Five Beaten-Up Biotech Stocks Saw Big Share Purchases

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Biotech stocks have taken some lumps this year, and some have seen some large stock purchases made by big shareholders.

Shares of cancer-therapy developers

Kymera Therapeutics

(ticker: KYMR),

Cullinan Oncology

(CGEM), and

Repare Therapeutics

(RPTX) are down 77%, 22%, and 35%, respectively, so far this year.

Kymera’s first-quarter report and a business update sent shares tumbling in early May. Cullinan stock has been on a steady decline since November. Repare stock has endured downward pressure all year, but it got a bit of a respite in early June from a licensing deal with Roche.

Pain in the sector has been worse than what the general market has faced. The

Nasdaq Biotechnology Index

(NBI), which includes Kymera, Cullinan, and Repare as component stocks, has dropped 26% this year, while the

S&P 500 index

has lost 18%.

San Francisco-based investment firm BVF Partners LP, which manages the Biotechnology Value Fund LP, scooped up all three stocks.

BVF paid $21.9 million from June 2-6 for 1.8 million Repare shares, an average price of $11.90 each, according to a form BVF filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm paid $8.3 million for 751,396 Cullinan shares on June 1, an average price of $11 each. It also paid $4.2 million over May 26 and 27 for 289,426 Kymera shares, an average price of $14.34 each.

BVF didn’t respond to a request for comment.

The firm now owns 8 million Repare shares, 7.4 million Cullinan shares, and 4 million Kymera shares.

BVF is Repare’s largest shareholder, according to S&P Capital IQ, and the second-largest shareholder in both Cullinan and Kymera. All three stocks are trading below the pricing set in their initial public offerings; Repare stock went public in June 2020 priced at $20, Cullinan’s August 2020 IPO priced shares at $21, and Kymera’s August 2020 IPO priced shares at $20.

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Iovance Biotherapeutics

(IOVA) stock tumbled in late May when shareholders of the cancer-therapy developer didn’t like just-released trial data. Shares have lost half their value this year, but with Friday’s closing price of $8.30, they are still trading for more than their $6.50 September 2017 IPO price.

Quogue Capital LLC paid $6.6 million over May 31 and June 1 for 1 million Iovance shares, an average price of $6.60 each. Quogue, which now owns 8.1 million shares, didn’t respond to a request for comment. Quogue is Iovance’s fifth-largest shareholder, and Wayne Rothbaum, president of Quogue, serves on Iovance’s board.

Kodiak Sciences

(KOD) stock has tumbled 90% so far this year. Shares were hammered in February, after an eye drug disappointed, and they never recovered.

Baker Bros. Advisors paid $4.4 million from June 2-6 for 572,349 Kodiak shares, an average price of $7.77 each. The investment firm, which remains Kodiak’s largest shareholder, now owns 17.3 million Kodiak shares. Baker Bros. Advisors didn’t respond to a request for comment. Felix Baker, a managing member of Baker Bros. Advisors, serves Kodiak as a director. Kodiak’s IPO was in October 2018, and priced shares at $10 each; shares closed Friday at $8.07.

Iovance and Kodiak are also component stocks of the Nasdaq Biotechnology Index.

Inside Scoop is a regular Barron’s feature covering stock transactions by corporate executives and board members—so-called insiders—as well as large shareholders, politicians, and other prominent figures. Due to their insider status, these investors are required to disclose stock trades with the Securities and Exchange Commission or other regulatory groups.

Write to Ed Lin at [email protected] and follow @BarronsEdLin.