GenomeWeb Top 40 Down 5 Percent in June, Tracking Broader Market Decline

NEW YORK – Stocks of molecular diagnostics and omics companies were down in June, largely tracking the general market.

Overall, the GenomeWeb Top 40 was down 5 percent. In comparison, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 7 percent from May, while the Nasdaq was down 9 percent. Bucking this broader trend was the Nasdaq Biotech Index, which was up 1 percent. Of the 40 firms tracked by GenomeWeb, 29 saw their stock prices drop month over month, and 11 saw shares increase in value.

Chinese precision oncology firm Biotech Burning Rock, which posted the largest decline of any GenomeWeb Top 40 firm in May, saw the largest gain in June, up 21 percent month over month. At the end of May, the company reported that its Q1 2022 revenues were up 27 percent year over year and reiterated its full-year 2022 revenue guidance of approximately RMB 620 million, implying 22 percent growth over full-year 2021.

Burning Rock also announced at the beginning of June that it received CE marking for its OverC Multi-Cancer Detection Blood Test, which is intended for the early detection and localization of multiple cancer types in individuals 40 to 75 years of age.

Diagnostics firm Veracyte was June's second biggest gainer, up 13 percent month over month. There were no specific developments that appeared to drive the jump, though perhaps investors saw a buying opportunity in early June when Veracyte’s stock hit its lowest level since the end of 2018.

Diagnostics outfit Meridian Bioscience was the third biggest gainer in June, up 11 percent. The month continued a year of steady increases for the company, which is up almost 50 percent since the start of the year. In June it introduced its Lyo-Ready Direct DNA qPCR Stool Mix and Lyo-Ready Direct RNA/DNA qPCR Stool Mix for molecular detection of nucleic acid from crude fecal specimens.

Proteomics company Quantum-Si saw the biggest decline in June, down 45 percent month over month. The company is planning to launch its proteomics platform in the second half of the year but has yet to generate any revenue.

Cue Health was down 40 percent month over month as demand dried up for its COVID-19 test offerings. The company confirmed this week that it will be laying off 170 people "due to the economic challenges that are impacting many industries" and the lack of funding for COVID-19 testing from the US government.

Genetic testing firm Invitae was down 34 percent month over month, continuing a decline that has seen the company's stock price fall by 72 percent since the beginning of April. The company did not report any news appearing to drive the June drop.