Abivax飙升580%，使生物技术对冲基金在2025年取得罕见胜利

Hedge funds specializing in biotech finally caught a break this summer, courtesy of a little-watched French drug developer, The Wall Street Journal reported on Saturday.

Paris-based Abivax (NASDAQ:ABVX) (OTCPK:AAVXF), which had been valued at roughly $500 million earlier in the season, stunned the market in July when late-stage data for its oral therapy for inflammatory bowel disease landed. The company’s U.S.-listed shares spiked more than sixfold in a single session (over 580%), lifting Abivax’s (NASDAQ:ABVX) (OTCPK:AAVXF) market value above $6 billion and handing outsized gains to a cluster of healthcare funds.

Among the biggest beneficiaries: ADAR1 Capital Management and Deep Track Capital, both sizable holders of Abivax’s U.S. shares, rose about 18% and 8% in July, respectively, the Journal reported, citing people familiar with their results.

After a bruising first half, ADAR1 is now up nearly 16% for the year through July, while Deep Track has edged into positive territory. By comparison, the Standard & Poor’s 500 stock index (SP500) returned 8.6% year-to-date through July, including a 2.2% gain that month.

Abivax (ABVX) (OTCPK:AAVXF) was founded in 2013 by immunologist Philippe Pouletty, went public in Europe in 2015 and added a U.S. listing in 2023. Its lead candidate, obefazimod, initially drew interest as a potential HIV treatment before the company pivoted to ulcerative colitis.

Heading into the July readout, public markets were assigning roughly a 16% chance of success to the trial, ADAR1 told clients in June. The Austin-based fund, however, had built its own scientific case by running mouse experiments and concluding the odds were closer to 50% to 60%, with an expected “all-or-nothing” payoff: a potential fivefold rally if the thesis proved out, or a drawdown of as much as 90% if it didn’t. In a June 28 letter cited by the Journal, founder Daniel Schneeberger said the firm prefers to stake out its views in advance rather than celebrate after the fact.

The Phase 3 study ultimately showed obefazimod to be both safe and effective for patients with moderately to severely active ulcerative colitis. ADAR1, named after an RNA-editing enzyme, manages roughly $850 million.

The Abivax (ABVX) (OTCPK:AAVXF) windfall arrived after a sluggish stretch for biotech funds in 2025. Sector investors had been pressured by shifting FDA dynamics under Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., alongside a White House push to curb drug prices. PivotalPath’s healthcare hedge-fund index fell 5% in the first half, even as its broad hedge-fund gauge rose 4%.

Other bright spots

Still, July produced several bright spots beyond Abivax. Celcuity (NASDAQ:CELC) shares leapt 167% on July 28 following positive late-stage results for a breast-cancer therapy, helping large holders Baker Brothers Advisors and Soleus Capital gain about 11% for the month.

Earlier in the month, Merck (NYSE:MRK) agreed to acquire Verona Pharma (NASDAQ:VRNA), focused on respiratory disease, for roughly $10 billion, a 23% premium to the prior day’s close. Activist Caligan Partners, which counts Verona (NASDAQ:VRNA) and Abivax (ABVX) (OTCPK:AAVXF) among its top positions, climbed about 14% in July and 38% year-to-date.

All told, hedge funds booked at least $1.4 billion in paper gains on Abivax (ABVX) (OTCPK:AAVXF) in July, per estimates from Old Well Labs, which found that five of the 10 best-performing funds it tracked held sizable stakes at June’s end, the Journal reported.