Bellevue Biotech (CH)

Stock markets headed south in December. The S&P index retreated 5.8%, the Nasdaq Biotech Index 2.9%.

In December global stock markets handed back some of their gains from the previous months and ended 2022 with a negative return of just over 18% (MSCI World). Despite some rays of light in the fourth quarter, 2022 will be remembered as a year when markets had to absorb shock waves from the war in Ukraine along with higher inflation and higher interest rates. China’s sudden exit from its zero-COVID policy after a few short weeks of widespread protests against the government's harsh COVID lockdowns and measures attracted lots of attention. In the biotech sector clinical conferences produced clinical trial news flow. At the annual gathering of the American Society of Hematology (ASH) fascinating new data was released from trials of bispecific antibodies in multiple myeloma, creating new inroads for this class of immunotherapy drugs, which has already been established as a therapy for lymphoma (HL/NHL). There were also numerous reports of progress with cell therapies and small-molecule drugs.

The following stocks made the best contribution to the portfolio's performance in December: Akero Therapeutics corrected briefly after a rival published strong data from a Phase III trial in NASH but its shares bounced back even stronger as Akero’s approach seemed to be more promising. These were the first treatment breakthroughs ever in nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), a form of fatty liver disease for which no medicines have been approved. Horizon Therapeutics made more good gains on the announcement of its definitive takeover by Amgen for almost USD 28 bn. Beigene was also a strong performer after it presented excellent trial data on zanubrutinib, a BTK inhibitor in leukemia, at the ASH conference.

The following positions were performance detractors in November: The results of a combination immunotherapy (anti-TIGIT/anti-PD1) for lung cancer patients published by Arcus and its partner Gilead fell short of expectations unfortunately, although the combination therapy was clearly more effective than monotherapy alone. Fate presented somewhat disappointing readouts at ASH for its CD19 CAR-T and BCMA CAR-NK cell therapies compared to competitive approches. Genmab was marked down although it reported good clinical progress.

We reduced our shareholdings of Horizon, Vertex and other stocks and increased positions in Beigene, Cytokinetics, and other stocks.

Our stance towards the biotech sector remains positive in view of its strong fundamentals and enticing valuations (average 2023 P/E of 15x and PEG of 1.2 for large caps). These are still very attractive multiples compared to the biotech sector's historical valuations and the current ratios for the pharma sector (P/E 20x, PEG 2.5) and the S&P Index (P/E 18x, PEG 1.8).

The companies in our portfolio are working on technologies or products for novel treatment solutions. We are also invested in selected specialty pharma companies that offer high growth rates and moderate valuations. The Bellevue Biotech (CH) Fund is well-positioned to profit from the milestones that are expected to be reached in 2023. The regulatory environment favors the innovation coming out of biotech labs and the coronavirus crisis has improved the image of drug developers. In addition to the growing piles of cash that the larger biopharmaceutical companies are accumulating, we also believe low valuations and the attractive pipeline candidates of biotech companies in the small and mid cap space could trigger M&A activity going forward.