Although we don't believe in timing the market or panicking over market movements, we do like to keep an eye on big changes -- just in case they're material to our investing thesis.
Source: OvaScience
What: Days after being featured as a "buy" in Barron's, shares in OvaScience (NASDAQ: OVAS) surged higher by more than 15% earlier today ahead of the company's presentation at a key fertility industry conference.
So What: On March 20th, Barron's "Ahead of the Crowd" column highlighted a potential 50% return for OvaScience in the coming year, citing potential commercialization revenue from Augment, its next-generation in-vitro solution.
Augment is a fertility enhancing approach that uses the mitochondria from a patient's own precursor eggs, rather than donor mitochondria, to improve in-vitro success rates. Augment uses these precursor cells, which are found in the ovarian lining, to improve egg health. Last year, Augment was offered in a test-stage launch overseas, but this year, it's rolling out in a commercial-stage launch. .
Barron's positive recommendation came a week ahead of the annual Society for Reproductive Investigation meeting set to be held between March 25th and March 28th.
Today, abstracts from OvaScience's scheduled presentation at that conference were made available, which, in turn, propelled shares higher. At the conference, a number of international clinicians are set to share their positive experiences using Augment for the first time.
Now What: In addition to Augment, OvaScience is also developing OvaPrime, a fertility approach that boosts a patient's egg reserve by moving precursor eggs from the ovarian lining to the ovaries, and OvaTure, a process that matures egg cells outside the body and that could reduce or remove reliance on hormone therapy.
OvaScience's approaches could improve the success rate for in-vitro fertilization and in the process allow the company to capture a big share of a large and growing market. That makes OvaScience intriguing, but investors should remember that the company doesn't have any meaningful revenue, yet boasts a market cap of $1.3 billion. That makes OvaScience a risky bet suitable for only the most risk-tolerant of investors.
