It is another nightmare year for Casdin Capital.
The life sciences hedge fund was down 32 percent in the first quarter alone in a generally rough period for much of the sector. As a result, 2025 could be Casdin’s third disastrous year in the past five, making it nearly impossible to predict when or if the firm will ever hit its high-water mark.
The hedge fund firm headed by Eli Casdin lost 30 percent in 2021 and about 63 percent in 2022. It was profitable the following two years, gaining about 1.5 percent in 2023 and approximately 40 percent in 2024, its best year in recent memory. But it was still well below its high-water mark before the horrific start to 2025.
Casdin was hardly the only life sciences fund to suffer a big loss in the first quarter. Cormorant Asset Management, for one, has dropped 29 percent after posting a 3 percent decline in March.
Life sciences and biopharma companies continue to be hurt by concerns that the Trump administration, with Robert F. Kennedy Jr. heading Health and Human Services, could upend everything from vaccine development to regulatory approvals for new drugs. They have also been damaged by President Trump’s threat to slap major tariffs on certain drug imports. And of course, the group is reeling from the stock market’s overall sharp decline, which has especially impacted companies with little or no revenues and earnings.
Casdin was dragged down last quarter by Sarepta Therapeutics, whose stock plummeted about 46 percent after a patient died of liver failure following treatment with Elevidys, its gene therapy for Duchenne muscular dystrophy.
In addition, two of Casdin’s three largest long positions suffered significant losses. No. 2 long BioLife Solutions was off 12 percent for the quarter. The provider of bioproduction services to the life sciences and biopharma markets accounted for more than 13 percent of assets at year-end. No. 3 long Revolution Medicines, which develops therapies for certain cancers, was down more than 19 percent. It made up more than 13 percent of assets.
In contrast, the largest long, genomics company GeneDx Holdings, responsible for 19 percent of year-end assets, rose more than 15 percent for the quarter.
Meanwhile, Cormorant continued to be badly hurt by No. 1 long MoonLake Immunotherapeutics, a clinical-stage biopharma company that was created by a 2022 merger with Helix Acquisition, a blank-check company formed by Cormorant. The stock fell nearly 30 percent in the first quarter.
Other funds suffered sharp losses in March but are not as badly off for the quarter.
For example, Perceptive Advisors dropped 7 percent last month, extending its loss for the year to 11 percent. No. 1 long Verona Pharma, known for COPD drug Ohtuvayre, dropped more than 9 percent.
RA Capital Management lost 9.5 percent in March and is now down 14.5 percent for the year. According to an investor, the hedge fund firm is telling clients it is “table-pounding” time to buy biopharma stocks.
Avoro Capital Advisors dropped 8 percent last month and is down 9 percent for the quarter. Janus Henderson Biotechnology Innovation fund is off 12 percent for the year after declining by 6.5 percent in March.
RTW Investments dropped about 6.5 percent in March but is down only 3.7 percent for the year. Soleus Capital, which has never suffered a down year, lost 6.6 percent for the month and 8.7 percent for the year. And Affinity Healthcare Fund fell just 2 percent in March but is off by 15.35 percent for the year.
The best performers in the group are the Averill funds. Averill was down 2.9 percent in March but just 0.9 percent in the first quarter. Averill Madison, Suvretta’s longer-biased health care fund, lost 2.8 percent in March but was up 1.4 percent for the quarter.
