Baron Funds, an investment management company, released its “Baron Health Care Fund” second quarter 2023 investor letter. A copy of the same can be downloaded here. The fund advanced 9.22% (Institutional Shares) in the quarter compared to a 3.44% gain for the Russell 3000 Health Care Index (benchmark) and an 8.74% gain for the S&P 500 Index. Since its inception, on April 30, 2018, the fund gained 13.58% on an annualized basis, compared to the benchmark’s 10.85% gain and the S&P 500 Index’s 12.54% return. Favorable stock selection led the fund to outperform in the quarter. Investments in biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, and healthcare equipment accounted for most of the relative gains of the fund in the quarter. In addition, please check the fund’s top five holdings to know its best picks in 2023.
Baron Health Care Fund highlighted stocks like Legend Biotech Corporation (NASDAQ:LEGN) in its Q2 2023 investor letter. Based in Somerset, New Jersey, Legend Biotech Corporation (NASDAQ:LEGN) is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company. On July 24, 2023, Legend Biotech Corporation (NASDAQ:LEGN) stock closed at $73.03 per share. One-month return of Legend Biotech Corporation (NASDAQ:LEGN) was 0.93%, and its shares gained 44.61% of their value over the last 52 weeks. Legend Biotech Corporation (NASDAQ:LEGN) has a market capitalization of $13.171 billion.
Baron Health Care Fund made the following comment about Legend Biotech Corporation (NASDAQ:LEGN) in its second quarter 2023 investor letter:
“We added to our position in Legend Biotech Corporation (NASDAQ:LEGN), a biotechnology company developing cell therapies for cancer. The company’s lead product is Carvykti, a cell therapy for the treatment of multiple myeloma, a blood cancer affecting over 200,000 people in the U.S. alone. Last year the FDA approved Carvykti as a fourth-line treatment for multiple myeloma, and the company is running clinical studies to move Carvykti up into first-line treatment. During the second quarter, Legend announced positive updates from clinical trials and continued to execute on the commercial roll out of Carvykti as a fourth-line therapy. Data has shown that Carvykti, in the second line, reduced the risk of cancer progression by 74% as compared to the current standard of care for multiple myeloma, and this was accomplished with a one-and-done treatment. While we do not know how effective the treatment will prove to be long term, results suggest two-plus years of progression-free survival. Legend’s partners Janssen, a Johnson & Johnson (J&J) subsidiary, and Novartis have announced they will invest $100 million to increase manufacturing capacity, which is on top of the roughly $1 billion J&J has already committed to the program. Demand for Carvykti massively outstrips supply, and we expect Carvykti to generate billions of dollars in revenue by 2030. We retain conviction given this unique and exciting opportunity.”
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Legend Biotech Corporation (NASDAQ:LEGN) is not on our list of 30 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. As per our database, 28 hedge fund portfolios held Legend Biotech Corporation (NASDAQ:LEGN) at the end of first quarter which was 28 in the previous quarter.
We discussed Legend Biotech Corporation (NASDAQ:LEGN) in another article and shared the list of most promising healthcare stocks according to analysts. In addition, please check out our hedge fund investor letters Q2 2023 page for more investor letters from hedge funds and other leading investors.
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Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.
