James Flynn‘s Deerfield Management has filed its 13F with the SEC for the reporting period of March 31, with the investment manager disclosing a public equity portfolio valued at $3.09 billion. The fund primarily invests in the healthcare sector, with 94% of the value of its public equities residing in health stocks, owing to managing partner and CEO Flynn’s background working in and investing in the healthcare sector. That expertise makes Flynn a wise choice to track when it comes to a sector that can be one of the most challenging to understand for investors. Auspex Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:ASPX), Horizon Pharma PLC (NASDAQ:HZNP), AbbVie Inc (NYSE:ABBV), and NxStage Medical, Inc. (NASDAQ:NXTM) are among the top healthcare stock picks of Flynn, which we’ll look at in this article.
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Auspex Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:ASPX) is the largest healthcare stock pick of Flynn, who owns 4.45 million shares valued at $446.11 million. Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd (ADR) (NYSE:TEVA) announced the completion of its acquisition of Auspex Pharmaceuticals Inc earlier this month for an equity value close to $3.5 billion. Shares of Auspex Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:ASPX) grew over 92% in 2015 thanks in part to its acquisition, and a hefty 454% over the past year. Some of the major shareholders of Auspex were Israel Englander‘s Millennium Management, Alpine Associates, and Water Island Capital.
Deerfield Management’s second-largest health investment was in Horizon Pharma PLC (NASDAQ:HZNP), in which it owns 12.79 million shares valued at $332.23 million. The specialty biopharmaceutical company has a market cap of $5.02 billion and its shares currently trade at $32.28. Horizon Pharma completed the acquisition of Horizon Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:HPTX) on May 7 with a tender offer for 86% of the outstanding shares of the latter. With this acquisition, Horizon Pharma PLC (NASDAQ:HZNP) added two successful medicines for the treatment of urea cycle disorders, RAVICTI and BUPHENYL, to its portfolio. The biopharmaceutical company reported net sales of $113.1 million during the first quarter of 2015 with a net loss of $19.6 million. Broadfin Capital and Healthcor Management LP are two other health-focused investment firms that hold major positions in Horizon Pharma PLC (NASDAQ:HZNP), which has gained an even-more-impressive 152% year-to-date.
AbbVie Inc (NYSE:ABBV) ranks as the number three long health pick in the public equity portfolio of Deerfield Management through a position of 1.53 million shares valued at $89.80 million. Shares of AbbVie have remained stable throughout the year with growth of 2.38% year-to-date. Consistent with the acquisition spree that has been prevalent in the pharmaceutical industry of late, AbbVie Inc (NYSE:ABBV) announced the acquisition of Pharmacyclics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PCYC) for $21 billion earlier this year. The acquisition is poised to help AbbVie make progress in the fast-growing cancer drug treatment industry and should allow it to offset the effects of its head-on-head collision with Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) in the HCV drugs market, with the latter now controlling 85% of the HCV drug market with its Sovaldi and Harvoni drugs, which are available for $84,000 and $94,500 for a 12-week standard treatment course. AbbVie Inc launched Viekira Pak in December 2014 to eat-away the market share of Gilead with a price tag of $83,300 for a similar 12-week standard treatment course. Cliff Asness‘ AQR Capital Management, Orbimed Advisors, and Point State Capital are among the primary stockholders of AbbVie Inc.
NxStage Medical, Inc. (NASDAQ:NXTM) is the final top healthcare stock pick of Deerfield Management we’ll look at, with Deerfield owning 5.07 million shares of NxStage Medical valued at $87.76 million. It has been a rough year for the medical device manufacturer in terms of its share price, which has declined 9.22% year-to-date. NxStage Medical, Inc. (NASDAQ:NXTM) has a market cap of $1.04 billion with a 52-week high of $19.63. The medical firm has received an average rating of “Buy” from six brokers with a 1-year price target of $21.00, which represents an upside of 27.03% from its current share price. Tamarack Capital Management, Steve Cohen‘s Point72 Asset Management, and Sectoral Asset Management hold substantial investments in NxStage Medical, Inc. (NASDAQ:NXTM).
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