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10-Year BDI-40 Up 80%, ASX200 Down 9% Big Caps Up 270%

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May Good For Biotechs:

May BDI-40 Up 3%, ASX200 Up 0.5%
Big Caps Up 8%, NBI Up 5%

 Compumedics Up 88%, Immutep 53%; Airxpanders Down 43%, Reva 27%

June 1, 2018

May was good for Australian biotech with many stocks at 12-month highs, some at all-time highs, and both the collective Big Caps and the adjusted BDI-40 at their highest ever.

 

There were a number of small falls in the lower ranks as some companies that may have been over-valued sorted themselves out.

 

The Biotech Daily Top 40 Index (BDI-40) climbed 3.1 percent for the month, up 29.0 percent for the year to May 31, 2018 - in part reflecting significant falls by Mesoblast and Sirtex a year ago - while the ASX200 was up 0.5 percent for the month and 5.0 percent for the year.

 

The Nasdaq Biotechnology Index (NBI) was up 4.7 percent in May and 13.9 percent for the year (see charts below which include the Big Caps three-year chart for the first time).

 

The three Big Caps of Cochlear, CSL and Resmed (which are not included in the BDI-40) improved 7.8 percent for the month and 42.5 percent for the year.

 

CSL was up 9.1 percent to $84,079 million, Resmed improved 6.5 percent to $19,296 million with Cochlear up 1.1 percent to $11,288 million.

 

Twenty-one of the BDI-40 companies were up, of which five were up by more than 40 percent in the month and eight were up more than 20 percent. Eighteen fell, with eight down by more than 10 percent. One was unchanged.

 

Compumedics was the best, up 88.2 percent on yesterday’s China deal to $128 million, followed by Immutep up 53.4 percent to $112 million, Oncosil (48.75%), Volpara (44.3%), Actinogen (43.75%), Prescient (38.1%), Factor Therapeutics (24.2%), Genetic Signatures (24.2%), Polynovo (17.9%), Orthocell (15.4%) and Nanosonics (10.4%).

 

Airxpanders led the falls for the second month in a row, down a further 42.9 percent to $24 million from more than $200 million just five months ago, followed by Reva (27.4%), LBT (17.9%), Admedus (15.5%), Medical Developments (15.4%) and Uscom (14.3%).

 

Outside the BDI-40, Invion, Nuheara, Patrys and Phosphagenics were all showing consistent improvement.

 

But over in Cannabis Corner, the buzz was starting to wear off the 16 pot-stocks, which fell a collective 9.9 percent, with all down except for Botanix up 47.0 percent to $97 million and two that couldn’t move.

 

In the US, Redhill recovered 46.7 percent to $201 million, Queensland’s Protagonist slipped 16.0 percent to $204 million and Vaxart (half Biota) yo-yoed up 93 percent to $48 million.

 

While Biotech Daily is impressed with the Airxpanders post-mastectomy breast enhancement technology the company is struggling and will move to the Second 20, making room for Volpara which has shown consistent improvement through the year.

 

 

BDI-40 v S&P ASX200 Jun 30, 2006 to May 31, 2018 

 

 Big Caps (Cochlear, CSL, Resmed) May 31, 2015 To May 31, 2018