARO-MUC5AC - Going after CF and other mucus related conditions in a big way - more trouble for VRTX) added to the FAST growing pipeline. Redefining how fast a company the size of Arrowhead can expand it's pipeline. Also nice to hear that they are also pushing for four, or perhaps five NEW programs in the clinic by EOY 2022. Of course all the market will be focused on will be the loss of ENaC, so expect the share price to fall, again I think. ENaC2 will be better of course, albeit delayed. Hopefully will be able to add more shares under sleepy street's nose.

Also still hoping to add more EVFM at some point. They may be down, but they are a long way from being a lost cause IMHO. Still a very risky stock of course, but significantly de-risked relative to a few weeks back.

BrockStoker

Clive_Woody said:

BrockStoker said:

Right at the start of this now almost epic thread (for me at least!) @Clive_Woody suggested that identifying BP companies early is not easy.

I think it would be fair to say I proved Clive wrong right off the bat with Moderna (MRNA) which was actually the first stock I had intended to buy back in late 2019 (but when my money came through it had just gone up so I ended up buying SPCE instead, and had to wait a few days more before buying MRNA!) and I had wanted to buy more, but after a few attempts where I set the limit price a bit too low to trigger the buy, I gave up to just watch it climb, then sold it too early (live and learn). I bought 60 shares for $18.38 average, and a total investment of £855.24. I sold it for £2895.62 on 260620, a gain of around 230%. While I didn't hold on quite long enough, many now class MRNA as BP.

Perhaps that was beginners luck, but I'd also argue that CRSP is a very strong candidate, and showing early signs of greatness, although it is early days and there are some question marks (version#2,if it exists, might be the winner) over it's tech. Back on page 3 of this thread I posted a screenshot of my portfolio which held 19 stocks (a few of which I decided to sell after holding for a few weeks) back then including MRNA, CRSP, BCRX, and a few others which also did well for me. It was actually not a bad portfolio, and I still expect many of the stocks in it to do well (I may even buy one or two back at some point), but at this point in time I believe the hand I currently hold is just as strong, if not stronger.

All of that said, I want to remind everyone once again, not to risk anything they can not afford to loose. I'm mostly going on my instinct when it comes to sniffing out the kind of tech that should do well, and it might not necessarily always be the case that it does, so don't assume you are guaranteed to make big profits in a short space of time, though that is one *possibility* with stocks like these.

A broken clock is right twice a day. Congratulations on getting in early with Moderna, many other companies had looked at mRNA constructs as therapies, but Moderna’s timing with Covid was fortuitous. I was on a call with some Moderna folk just last week, very interesting company. 

For every Moderna there is 101 biotechs who go nowhere, that’s the nature of drug development. 

Clive, thanks.

IMHO the clock analogy is not a great one. A broken clock has no option BUT to be right twice a day. I could have quite easily been wrong every day of every year

Yes, it was an amazing stroke of luck for Moderna that covid came along when it did - I think there was a little more to it than just timing(or luck), but the timing certainly made the rise of Moderna possible (I think it would have happened anyway - covid just catalyzed it earlier on than everyone was expecting). Few could have foreseen that! I certainly did not.

I hear what you are saying with the 101 that go nowhere. I believe that paradigm is set to shift at least for some of the up and coming companies like Arrowhead with new modalities however. Moderna is a good example of what the new disruptive tech can do. If you compare the pipelines of ARWR and MRNA, ARWR really does not seem too far behind.

Personally I got the creeps slightly with Moderna, which is why I sold, but looking back on it, perhaps that's just the way Big Pharma is - cold, clinical, and they act like there are multiple skeletons in the closet (very secretive). Live and learn.

moneyfoolish

BrockStoker said:

So quite an interesting update from Arrowhead. Two new pulmonary indications (ARO-RAGE and ARO-MUC5AC - Going after CF and other mucus related conditions in a big way - more trouble for VRTX) added to the FAST growing pipeline. Redefining how fast a company the size of Arrowhead can expand it's pipeline. Also nice to hear that they are also pushing for four, or perhaps five NEW programs in the clinic by EOY 2022. Of course all the market will be focused on will be the loss of ENaC, so expect the share price to fall, again I think. ENaC2 will be better of course, albeit delayed. Hopefully will be able to add more shares under sleepy street's nose.

Also still hoping to add more EVFM at some point. They may be down, but they are a long way from being a lost cause IMHO. Still a very risky stock of course, but significantly de-risked relative to a few weeks back.

 Not only the market is focused on ENaC, BS, but a lot of the more optimistic Arrowhead followers on Discord. Probably the most pessimism I've seen from a normally very optimistic group. Most were pretty unhappy at the low share price bar for the CEO and the negative ENaC view has caused even more concern.

Clive_Woody

BrockStoker said:

Clive_Woody said:

BrockStoker said:

Right at the start of this now almost epic thread (for me at least!) @Clive_Woody suggested that identifying BP companies early is not easy.

I think it would be fair to say I proved Clive wrong right off the bat with Moderna (MRNA) which was actually the first stock I had intended to buy back in late 2019 (but when my money came through it had just gone up so I ended up buying SPCE instead, and had to wait a few days more before buying MRNA!) and I had wanted to buy more, but after a few attempts where I set the limit price a bit too low to trigger the buy, I gave up to just watch it climb, then sold it too early (live and learn). I bought 60 shares for $18.38 average, and a total investment of £855.24. I sold it for £2895.62 on 260620, a gain of around 230%. While I didn't hold on quite long enough, many now class MRNA as BP.

Perhaps that was beginners luck, but I'd also argue that CRSP is a very strong candidate, and showing early signs of greatness, although it is early days and there are some question marks (version#2,if it exists, might be the winner) over it's tech. Back on page 3 of this thread I posted a screenshot of my portfolio which held 19 stocks (a few of which I decided to sell after holding for a few weeks) back then including MRNA, CRSP, BCRX, and a few others which also did well for me. It was actually not a bad portfolio, and I still expect many of the stocks in it to do well (I may even buy one or two back at some point), but at this point in time I believe the hand I currently hold is just as strong, if not stronger.

All of that said, I want to remind everyone once again, not to risk anything they can not afford to loose. I'm mostly going on my instinct when it comes to sniffing out the kind of tech that should do well, and it might not necessarily always be the case that it does, so don't assume you are guaranteed to make big profits in a short space of time, though that is one *possibility* with stocks like these.

A broken clock is right twice a day. Congratulations on getting in early with Moderna, many other companies had looked at mRNA constructs as therapies, but Moderna’s timing with Covid was fortuitous. I was on a call with some Moderna folk just last week, very interesting company. 

For every Moderna there is 101 biotechs who go nowhere, that’s the nature of drug development. 

Clive, thanks.

IMHO the clock analogy is not a great one. A broken clock has no option BUT to be right twice a day. I could have quite easily been wrong every day of every year

Yes, it was an amazing stroke of luck for Moderna that covid came along when it did - I think there was a little more to it than just timing(or luck), but the timing certainly made the rise of Moderna possible (I think it would have happened anyway - covid just catalyzed it earlier on than everyone was expecting). Few could have foreseen that! I certainly did not.

I hear what you are saying with the 101 that go nowhere. I believe that paradigm is set to shift at least for some of the up and coming companies like Arrowhead with new modalities however. Moderna is a good example of what the new disruptive tech can do. If you compare the pipelines of ARWR and MRNA, ARWR really does not seem too far behind.

Personally I got the creeps slightly with Moderna, which is why I sold, but looking back on it, perhaps that's just the way Big Pharma is - cold, clinical, and they act like there are multiple skeletons in the closet (very secretive). Live and learn.

Agree, my reference to a broken clock was overly optimistic probability modelling for picking a successful biotech to back, many more elements of luck involved on top of public information that is available.

A significant part of my day job involves consulting with pharma and biotech on strategy, so success and failure rates are highly visible. I've been in the industry for well over 20 years and there's always something new and shiny that everyone gets excited about...which is no bad thing.

With the right funding, development strategy and a decent pinch of luck they move medicine forward and the industry follows. Vertex was a great example - I worked for a top 5 pharma company back then who looked at VTX as an acquisition but decided against it (big mistake) - they went on to develop first in class CF medicines and grew very rapidly and continue to do so. I also know of competition  who also were looking at similar disease modifying therapies for CF that invested millions and went nowhere. That is the nature of drug development.