The Biggest Winners and Losers of JPM 2018

With the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference now over, some analysts are looking back and picking out the "winners and losers" from the conference. CNBC’s Jim Cramer made his picks related to stock performance.

"This meeting tends to make major waves in the health care stocks," Cramer said on CNBC.

Below is Cramer’s selection.

Winners:

1. Atara Biotherapeutics

2018 has started with a Bang for Bay Area’s Atara. On Jan. 2, the company initiated two Phase III studies to evaluate tabelecleucel (ATA129) in patients with rituximab-refractory Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) associated post-transplant lymphoproliferative disorder (EBV+PTLD). Then on Jan. 4, the company announced the pricing of public offering of its common stock. Then during J.P. Morgan, the company received clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to proceed with a Phase I trial to evaluate ATA188 in patients with progressive or relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (MS). Since the beginning of 2018, Atara stock has grown from $18.10 to $29.

2. Alder Biopharmaceuticals

Bothell, Wash.-based Alder started the year with a $200 million deal licensing deal with Teva for its anti-CGRP antibody eptinezumab. The same day Alder announced eptinezumab met the primary endpoint in its pivotal Phase III migraine trial. Since the beginning of the year, shares of Alder have climbed from $12.40 to a high of $17.89 on Jan. 12. The stock is trading at $16.75 as of 10:05 a.m.

3. Coherus Biosciences

While Cramer did not cite any updates from Coherus, he noted that company stock has climbed from $9.55 on Jan 2 to $13.70 per share on Jan. 11. Shares are trading at $12.50 as of 10:08 a.m.

4. Illumina

DNA sequencing company Illumina began the year with a partnership with KingMed Diagnostics to develop oncology and hereditary disease testing applications for the Chinese market. Then on Jan. 9, the company launched its iSeq 100 Sequencing System. Since the last days of December 2017, shares of Illumina have climbed from $214.21 on Dec. 26 to $244.72 on Jan. 12. Shares are currently trading at $242.06 as of 10:13 a.m.

Cramer also pointed to several companies that did not fare well at J.P. Morgan.

Losers:

1. Axovant

During J.P. Morgan, Axovant, which is looking to develop therapies for Alzheimer’s,misreported mid-stage data on a drug it hoped to take into Phase III. The company was forced to own up to the fact that the drug actually fared worse than initially reported. That embarrassing correction came on top of Axovant announcing that it was scrapping its lead product interperdine following a failure to meet primary endpoints in a Phase IIb trial. Shares of Axovant had remained fairly steady until that report, then stock prices dropped from $5.37 to $.2.31 on Jan. 8. Shares are currently trading at $2.05 as of 10:18 a.m.

2. Tesaro

Shares of Tesaro have steadily dropped from $82.87 on Dec. 29 to $63.01 as of 10:20 a.m. On Jan. 4, Tesaro announced it updated its prescribing information for anti-nausea drug Varubi due to serious adverse reactions. Since the drug was launched in November, Tesaro noted there have been multiple reports of anaphylaxis, anaphylactic shock and "other serious hypersensitivity reactions" in the post-marketing setting.

3. Clovis Oncology

Shares of Clovis Oncology have also fallen since the beginning of the year, but Cramer said he saw "no good reason" for the decline. He said Clovis has "a lot of good things going on for it" but "can't seem to get any credit from Wall Street." Clovis is trading at $55.71 as of 10:22 a.m.

Others Noted:

1. Incyte / Celgene

Cramer pointed to losses Incyte took early this year after Celgene announced it was acquiring competing company Impact Biomedicines. Cramer said the acquisition "pushed investors out" of Incyte.

2. Allergan

Impressed by CEO Brent Saunders’ vision, Cramer said Allergan is gaining traction among investors.

3. Intuitive Surgical

The maker of the da Vinci surgical robot received a boost from a positive earnings pre-announcement, Cramer said.