Week of April 18, 2025

The Week at a Glance:

• Indices Resume Weekly Losses: The three major indices were down an average of (2.3%) driven by the tech sector’s losses related to Chinese tariffs and trade restrictions, in addition to Fed-related political rhetoric

• Weight Loss = Stock Gain: Eli Lilly’s stock finished to week up 16.7% upon news that its oral GLP-1 drug was found to be just as effective as injectable GLP-1s (such as Ozempic) in a Phase 3 trial, helping push the NYSE Arca Pharma Index to a 3.5% weekly gain

• “Pill Penalty” Be Gone: President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Tuesday relating to drug pricing and offered support for a change to the Inflation Reduction Act’s (IRA) “pill penalty,” a hot-button issue that has drawn scrutiny from the pharmaceutical industry, the proposed change would still require congressional approval

  • The “pill penalty” refers to the timeframe discrepancy between when small molecules (9 years) and biologics (13 years) become eligible for Medicare negotiations under the IRA

US and EU - Markets Overview

Major US indices finished the week with losses with S&P 500, Dow, and Nasdaq down (1.5%), (2.6%), and (2.7%), respectively

• Tech stocks struggled after NVIDIA (NASDAQ: NVDA) and AMD (NASDAQ: AMD) announced their expected losses from the Trump administration’s policy to restrict the trade of advanced AI hardware to China

• Stocks further decreased after Fed Chairman Jerome Powell spoke at the Economic Club of Chicago and said that tariffs are creating a “challenging scenario” for the Fed to balance unemployment and inflation

• President Trump renewed his call for Fed Chair Jerome Powell's 'termination'

  • Trump’s latest frustration comes from the European Central Bank lowering its borrowing rates, while the Fed said on Wednesday it would not cut interest rates until the effect of tariffs becomes clearer

Healthcare indices outperformed the broader markets last week with the Dow Jones U.S. Medical Equipment Index, NBI, and NYSE Arca Pharma Index up 0.5%, 1.5%, and 3.5%, respectively

Notable changes in share price:

• UnitedHealthcare (NYSE: UNH): Shares plummeted 22.4% on Thursday, marking its worst day of trading in 25 years, based on the Company unexpectedly lowering their 2025 earnings guidance

• Eli Lilly (NYSE: LLY): The Company’s stock ended the week with a 16.7% gain after its oral GLP-1, orforglipron, proved to be just as effective as Ozempic in a Phase 3 clinical trial

Sources: Pitchbook, Biomedtracker, and CapIQ

Equity Markets

IPO Markets:

• There were no IPOs completed or filed last week

• 27 companies remain in the queue, of which ~80% intend to raise less than $30.0M in proceeds

  • Of these, eight companies filed between Q4 2024 and today

Follow-On Offering Markets:

• There were two follow-on offerings last week raising an aggregate of ~$15.8M with one deal accounting for ~70% of the aggregate deal value

  • Cue Biopharma (NASDAQ: CUE) raised $10.7M to support the development of its pipeline of novel, targeted IL-2–based immunotherapies, notably its lead candidate CUE-101, which has demonstrated clinical activity and favorable tolerability in a Phase 1 trial for HPV16+ recurrent / metastatic head and neck cancer

PIPE/RDO Markets:

• There was one PIPE announced last week for $5.1M in proceeds

Liscensing

M & A

There were no M&A deals last week.

Venture Financing

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