Daily Brief Health Care: Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Accolade , BB Biotech AG, Bio-Rad Laboratories A, Blueprint Medicines, Evaxion Biotech A/S, FibroBiologics, Immix Biopharma Inc, IN8bio , Scilex Holding and more

• Ionis Pharmaceuticals Inc., a leader in RNA-targeted therapeutics, recently held its second quarter 2024 earnings call outlining several achievements and perspectives on ongoing projects and upcoming product launches.
• Ionis has made significant progress with a clear strategic focus on its pipeline, recent approvals, and foundational growth in its research and commercial domains.
• Baptista Research looks to evaluate the different factors that could influence the company’s price in the near future and attempts to carry out an independent valuation of the company using a Discounted Cash Flow (DCF) methodology.

• Accolade has been in the news for receiving solid acquisition interest.
• The company’s position as a potentially attractive acquisition target may be considered based on various aspects of its business model and financial performance as presented in their recent quarterly results.
• The company operates within the healthcare services industry, providing personalized health care solutions, which remain a significant growth sector due to increasing demand for customized healthcare and technological advancements like artificial intelligence and virtual care services.

BB Biotech (BION) offers investors exposure to the innovative, rapidly expanding biotech sector. It is the largest biotech investor among its investment company peers, focused on high-quality biotech assets that target substantial market opportunities. The company recently released its interim report for the period ended 30 June 2024, which provided an update on recent performance and developments with portfolio companies, and outlined the major milestones expected from these holdings during the second half of 2024. This note summarises the key points from the report, and the reasons why BION’s managers are optimistic about the outlook for the biotech sector and for their portfolio.

• Bio-Rad, in its second quarter of 2024, presents a mix of performances and outlook corrections amidst a complex operating environment.
• CEO Norman Schwartz highlighted that the quarter saw revenue meeting expectations and a better-than-expected margin performance due to favorable product mix and good cost management.
• Despite these positives, the company is facing challenges specifically within the biotech and biopharma sectors, leading to a cautious revision of its full-year 2024 financial outlook.

• Blueprint Medicines has commemorated a full year since the U.S. approval of AYVAKIT for indolent systemic mastocytosis (ISM), showcasing significant achievements in both financial and operational domains.
• The company’s Q2 2024 financial results reflect a robust trajectory for AYVAKIT, bolstered by favorable reception among physicians, patients, and payers, and underscored by promising revenue figures that outstrip prior expectations.
• Baptista Research looks to evaluate the different factors that could influence the company’s price in the near future and attempts to carry out an independent valuation of the company using a Discounted Cash Flow (DCF) methodology.

• EVAX is a clinical stage company that has proprietary AI models designed to more efficiently and more accurately target much-needed treatments.
• The company has two streams of possible revenue: from the treatments themselves and from the licensing of the AI technology.
• 2Q financials show the company has solid cash and is attracting interest from potential partners.

• FibroBiologics is a cell therapy company focused on the development of fibroblast-based therapies for the treatment of chronic diseases with significant unmet medical needs.
• The company recently announced positive proof-of-concept data regarding the development of a novel artificial thymus organoid that restored immune function in a severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID) mouse model.
• We continue to anticipate that a Phase 1/2 clinical trial of CYWC628, the company’s lead asset targeting diabetic foot ulcers, will be completed in Australia in 2025.

Immix Biopharma’s second quarter was headlined by intensified clinical activity for lead CAR-T asset NXC-201 (targeting amyloid light chain amyloidosis, ALA), followed by commencement of patient dosing in the US-based NEXICART-2 trial in July 2024. With an 18- to 24-month timeline for full trial enrollment (planned n=40) and top-line data expected in Q2/Q326, we now anticipate a biological license application (BLA) to be filed in H127 (vs 2026 previously). In our view, the development path has been partially de-risked by the potential $8m grant inflows from the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM), which should bolster liquidity and extend the operational runway to Q425. We adjust our top-line estimates to reflect grant inflows but conservatively push out the NXC-201 launch timeline to 2028 (vs 2027 previously). We revise our valuation to $123.1m or $4.5/share (from $139.5m or $5.3/share).

• IN8Bio is a clinical-stage, oncology-focused biotechnology company using ?d T cells against solid and hematological tumors.
• Its pipeline is built on the DeltEx platform & drug-resistant immunotherapy (DRI) technology which have produced clinical candidates targeting leukemia & GBM.
• INB-100 is evaluating leukemia in a Ph1 study, while INB-200 & INB-400 are Ph1 and Ph2 assets evaluating GBM.

• SCLX is filling a much-needed area of the health care sector, that of developing non-opioid pain relief products.
• The company already has commercialized products that are proven to improve patients’ lives.
• The company released its 2Q2024 results that showed revenues that bested estimates as sales of its primary products showed robust growth, while adding another product to its mix.