Here's Why Steve Cohen's Point72 Recently Shelled Out Over $100M for Two Biopharma Stocks

New York Mets owner and billionaire investor Steven A. Cohen is known for his speed, agility, and high-risk/high-reward investing approach. Cohen founded the now-defunct SAC Capital Advisors, which is among the most successful hedge funds. The fund was charged with insider trading charges and repaid investors £1.3 billion ($1.8 billion) in penalties as Cohen faced a two-year ban on managing investor money.

In 2013, Cohen converted his investment operations into a family office and formally adopted the Point72 Asset Management name the following year. In 2018, the firm became a registered investment advisor and began accepting outside capital.

Focus on Leading Oncology Companies

The billionaire investor, with a net worth of £15.7 billion ($21.3 billion), recently purchased 4.27 million shares of Ideaya Biosciences (NASDAQ:IDYA) for an average price of £16.11 ($21.73) per share, increasing his portfolio stake in the precision medicine oncology company by over 3,000% to own over 4.41 million shares, according to a 9th June schedule 13G filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. The trade was valued at £68.78 million ($92.78 million).

The oncology company boasts a strong project pipeline and is on track to present phase 2 clinical trial data for its Darovasertib drug candidate to treat metastatic uveal melanoma, a cancer of the eye, in H2 2025.

The company also plans to offer clinical data updates at a medical conference in Q3 2025 for its IDE849 candidate to treat neuroendocrine tumours, which has showcased encouraging antitumour activity in preclinical studies, including tumour regression as a monotherapy in several models.

Ideaya also announced in its May Q1 earnings release that it strengthened its leadership by appointing Joshua Bleharski as chief financial officer. Bleharski joined the company from JPMorgan. The board also appointed Shanthakumar Tyavanagimatt as senior vice president of technical operations.

The company recorded cash and cash equivalents of over £741.3 million ($1 billion) as of 31st March and updated its cash runway guidance into 2029.

Elsewhere, Cohen added a new biopharma stock to his portfolio. He purchased over 4.4 million shares of Oric Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ORIC) for an average stock price of £5.91 ($7.97) apiece, according to a 4th June SEC filing.

The £25.94 million ($35 million) investment in the developer of novel therapies that fight resistance in cancer comes as shares jumped 94% in the past month to close at £7.31 ($9.86) per share on Monday. The rally could be attributed to multiple positive developments in the emerging company.

Oric recently announced its trial for the ORIC-944 candidate to treat patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer achieved 'broad and deep' prostate-specific antigen responses, with the majority of the trial participants showcasing a 50% drop in PSA levels. This biomarker is elevated in cancer. The company plans to complete the dose exploration segment of the trial by mid-2025.

Furthermore, the company recently announced a £92.66 million ($125 million) private placement, offering 19.2 million common shares to institutional and accredited healthcare specialist investors. Oric believes the funds will enable operations into H2 2027 through the anticipated primary endpoint readout 'from first ORIC-944 Phase 3 registrational trial in prostate cancer.'

Despite the massive stock rally, Wall Street analysts believe there is potential for further upside, with a mean share price target estimate of £14.01 ($18.90) per share.

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