Wall Street’s main stock indexes gained as investors looked towards the positive impact the new Covid-19 relief package could have on the hopes for an economic recovery.
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The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.8%, while the S&P 500 Index increased 0.6%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index added 0.1%.
Tesla Inc.’s billionaire founder Elon Musk disclosed that he had in the past approached Apple CEO Tim Cook to start talks about a potential takeover of the electric car maker for one-tenth of its current value. “During the darkest days of the Model 3 program, I reached out to Tim Cook to discuss the possibility of Apple acquiring Tesla (for 1/10 of our current value),” Musk wrote in a Twitter post, adding that Cook “refused to take the meeting.” Musk made the comments in reaction to a Reuters story that Apple is stepping up its self-driving car technology and is planning to produce a passenger vehicle by 2024 that could include its own breakthrough battery technology. Tesla shares rose 1%.
In corona updates, shares of Sorrento Therapeutics spiked 14% after the drugmaker filed for emergency use of its COVID-19 test with the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Specifically, Sorrento announced that the FDA application is for the emergency use authorization (EUA) of its COVI-STIX rapid diagnostic test for the detection of the SARS-CoV-2 virus nucleocapsid antigen in nasal samples of patients. According to the latest testing results, the COVI-STIX generates results within 15 minutes. A positive detection can be seen within two minutes for patient samples with high viral load. Going forward, Sorrento is evaluating the potential for COVI-STIX using a saliva sample as well.
Pfizer and German partner BioNTech have won a second order with the US government for the supply of an additional 100 million doses of their COVID-19 vaccine. The US government will pay $1.95 billion for the additional 100 million vaccine doses. Pfizer said that the current agreement takes the total number of vaccine doses to be supplied to the US to 200 million. The companies expect to deliver the 200 million doses, which will be supplied from production facilities in the US, by July 31 next year. Pfizer shares climbed 2.2%, while BioNTech fell 1.8%.
Merck & Co. has signed a $356 million deal with the US government to develop, manufacture, and distribute an experimental COVID-19 therapy. The experimental drug, called MK-7110, was developed by the privately held biopharmaceutical company, OncoImmune, which Merck acquired for $425 million in November. The US drugmaker will manufacture and supply approximately 60,000 – 100,000 doses of MK-7110 to the US government over the next six months to meet the government’s Operation Warp Speed goals. Shares added 1%.
Coming now to other healthcare news, Spectrum Pharmaceuticals dived 10% as the company announced that Cohort 3 of its ZENITH20 clinical trial, which enrolled first-line NSCLC (non-small cell lung cancer) patients with EGFR exon 20 insertion mutations at 16mg once daily, did not meet its primary endpoint. The unfavorable update overshadowed the news of a successful pre-NDA meeting with the FDA, which resulted in an agreement to submit an NDA for poziotinib based on Cohort 2 data from the ZENITH20 clinical trial.
In M&A news, GrowGeneration rose 1.4% as the largest chain of specialty hydroponic and organic garden centers in the US, said it has acquired Southern California-based Canopy Crop Management and its complete portfolio of products, including the Power SI brand of silicic acid-enriched fertilizers. GrowGen was named the best cannabis stock of 2020 by Bloomberg News and has just completed a $172.5 million capital raise to facilitate its continued growth.
Honeywell announced a $1.3 billion cash deal to snap up privately-held Sparta Systems, an enterprise quality management software company, from New Mountain Capital. Honeywell seeks to utilize Sparta Systems’ software-as-a-service (SaaS) platform to enhance its life sciences division capabilities and expand into newer markets. Honeywell’s Rajeev Gautam commented, “Sparta Systems is an ideal complement to our life sciences portfolio. While Sparta’s capabilities will initially help us expand our capabilities for our existing breakthrough initiative in life sciences, we plan to leverage Honeywell’s global footprint and expertise to quickly expand Sparta’s capabilities to serve other markets.” Shares appreciated 1.6%.
In airline news, Alaska Air advanced 2.5% as the carrier agreed to buy an additional 23 Boeing 737 MAX aircraft. With this order, the airline intends to replace its older Airbus A320 aircraft fleet, which it had adopted following the acquisition of Virgin America in 2016. Alaska Air said that the order, including the 737-9 model of MAX series aircraft, will enable it to move “toward a more efficient, all-Boeing mainline fleet.” The new deal will boost Alaska Air’s total order to 68 Boeing 737 MAX jets. The company also has an option to buy an additional 52 aircraft.
