3 Stocks For The Genomics Revolution

Over the next five years, the projection is that genomics is going to explode.

Genomics is the study of our DNA.

The cost of having your genome sequenced has dropped from billions to thousands of dollars – and will probably be as low as $100 in the near future.

This is significant. For one thing, the reduced cost has led to insurance companies starting to pay for patients to have clinical grade DNA tests, in the hopes of catching disease in its earliest stages.

Over the next five years, ARK Invest believes that the number of genomes sequenced will rise from 1.5 million tested in 2018 to 100 million by 2023.

If that is the case, it should be very positive for companies that specialize in genomics.

Here are three companies you may want to look into:

  1. Illumina (NASDAQ: ILMN): Illumina is the most dominant company in the genomics field, because 90% of all genes sequenced in the world are done so by using their machines. They are single-handedly responsible for driving down the cost of sequencing a whole human genome from millions of dollars to under a thousand and on the road to ultimately below $100.
  2. Invitae (NYSE: NVTA): Invitae is a much smaller company. But it has its sights on becoming the “Amazon of genomics” by making it very easy and convenient for people to get comprehensive genetic testing done during their yearly doctor’s visit.
  3. Veracyte (NASDAQ: VCYT): Another up and coming small-cap company in genomics. Veracyte is a genomics diagnostic company. The company is transforming the diagnosis of thyroid cancer, lung cancer and idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.

Over the next five years, genomes sequenced are projected to grow 85% annually.

I don’t know if that will come to fruition, but if it does…that’s incredible growth!

 

My book, The Stock Market is For Everyone, is a short guide for the beginning, inexperienced investor that is easy to understand and can be put into action immediately.

Click the image of the book at left to be taken to its Amazon page.  (Disclosure: As a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, I earn a small commission on each sale generated through these links.)

 

Why I Bought Sangamo Therapeutics!

I’ve decided that once a month, I will talk about a company that I am a partner with.

I will cover who the company is, why I bought the stock, and where the stock could go from here.

I will tell you my position size, as well as my current profit or loss.

It’s one thing for me to blog about why I am so pro-investing.  It’s quite another thing to show you that I “eat my own cooking”!

So…without further ado, let’s get started.

Who: Sangamo Therapeutics (NASDAQ: SGMO)

What they do: Sangamo Therapeutics is a clinical stage biotechnology company.

The company is focused on translating science into genomic therapies that transform patients’ lives using the company’s platform technologies in genome editing, gene therapy, gene regulation and cell therapy. T

The company has clinical and preclinical programs in development.  They have partnered certain programs with biopharmaceutical companies to expedite clinical and commercial development.

Why I bought Sangamo: Sangamo is a turnaround story with some incredible technology.

Over the last nine years, they basically had two promising clinical programs that died.  The technology was promising, but the leadership wasn’t.

A few years ago, they hired a new CEO…and things started to turn around quickly!  They’ve restarted all their programs, and have captured three very important programs: genome editing, gene therapy, and cell editing.

You may have heard of a very exciting and controversial gene editing technique called CRISPR.  CRISPR has yet to be tested in a human in the United States.  Sangamo has its own gene editing technology – called zinc finger – that’s been tested in hundreds of patients.

They have a very deep pipeline of drugs for a small company – some very exciting partnerships with Gilead Sciences, and two partnerships with Pfizer.

Where Is the stock going?

On September 5, 2018, Sangamo will be reporting results on safety for the first in-human clinical trial using their zinc finger technique for gene editing.

This data read out will be absolutely huge, and could propel the stock from a current price of $13.50 to $40 literally overnight.

On the other hand, the stock could drop 50% if the data is not favorable.

Sangamo has results for about five different clinical trials coming out over the next 18 months.

My current holding:

Number of shares I own: 255

Return to date: -41%

Total investment: $6000

Current value: $3557.25

As you know if you follow my blog, every investment I make is with a long-term mentality.  My intention is to hold Sangamo for at least 10 years, and see what happens.

I hope this information has been helpful and will help you gain insight into how to look at investing.

Remember: check out my guide, The Stock Market is For Everyone, or my service, the Wealthy Joe Investment Club, if you need help getting started with investing.

Until next time!

 

My book, The Stock Market is For Everyone, is a short guide for the beginning, inexperienced investor that is easy to understand and can be put into action immediately.

Click here to be taken to its Amazon page.

(Disclosure: As a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, I earn a small commission on each sale generated through these links.)