NEW YORK – After multiple months of growth, including a 3 percent rise in March, the 360Dx Top 30 tumbled by 6 percent in April.
The Top 30 reflected broader market trends as the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 5 percent and the Nasdaq fell 4 percent last month, while the Nasdaq Biotech Index was down 6 percent month over month.
Genetron Health has been removed from the index after it went private. Sophia Genetics has been added in its place.
The Top 30's largest gainers were GeneDx (+87 percent), Sera Prognostics (+21 percent), and Quest Diagnostics (+4 percent). The decliners were led by CareDx (-27 percent), Bio-Rad Laboratories (-22 percent), and Adaptive Biotechnologies (-18 percent).
GeneDx saw its stock price rise on the announcement of its Q1 financial results at the end of April, as revenues rose 51 percent year over year on the back of increased whole-genome and whole-exome sequencing test volumes. The firm saw $62.4 million in total revenues, with 72 percent of revenues coming from its whole-genome and whole-exome sequencing business.
Quest Diagnostics was also likely boosted by its Q1 financial results last month, reporting in mid-April that first quarter revenues rose 2 percent year over year, with base business revenues up nearly 6 percent compared to the prior-year quarter.
Earlier in the month, Quest announced a collaboration with Broad Clinical Labs to determine the potential clinical value of using whole-genome sequencing as a first-line genetic test for developmental delay disorders. Wednesday morning, Quest also announced it entered deals with PathAI to boost its digital pathology and AI-based pathology businesses.
Sera Prognostics, in contrast to the other gainers, had no significant news last month to explain the rise in its share price.
Among the decliners, CareDx's key piece of news in April was the appointment of its new CEO John Hanna, following the departure of former CEO Reg Seeto in November. BTIG analyst Mark Massaro wrote in a note to investors that this is "likely an opportune time" for Hanna to take over the company as it has "recently shown signs of stabilization." According to Massaro, Hanna's key strategic priorities will be focused on revenue cycle management, expanding payor coverage, and driving additional adoption in the kidney market.
Meantime, Bio-Rad's share price dropped in spite of two new agreements announced last month. The firm will partner with Allegheny Health Network Cancer Institute to support tumor-informed molecular residual disease monitoring using Bio-Rad's Droplet Digital PCR technology. The company also announced that it has partnered with Oncocyte to globally commercialize the research-use-only GraftAssure assay and will have exclusive commercialization and distribution rights in all countries except the US and Germany.
The company also announced that Chief Operating Officer Andrew Last and Executive VP Simon May will be leaving Bio-Rad. Last will retire by early September, and May left the firm to pursue another opportunity at Agilent Technologies. In a note to investors, UBS analyst Dan Leonard wrote that three of the company's top five executives have departed Bio-Rad in the last six months but noted that management said it believes nothing has changed and that the firm "remains confident in [its] operational shape, and plans for a smooth transition."
Adaptive Biotechnologies' share price was on a rollercoaster last month after the announcement in early April that it will continue to operate its minimal residual disease and immune medicine businesses in-house but give them each more independence, finishing a strategic review that began last November. BTIG analyst Massaro wrote in a note to investors that analysts were "modestly disappointed there wasn't an acquirer for one or both of its business units," although Adaptive did note that it received multiple offers for the MRD business that came in below its requirements.
Later in the month, the firm's shares surged after a US Food and Drug Administration panel unanimously approved MRD as an accelerated approval endpoint in multiple myeloma drug trials. Adaptive offers its ClonoSeq assay for MRD testing in hematologic cancers, including multiple myeloma.
|
360Dx Top 30
|
*Abbott paid a dividend of $.55 per share on April 12.
**Quest Diagnostics paid a dividend of $.75 per share on April 5.
***Revvity paid a dividend of $.07 per share on April 18.