Steadymed Ltd (STDY), Achillion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (ACHN), & Nevro Corp (NVRO): James Flynn’s Latest Healthcare Picks

Deerfield Management initiated a stake in Achillion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:ACHN) with 2.92 million shares valued at $35.77 million during the fourth quarter. The small-cap hepatitis C focused clinical stage biotech company might still not have any marketed products, and the competition from behemoth competitors in the field such as Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) might look stiff, but this hasn’t stopped the stock from soaring by about 195.86% over the last 52 weeks. ACH-3102 is Achillion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:ACHN)’s nearest drug to commercialization and it showed promising results in mid-stage trials when it was combined with Gilead’s Sovaldi and cured 100% patients in an eight and six-week treatment cycles. Peter Kolchinksky’s RA Capital Management held the largest stake among hedge funds during the fourth quarter with 6.7 million shares valued at $82.08 million.

Flynn also acquired some 358,100 shares of Juno Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:JUNO) valued at $18.7 million during the fourth quarter. The $4.84 billion company held its IPO in late December and is up by nearly 52.66% since then. The company is addressing cancer treatment in a new way, by altering the body’s immune system (specifically T-cells) so that it can easily find and destroy cancer cells. Its most promising drug, JCAR015 for treatment of leukemia had been earlier reported to have caused a remission in 89% of the 27 patients with relapsed leukemia. Juno Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:JUNO) is launching a mid stage study for JCAR015. Anders Hove and Bong Koh’s VHCP Management held 1.8 million shares valued at $74.33 million towards the end of 2014.

Disclosure: none