Baker Bros. Opened Positions In These 5 Healthcare Stocks

Julian Baker and Felix Baker founded Baker Bros. Advisors in 2000. The fund invests only in the healthcare sector, with a large chunk of its portfolio being represented by biotechnology stocks and its latest 13F filing showed an equity portfolio worth $9.54 billion as of the end of June, compared to $9.48 billion a quarter earlier.

The equity portfolio also showed that the investor initiated positions in 10 companies during the second quarter, and since its top holdings weren’t changed significantly, in this article let’s take a closer look at Baker Bros.’ top new holdings added during the second quarter. Particularly, we are going to discuss  Intellia Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:NTLA), Merus NV (NASDAQ:MRUS), Alder Biopharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:ALDR), Minerva Neurosciences Inc (NASDAQ:NERV), and Syros Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:SYRS).

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Intellia Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:NTLA)

– Shares Owned by Baker Bros. Advisors (as of June 30): 1.06 million

– Value of Baker Bros. Advisors’ holding (as of June 30): $22.68 million

Julian and Felix Baker’s Baker Bros. Advisors added a stake in Intellia Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:NTLA), having acquired 1.06 million shares worth $22.68 million during the second quarter. Intellia Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:NTLA) is a small-cap biotech company that is engaged in genome editing. During the second quarter, its revenue increased by an annual 205% to $4.21 million, and it posted a loss of $6.9 million for the quarter, which is lower than the loss of $3.0 million posted a year earlier. The stock went public in May, having raised $170.5 million. However, its  stock has slid by more than 41% since the IPO. Among the funds tracked by our team, eight funds have long positions in Intellia Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:NTLA) worth $88.81 million in aggregate as of the end of June.

Merus NV (NASDAQ:MRUS)

– Shares Owned by Baker Bros. Advisors (as of June 30): 1.12 million

– Value of Baker Bros. Advisors’ holding (as of June 30): $8.97 million

Julian and Felix Baker’s Baker Bros. Advisors added 1.12 million shares of Merus NV (NASDAQ:MRUS) to its equity portfolio during the second quarter $8.97 million during second quarter. The company reported revenue of 1.1 million euros ($1.24 million) and net loss of 0.40 euros per share ($0.45 per share) for second quarter, which compares with revenue of 1.2 million euros and a net loss of 1.25 euros per share posted for the same period of the last year. The company has cash and cash equivalents of €71.1 million ($80.37 million) as of the end of June. According to data tracked by our team, six funds held shares of Merus NV (NASDAQ:MRUS) with a total value of $16.41 million at the end of the second quarter.

On the next page, let’s look at Alder Biopharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:ALDR), Minerva Neurosciences Inc (NASDAQ:NERV), Syros Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:SYRS).

Alder Biopharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:ALDR)

– Shares Owned by Baker Bros. Advisors (as of June 30): 217,328

– Value of Baker Bros. Advisors’ holding (as of June 30): $5.43 million

Julian and Felix Baker’s Baker Bros. Advisors also initiated a stake in Alder Biopharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:ALDR) and reported holding 217,328 shares whose value stood at $5.43 million. The company reported a second-quarter net loss of $0.79 per share, which missed the estimates by $0.04 per share, while revenue stood at $0.01 million for the second quarter (it did not have any revenue in the second quarter of 2015). The company continues to make significant progress on ALD403 and is advancing towards BLA submission. ALD403 is engaged in untried monoclonal antibody treatment with a focus on calcitonin gene-related peptide which is also known as CGRP and is meant for prevention of migraine. CGRP is a critical because of protein content though in small is mixed up between the transmission and increased sensitivity towards pain experienced by patients affected by migraine. Migraine is regarded as big cause of disability affecting individuals aged between 20 years to 50 years which is considered to be the most productive period. Among the funds we track, 23 investors reported stakes in Alder Biopharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:ALDR) worth $253.17 million in aggregate as of the end of June.

Minerva Neurosciences Inc (NASDAQ:NERV)

– Shares Owned by Baker Bros. Advisors (as of June 30): 508,405

– Value of Baker Bros. Advisors’ holding (as of June 30): $5.19 million

The Julian and Felix Baker’s Baker Bros. Advisors added 508,405 shares of Minerva Neurosciences Inc (NASDAQ:NERV) worth $5.19 million during second quarter. Following a jump in May, Minerva’s stock is up by more than 100% year-to-date. On May 26, the company reported that its Phase 2b clinical trial that assessed its lead product candidate, MIN-101, met its primary endpoint in improving negative symptoms in patients with schizophrenia. For the second quarter, Minerva Neurosciences Inc (NASDAQ:NERV) reported net loss of $0.18 per share against expected net loss of $0.30. The company also had cash and cash equivalent balance of $97.1 million compared to $32.2 million on December’15 and did not generate any revenue. A total of 16 funds followed by Insider Monkey have long positions in Minerva Neurosciences Inc (NASDAQ:NERV) with a total value of $72.05 million as of the end of the second quarter.

Syros Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:SYRS)

– Shares Owned by Baker Bros. Advisors (as of June 30): 204,465

– Value of Baker Bros. Advisors’ holding (as of June 30): $3.71 million

The fifth new stock added by Julian and Felix Baker’s Baker Bros. Advisors is Syros Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:SYRS). The fund bought 204,465 shares worth $3.71 million between May and June. Recently, the company announced that its founders have employed a novel chemistry approach which validates CDK12 and CDK13 which plays an important role in controlling gene expression. Cyclin-dependent kinases 12 and 13 (CDK12 and CDK13) play an significant role in gene transcription. Absence of CDK12 and CDK13 is one of the key hurdle which has impacted in identifying the cause of various types of cancer. “A key focus of our proprietary gene control platform is understanding and drugging transcriptional targets, including transcriptional kinases. By modulating these targets with small molecules, we aim to control the expression of the critical set of genes driving the disease with a single drug,” said Eric Olson, Ph.D., Syros’ Chief Scientific Officer. Syros is another company that went public earlier this year and since its IPO at the end of June its stock has lost 27%. Six investors from our database owned shares of Syros Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:SYRS) at the end of the second quarter, having amassed $75.47 million worth of stock.

Disclosure: None