ON SEQUENOM (SQNM)

On September 22, Prohost wrote:

Hello future.

It did not take us long to welcome the arrival of what many have expected from Sequenom and many have doubted. The expected has, indeed, begun to show, and the doubt that should disappear will stay as long as the skeptics of Wall street are ideologists whose ideology is cynicism. Nevertheless Sequenom has, indeed, launched its first laboratory test, SensiGene™ Cystic Fibrosis (CF) Carrier Screening test. We went on to describe the carrier screening tests and stress the fact that healthy individuals with no family history of a genetic diseases and have healthy children, may still be carriers of a genetic disorder like cystic fibrosis.

The article proceeded into stating that the launch of this test marks the first test launched by its own lab, the Sequenom Center for Molecular Medicine. Read the article in Seeking Alpha and the Prohost website.

On October 8, 2009, Under the title: Who Sold Sequenom On Thursday August 6 and Why? Prohost wrote:

Sequenom’s (SQNM) recent stock decline looked as if a program was set for selling SQNM as soon as the financial results were announced. The point is that the firm’s financial results had nothing to do with SQNM price move, neither during the rally that took the stock up from a mid one-digit price to over $25, nor during the stock plummeting from around $15 in April to less than $4 overnight. So, it does not make sense that, all of a sudden, the financial results would have such a huge negative impact on the stock.

The reason for the rally was investors’ enthusiasm about the firm’s non-invasive prenatal program, especially the expected launch of non-invasive test for Down syndrome. On the other hand, the reason for the stock losses that followed was the skepticism towards the program when news announced that some employees mishandled the R&D Down syndrome test data and results and were under investigation. This incident led investors to become skeptical towards the firm’s pre-natal program.

The recent rebounding in the stock occurred as investors began to regain confidence that Sequenom will, indeed, be capable of putting several prenatal non-invasive tests on the market, including the Down syndrome test. This is what Sequenom has confirmed time and time again from the day the mishandling of the data was announced until now.

Besides the prenatal program, recently, results from a study published by the University of Michigan demonstrate that thanks to using Sequenom MassARRAY system, its scientists were capable of detecting the presence of high-risk human papillomavirus (HPV) in women in nearly half (46.7%) of those who tested negative with the standard of care conventional test. HPV causes cervical cancer in women. As a matter of fact, around 9,000 American women are diagnosed with cervical cancer each year despite regular cervical screening with the current test. The results of the MassARRAY test will be published in the September 2009 edition of Journal of Virological Methods. The assay used in this study is exclusively licensed by Sequenom.

Sequenom, SEQureDx™, is a revolutionary approach to genetic screening. Rather than resorting to amniocentesis, i.e., entering the uterus to sample the amniotic fluid surrounding the baby, SEQureDx Technology extracts DNA material safely and comfortably from the blood of the mother. It is a simple process where SEQureDx™ utilizes circulating fetal DNA in pregnant women’s blood to examine the fetus’ genetic status. This effective screening does not entail the risks associated with disturbing the amniotic fluid that surrounds the baby in the uterus.

In addition to Down syndrome, Sequenom’s SEQureDx Technology promises detecting a number of other genetic defects. An example is the analysis of fetal RhD. RhD disease that occurs when the blood of an expectant mother is incompatible with her unborn child. RhD incompatibility affects approximately one in one thousand live born infants and can lead to jaundice, anemia, brain damage, heart failure and death. Many other possibilities for Sequeom’s non-invasive tests are being studied.

Sequenom’s technological capabilities and its revolutionary approach to genetic screening are the reasons for investors’ enthusiasm for the firm, not its current finances before it puts its tests on the market. As a matter of fact, nothing in its most recent financial statement is so bad as to result in a sell off.

We appreciate this firm’s technologies and believe its prenatal program will put breakthrough tests in the hands of physicians who badly need them.

On June 10, 2009, Prohost wrote an article entitled Sequenom: Why have Short-sellers Panicked? In this article Prohost wrote:

The Sequenom (SQNM) story is written now by short-sellers who are really not sure why they short this firm, except that it is their way of investing. The title we suggest for the short selling story is “gamble based on deadlines and rely on the plenty of gossipers who love bad news and perpetrate them."

In the case of Sequenom, negative investors rely on the fact that the deadline indicated by Se-quenom to validate its Dawn syndrome's non-invasive diagnostic test is near year end. From now until that time, they will rely on making sure that hundreds of articles will be posted against the firm, its management and its Dawn syndrome test on the internet. They will make sure that nothing will be said about two other embryonic tests that are no less important than the Dawn syndrome non invasive diagnostic test.

To the bad luck of those who shorted Sequenom, the news that came this time (true or false it does not matter) was positive for the company. The reaction of negative investors cannot be described except as reflecting panic. They rushed to protect their investment, buying the stock like crazy, hence causing the rally themselves. They are now selling at the higher price, taking profit, and shorting again. Good for them. Read the rest of this article in Prohostbiotech.com.

In the Past Prohost Newsletter #298, under “URGENT” Prohost wrote:

Crossing the Border of Skepticism

SEQUENOM (SQNM)

This firm is speeding towards erasing two thirds of investors’ skepticism towards its technological capability. In the past month Sequenom launched SensiGene™ Fetal RHD Genotyping test, the firm’s first laboratory test powered by its SEQureDx™ technology. This launch was followed by the launch of the SensiGene™ Fetal(XY) (Fetal Sex Determination) test. This test is the second laboratory developed test powered by its SEQureDx™ technology.SensiGene™ Fetal (XY) is non-invasive and safe. As the firm stated time and time again, it requires a simple blood sample from the mother. The test has proven to be highly specific.

The test enables the distinction between maternal and fetal DNA for both male and female fetuses. It determines the fetus sex as early as the first semester of pregnancy.

The SensiGene Fetal(XY) (Fetal Sex Determination) Test detects circulating cell-free fetal (ccff) DNA in maternal blood. The test interrogates male specific targets on the Y chromosome. It is performed using Sequenom’s proprietary MassARRAY® system, which allows direct mass measurement of nucleic acids.

Bringing two successive accurate non-invasive fetal tests in one month through the Sequenom’s SEQureDx™ technology should confirm the capability of the firm’s technology in making prenatal diagnostic tests, which was questioned following the mistake, or wrong handling of the Down syndrome test results by people in the firm’s R&D department. The tests have been rigorously evaluated through blinded studies, performed in collaboration with internationally recognized prenatal diagnosticians. As with the SensiGene Fetal RHD Genotyping test, more than 500 clinical samples were tested during the course of feasibility, optimization, verification and validation.

In the final blinded validation study, over 200 samples were evaluated. The test was performed in conjunction with the Fetal Medicine Foundation, and un-blinding was performed by Dr. Arnold Cohen, chairman of obstetrics and gynecology at the Albert Einstein Medical Center, in Philadelphia.

In this validation study, the SensiGene Fetal Sex Determination test demonstrates:

Sensitivity of 97.9% (92.5% – 99.4% at a 95% confidence interval).
Specificity of 100% (96.9% – 100% at a 95% confidence interval).

Is this something?

You bet.

We started by stating Hello Future, and we end saying, We are in the future.



Disclosure: Long Sqnm