B&M Gates Foundation bought 881k in 1Q22 making it the top holding in their portfolio. They astutely sold a substantial quantity in 3Q21 together with BNTX anticipating a waning interest in Covid plays. Coming back in this time round, I believe they're betting on VIR's robust HBV pieline.
The dramatic experience with SARS-CoV-2 has alerted the scientific community to be ready to face new epidemics/pandemics caused by new variants. Among the therapies against the pandemic SARS-CoV-2 virus, monoclonal Antibodies (mAbs) targeting the Spike glycoprotein have represented good drugs to interfere in the Spike/ Angiotensin Converting Enzyme-2 (ACE-2) interaction, preventing virus cell entry and subsequent infection, especially in patients with a defective immune system. We obtained, by an innovative phage display selection strategy, specific binders recognizing different epitopes of Spike. The novel human antibodies specifically bind to Spike-Receptor Binding Domain (RBD) in a nanomolar range and interfere in the interaction of Spike with the ACE-2 receptor. We report here that one of these mAbs, named D3, shows neutralizing activity for virus infection in cell cultures by different SARS-CoV-2 variants and retains the ability to recognize the Omicron-derived recombinant RBD differently from the antibodies Casirivimab or Imdevimab. Since anti-Spike mAbs, used individually, might be unable to block the virus cell entry especially in the case of resistant variants, we investigated the possibility to combine D3 with the antibody in clinical use Sotrovimab, and we found that they recognize distinct epitopes and show additive inhibitory effects on the interaction of Omicron-RBD with ACE-2 receptor. Thus, we propose to exploit these mAbs in combinatorial treatments to enhance their potential for both diagnostic and therapeutic applications in the current and future pandemic waves of coronavirus.
115 mil in recent insitutional buying.. VIR IR has kept a lid on anything positive related to this company for many months....Sotrovimab is STILL in use in the EU , but IR doesn't post it....Production hasn't slowed down on sotrovimab and they haven't scrapped the drug...Buy with both hands....
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And this is up 10% why exactly today ? Any ideas ?
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Market cap = 2,64 bln, cash = 2.5 bln, pipeline = 140 mln. Wow.
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GSK is distracted by its upcoming stock/division split.
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Wainwright = $200 pps!?!? Re: hbv. Will someone verify that is what I read? Please.
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“Biotechs (.NBI) are coming off their worst April since 2002, and the crash in valuation has made them attractive M&A targets, especially when small drugmakers are grappling with a cash crunch, analysts say. ——Wells Fargo analyst Mohit Bansal, who in February named Biohaven as an acquisition target, had also listed Alnylam Pharmaceuticals (ALNY.O), Vir Biotechnology (VIR.O) and Intellia Therapeutics (NTLA.O).” Article from Reuters posted 4hr ago.
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This company has 2 billion in cash And their market cap is 2 billion. What am I missing?
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It is amazing that VIR's options are only up to 10/2022, no further.
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Glaxo Q1
“The company said sales for its shingles vaccine Shringrix bounced back in the first quarter of this year, more than doubling to £698 million, while sales of its Covid-19 antibody treatment Xevudy, developed with Vir Biotechnology (VIR) increased to £1.3 billion, ahead of analysts’ expectations of £1.1 billion pounds.”
Sales of Sotrovimab for Glaxo Q4 of 2021 were £828 Million ($1.12 Billion), now for Q1 they’re reporting sales of £1.3 Billion ($1.63 Billion) this means Vir is at or over a Billion $ for their Q1.
Bullish
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I used to owning vir. I became frustrated and sold it because it didn’t go anywhere even with the great news on sotrovimab back then. To me, it showed great promises but delivered no rewards. By now, many tech stocks like ADBE, zm, qcom, Amzn have retreated noticeably. In my opinion, these stocks might have more upsides. Any reason why vir would be a better choice to buy now?
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NEW STUDY! Comeback of Sotrovimab?
Although sotrovimab was ~20-fold less antiviral against BA.2 than the parental virus, the Omicron subvariants bearing L452R substitution including BA.2.11 and BA.4/5 were more sensitive to sotrovimab than BA.2
“During the first quarter, Glaxo’s revenues are likely to have been primarily driven by the COVID-19 drug, Xevudy (sotrovimab) — which was developed in collaboration with Vir Biotechnology VIR.“
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buyout candidate?? ...you get the pipeline for free!
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Hepatitis Portfolio R&D Day for the investment community went very well today!
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EPS $3.85/ $3.62 (exp.) REV $812/ $811.05M (exp.)
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Someone knows something...and it must not be good!
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From VIR today's update: "– More than $2.5 billion in cash, cash equivalents, investments and collaboration receivables at the end of the first quarter –" with market cap of $2.76 billion. All the pipelines worth nothing.
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An initial read of the annual report indicates their net income is healthy for a biotech with one approved drug. A number of actions in the pipeline supposed to occur in 2d qtr. Appears promising. Anyone else have same or different take on it?
https://whalewisdom.com/filer/bill-amp-melinda-gates-foundation#tabholdings_tab_link
https://www.myjournals.org/?nr=674348
——Wells Fargo analyst Mohit Bansal, who in February named Biohaven as an acquisition target, had also listed Alnylam Pharmaceuticals (ALNY.O), Vir Biotechnology (VIR.O) and Intellia Therapeutics (NTLA.O).” Article from Reuters posted 4hr ago.
And their market cap is 2 billion.
What am I missing?
“The company said sales for its shingles vaccine Shringrix bounced back in the first quarter of this year, more than doubling to £698 million, while sales of its Covid-19 antibody treatment Xevudy, developed with Vir Biotechnology (VIR) increased to £1.3 billion, ahead of analysts’ expectations of £1.1 billion pounds.”
Sales of Sotrovimab for Glaxo Q4 of 2021 were £828 Million ($1.12 Billion), now for Q1 they’re reporting sales of £1.3 Billion ($1.63 Billion) this means Vir is at or over a Billion $ for their Q1.
Although sotrovimab was ~20-fold less antiviral against BA.2 than the parental virus, the Omicron subvariants bearing L452R substitution including BA.2.11 and BA.4/5 were more sensitive to sotrovimab than BA.2
https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2022.05.03.490409v1.full.pdf
REV $812/ $811.05M (exp.)
All the pipelines worth nothing.
A number of actions in the pipeline supposed to occur in 2d qtr.
Appears promising.
Anyone else have same or different take on it?