Healthcare stocks skyrocketed the week of November 1, 2019, fueled by a bull market that traces its roots to the depths of the financial crisis. Upward momentum is revving up again, notching a fourth straight weekly gain Friday and pushing its advance in 2019 past 22%. After wavering at mid-year amid a US-China trade war and recession anxieties, American stocks are back in melt-up mode, ending three of the past five sessions at records.

Our weekly health-sector stock chart–located below–shows that 44 out of 47 stocks moved higher the week of November 1, 2019. The math says that’s nearly 94% of the overall group. Next up are the week’s top winners and losers where the moves are tied to company-specific news:

1) Eloxx Pharmaceuticals Inc. (Nasdaq: ELOX) led advancing issues, rocketing 109% over the week to $3.80. The clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company dedicated to the discovery and development of novel therapeutics to treat cystic fibrosis, cystinosis and other diseases announced positive data demonstrating that ELX-02 results in a pronounced increase in both CFTR protein expression and mRNA stability further supporting its proposed mechanism of action. The med also was well-tolerated with no serious adverse events in the Phase 1 program.

These data were presented at the North American Cystic Fibrosis Foundation Conference on October 31-November 2, 2019 in Nashville, TN. Eloxx Pharmaceuticals is developing novel RNA-modulating drug candidates (designed to be eukaryotic ribosomal selective glycosides) that are designed to treat rare and ultra-rare premature stop codon diseases. Premature stop codons are point mutations that disrupt protein synthesis from messenger RNA.

2) Elsewhere, Foamix Pharmaceuticals Ltd. (Nasdaq:FOMX) soared 38% to $3.86 after announcing that the FDA had accepted the application for review of its drug FMX103 to treat patients with papulopustular rosacea. The PDUFA date set for potential approval of this topical foam treatment is set for June 2, 2020. The biotech has already received FDA approval for another drug in the pipeline known as Amzeeq to treat patients with moderate to severe acne. The global acne market is expected to be worth $5.9 billion by 2025. Rehovot, Israel-based Foamix has another drug in the pipeline that is being developed to treat patients with acne known as FCD105.

3) And thinly traded nano cap EyeGate Pharmaceuticals Inc. (Nasdaq:EYEG) surged 28% to $4.10 ahead of a release of key data from a pivotal study evaluating its Ocular Bandage Gel eye drop in patients undergoing photorefractive keratectomy (laser surgery on the eye for vision correction). Randomization was completed a month ago with topline results expected by year-end. If all goes well, it expects to file a US marketing application in H1 2020. Analysts expect Waltham MA-based EyeGate to report $-0.75 EPS on November, 12. They anticipate $0.30 EPS change or 28.57% from last quarter’s $-1.05 EPS. After recoding $-0.60 EPS previously, EyeGate’s analysts see 25% EPS growth.

4) But Cyclerion Therapeutics Inc. (Nasdaq:CYCN) plunged 78% to $2.45 after announcing a pair of clinical trial failures for praliciguat, which stimulates a protein involved in the widening of blood vessels. In a Phase 2 clinical trial testing praliciguat in patients with diabetic nephropathy, a disease where diabetes causes loss of kidney function, praliciguat wasn’t able to reduce albuminuria, a marker for kidney function, compared with placebo.

There was a trend in the right direction for patients taking praliciguat, but the FDA wants to see statistical significance, not just trends. In a second Phase 2 study, praliciguat also couldn’t help patients with a specific type of heart failure. Cyclerion was expecting the drug would improve exercise capacity as measured by cardiopulmonary exercise testing, but the company didn’t even see a trend in improving heart failure symptoms.

5) And Endologix Inc. (Nasdaq:ELGX) plummeted 26% to $2.64 after the FDA issued a warning for patients using the company’s AFX endovascular stent grafts for the treatment of abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAA). The AFX with Duraply and AFX2 were all mentioned by the FDA as stent grafts with a risk of endoleaks, along with the AFX with Strata, which the FDA warned on in June 2018 after it was recalled in December 2016.

The FDA said it has approved various endovascular stent grafts for the treatment of AAA, but if a patient has any type of Endologix AFX graft, they should contact their healthcare provider. Data showed that the AFX grafts can lead to a higher-than-expected risk of blood leaking into the AAA in a Type III endoleak, which can lead to serious injury, including death, according to a news release. Irvine, CA-based Endologix’s AFX with Duraply has been implanted in patients since July 2014, according to the FDA.

MondayMorning Weekly Stock Roundup:

Weekly Stock Performance (as of November 1, 2019). P/E multiples based on predicted next annual earnings period. NM = Not meaningful

GROUP                 CLOSE     CHG     %CHG     P/E

Providers/HMOs

Amedisys             146.50   +12.90    +9.66    31.2

Community Hlth         3.20    -1.27   -28.41    NM

Encompass HC          69.04    +1.36    +2.01    19.0

Fresenius             36.61    +3.83   +11.68    13.9

HCA                  133.65    +7.38    +5.85    11.5

HCP                   36.71    +0.41    +1.13    83.4

Tenet Health          25.88    +1.23    +4.99     9.1

Universal Hlth       138.75    +0.82    +0.60    12.9

Anthem               270.75    +7.68    +5.48    11.6

Cigna                179.51    +8.02    +4.68     9.6

Humana               296.20    +8.11    +2.82    15.8

UnitedHealth         252.21    +7.30    +2.98    15.3

Pharma/PBMs                    

AstraZeneca           48.39    +0.72    +1.51    24.1

BristolMyers          57.16    +2.18    +3.97     9.1

GlaxoSmithKline       45.27    +1.45    +3.31    14.8

Johnson&Johnson      131.20    +2.85    +2.22    14.5

Eli Lilly            112.51    +2.31    +2.10    17.2

Merck                 84.94    +2.68    +3.26    15.3

Mylan                 19.68    +0.98    +5.24     4.4

Novartis              87.63    +0.32    +0.37    15.5

Pfizer                38.39    +1.62    +4.41    13.4

Sanofi                45.64    -0.72    -1.55    12.9

CVS Health            67.24    +2.14    +3.29     9.3

Walgreens             57.38    +1.96    +3.54     9.3

Medical Supplies                

Abbott Labs           82.66    +1.01    +1.24    23.0

AbbVie                81.75    +5.22    +6.82     8.6

Amerisource           86.87    +0.07    +0.08    11.5

Baxter                77.91    +0.63    +0.82    20.7

Becton Dickinsn      258.15   +13.85    +5.67    20.0

Cardinal              50.44    +0.39    +0.78     9.6

McKesson             137.11    -8.85    -6.06     8.9

Biotech                   

Amgen                217.95   +14.90    +7.34    13.8

Biogen               299.20   +11.16    +3.87     9.1

Biomarin              73.63    +2.44    +3.43    NM

Celgene              108.53    +3.32    +3.16     8.8

Emergent Bio          59.06    +4.05    +7.36    17.0

Gilead                64.66    +1.34    +2.12     9.3

Incyte                83.58    +6.03    +7.78    27.4

Regeneron            310.48    +4.27    +1.39    12.4

Vertex               200.94    +6.45    +3.32    30.5

Medical Devices                

Boston Sci            41.51    +0.66    +1.62    23.2

Intuitve Srg         559.37   +10.10    +1.84    39.7

Medtronic            108.57    +3.13    +2.97    18.1

Stryker              212.77    +1.15    +0.54    23.6

Thermo Fisher        303.60    +6.92    +2.33    22.3

Varian               123.30    +3.00    +2.49    20.1

Zimmer               138.22    +4.15    +3.10    16.7

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