VIDEO - Life Science Update June 2018

The pharmaceutical, biotech, medical device and genetics sectors continue to prove to investors how resourceful the industry is. June was filled with numerous mergers and acquisitions, news and US Food and Drug Administration approvals—proving it to be another interesting month for investors.

Some notable M&As which proved to be exciting and often controversial by some include Bayer’s (ETR:BAYN) acquisition over Monsanto which closed early in the quarter and Amazon’s (NASDAQ:AMZN) acquisition over PillPack, a US nationwide pharmacy.

Scott Gottlieb commented on the latter in a video interview with CNBC the disruptive competition is a good thing and could promote lower the cost of drugs while promoting the use of generics. Agilent (NYSE:A) also acquired ProZyme to increase its new glycan market of biopharma consumables.

The month had more news than just M&As: for the medical device industry, Reshape (NASDAQ:RSLS) and Apollo Endosurgery (NASDAQ:APEN) were each required to relabel their intragastric balloons as the result of five new deaths. This brings the total to 12 deaths in the past two years.

Aptose Biosciences (TSX:APS; NASDAQ:APTO) had its clinical hold lifted after three years, meaning the company is now able to get APTO-253 back in Phase 1B. The trial was originally put on hold due to an event that occurred at the infusion site, but was later discovered to be a result from chemistry and manufacturing based issues.

For the biopharmaceutical space, Genentech, a member of the Roche Group (OTCQX:RHHBY), received approval for Avastin (bevacizumab), plus chemotherapy as a treatment for women with advanced ovarian cancer, following initial surgery. This means the company now has Avastin approved for ten distinct uses across six different types of cancer in the US, another indication includes glioblastoma.

Another biopharmaceutical approval includes Achaogen’s (NASDAQ:AKAO) antibiotic approval for Zemdri, a treatment for adult with complication urinary tract infections.

In the case of medical device 510(k) approvals, while there were many, Senseonics’s (NYSE:SENS) Eversense system became the world’s first ever approved continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) system. Not only does this approval give diabetic patients a new method to monitor their glucose, but it urges other biotech and pharmaceutical companies to possibly challenge this method with newer treatments.

Investors interested in this and more news from the life science sectors in the month of June can watch the video above. For further insight, keep an eye out for future articles in the spaces.

Don’t forget to follow us @INN_LifeScience for real-time news updates!

Securities Disclosure: I, Gabrielle Lakusta, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.