Co-Diagnostics (CODX +15.3%) is up on almost double normal volume on the heels of its announcement that its Research-Use-Only (RUO) CoPrimer test for 2019-nCov, the coronavirus causing the current outbreak, is ready for sale to qualified laboratories, hospitals and institutions.
Like just about any economist talking about the expected economic impact of the coronavirus, U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin says, “It’s too early to tell.”
In modeling the economic impact of the coronavirus, “we have some pretty wide ranges,” he told Maria Bartiromo on Fox Business Network.
“But I think after another two weeks we’ll have a much better way to model how this virus spreads,” he said.
And while Mnuchin expects President Trump’s economic policies to continue to fuel U.S. economic growth into 2021, he’s no longer projecting 3% growth for this year.
“Our projections have been reduced because of Boeing and — and other impacts,” he said. Boeing could be about a 50 basis point hit, he said.
For the legislative agenda, Mnuchin says that President Trump wants to work on an infrastructure package.
And on trade, the U.S. is in negotiations with the EU, the U.K. and India.
A New Jersey jury today ordered Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) to pay $750M in punitive damages to four plaintiffs who claimed their use of the company’s talc-based products caused a rare cancer.
Citing state law, the judge presiding over the trial said she would reduce the punitive award to $186.5M, or ~5x the $37.3M in compensatory damages awarded by a separate jury in the first phase of the case last year.
J&J said it will appeal the verdicts in both phases of the trial, citing “numerous legal errors that subjected the jury to irrelevant information and prevented them from hearing meaningful evidence.”
J&J CEO Alex Gorsky had testified in court vouching for the safety of the company’s Baby Powder and another talc-based powder.
Ekso Bionics (EKSO +2%) commences the global launch of its upgraded EksoPulse, a cloud-based IT platform that measures and analyzes progress in users of its EksoNR robotic exoskeleton. Specifically, it allows physical therapists and doctors to track and personalize patient care with EksoNR.
Q4 results for Merck (MRK -0.3%) and Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMY +2.3%) present stark contrasts between their rival PD-1 inhibitors with the former clearly demonstrating superior execution in sales and expanding approved uses.
Merck’s Keytruda (pembrolizumab) is the company’s top seller, averaging over 75% growth per quarter over the past two years. Sales grew 45% yoy to $3,111M in Q4 2019.
BMY’s Opdivo (nivolumab), briefly its top drug, now #2 again behind blood thinner Eliquis, has averaged almost 24% growth per quarter over the same time frame, but the trend has been steadily down since Q3 2018. Sales were $1,763M last quarter, down 2% from a year ago.
Keytruda growth/quarter (Q4 2019 – Q1 2018): +45%, +62%, +58%, +55%, +66%, +80%, +89%, +151%.
Opdivo growth/quarter (same lookback): -2%, +1%, +12%, +19%, +33%, +42%, +36%, +34%.
Keytruda, initially OK’d in the U.S. in September 2014, is now approved for 15 cancers.
Opdivo, initially OK’d in the U.S. in December 2014, is approved for nine cancers.
