Juno Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: JUNO)
To make an interesting Day in the US markets on January 16th, 2018, even more interesting, it was reported by The Wall Street Journal after the bell closed at 4 p.m. that Celgene is in advanced talks to acquire Juno Therapeutics.
Recently, Celgene purchased another biotech company named Impact Biomedicines for about $7 Billion dollars. Juno mainly focuses on therapies for cancer in the cellular immunotherapies section.
Celgene focuses more on blood related disorders and cancers. The regular training session saw Juno Therapeutics close down -$3.15 which was down 6.46% on the day. However in the aftermarket session, shares rocketed up and closed at $65.10 or up $19.50 which is 42.76% after the news was announced and the reaction in the stock price developed.
More merger deals like this may occur in 2018, as the effects of the new US tax code begins taking effect, enticing companies to bring back cash from overseas countries.
JUNO Chart
The above price chart shows the 5-minute chart of $JUNO and as you can see prices have surged to over $70 per share following the chatter around merging with Celgene. Shares have since pulled back slighty and are currently trading in the $69.80 range. Look for shares to be volatile today which should also provide plenty of opportunity for day traders.
Analysts Comments
Jefferies LLC analyst Michael Yee wrote in a note on Tuesday, “We are not surprised nor shocked to see this and view the potential acquisition as an incremental positive since it would consolidate long-term revenues and technological expertise, although we also acknowledge new revenues and external BD (business development) are favorable given that Celgene needs new revenue and already have rights to the majority of JUNO’s pipeline.”
Company Profile
Juno Therapeutics, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company, engages in developing cell-based cancer immunotherapies. The company develops cell-based cancer immunotherapies based on its chimeric antigen receptor and T cell receptor technologies to genetically engineer T cells to recognize and kill cancer cells. Its CD19 product candidates include JCAR017 that is in Phase I/II trials for adults with relapsed or refractory (r/r) B cell aggressive non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) and pediatric patients with r/r B cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL); JCAR014, which is in Phase I/II trials to treat various B cell malignancies in patients relapsed or refractory to standard therapies; and JCAR015 that is in Phase II trials for adult patients with r/r ALL.
The company’s CD22 product candidate comprise JCAR018, which is in Phase I trial for pediatric and young adult patients with CD22-positive r/r ALL or r/r NHL. Its additional product candidates include CD171, a cell-surface adhesion molecule to treat neuroblastoma; Lewis Y for the treatment of lung cancer; JCAR023, which is in Phase I trial for patients with refractory or recurrent pediatric neuroblastoma; MUC-16, a protein for treating ovarian cancers; IL-12, a cytokine to overcome the inhibitory effects; ROR-1, a protein for the treatment of non-small cell lung, triple negative breast, pancreatic, and prostate cancers; WT-1, an intracellular protein that is in Phase I/II clinical trials to treat adult myeloid leukemia and non-small cell lung, breast, pancreatic, ovarian, and colorectal cancers; and IL13ra2 for treating glioblastoma.
Juno Therapeutics, Inc. has collaboration agreements with Celgene Corporation, Fate Therapeutics, Inc., Editas Medicine, Inc., MedImmune Limited, and Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. The company was formerly known as FC Therapeutics, Inc. and changed its name to Juno Therapeutics, Inc. in October 2013. Juno Therapeutics, Inc. was founded in 2013 and is headquartered in Seattle, Washington.-YahooFinance
