Shares of shares rose more than 25 percent this week, a strong move that came after Ark Invest’s Cath Invest Wood called the company one of its least valued shares on Monday.
Guest was the 11th largest stake in Wood’s flagship fund, Ark Innovation ETF (ARKK), as of Thursday, which gave it a higher weighting than well-known companies like DocuSign and PayPal.
The supervised investor and his company are well known for their strategy of investing around “disruptive innovation” and a strong return last year has caused billions of new dollars to flow into the family of hedge funds. ‘Ark.
In a CNBC interview Friday, the CEO of Invitae explained the genetic testing company’s long-term mission and goals, offering information on why Wood has a bullish outlook.
“Genetic information is critical to improving people’s health care outcomes and reducing costs, and we relentlessly pursue the idea of getting this information into regular, everyday medical care,” he said. said Sean George to “Closing Bell.” He co-founded the San Francisco-based firm in 2010 and went public in 2015.
Guests reported full-year revenue of $ 279.6 million in 2020, up from $ 216.8 million the previous year. Its net loss widened to $ 608.9 million last year, compared to $ 242 million in 2019.
While genetic information can be a powerful tool in fighting various diseases, George said the high costs have historically limited its availability and, by extension, the impact it can have. However, he said, recent innovations in gene sequencing have laid the groundwork for greater accessibility. He compared it to semiconductor improvements that helped start the computer and networking industry in the 1970s and early 1980s.
“This has allowed … application providers like us … to change what has been fundamentally in the past a rationed good in healthcare: genetic information, types in a niche, test by test, sample by sample the lab industry was created, which is a lot more like an information industry, ”George said.
George, who has a doctorate. in molecular genetics, Invitae said he hopes to get to the tests to the point that patients and doctors can proactively use them in large numbers. That way, even if the cost of each test is cheaper, Invitae will have the scale to generate enough operating cash to thrive as a company, he said.
“The great importance and central importance of genetic information in health care is about to be – I am sure in the next five to ten years – to identify people at risk and establish control and prevention modalities to delay, even preventing, the onset of the disease and generally providing a basic understanding of the risk to families, ”he added.
Ark Invest holds positions in several companies working in medical innovation beyond Guests. Wood’s firm has an ETF dedicated to this, called the Revolution Genomic ETF (ARKG). As of Thursday, it includes Teladoc, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals and CRISPR Therapeutics. Invitae also participates in this fund, currently as its 16th largest participation.
Shares of shares closed Friday’s session up 0.5% at $ 42.70. Despite the big gains in stocks this week, it remains below the all-time high of $ 61.59 on December 14th. It has increased by almost 260% in the last 12 months.