Kymera Had a Big Week. This Secretive Hedge Fund Bought $172 Million of Its Stock.

Kymera Therapeutics stock soared after the biopharmaceutical company issued a promising update for its experimental anti-inflammatory drug. (Dreamstime)

Key Points

• Baker Brothers Advisors purchased over 2 million shares of Kymera Therapeutics for approximately $172 million on December 11.
• Kymera stock reached a record high of $94.30 on Monday following positive trial data for its anti-inflammatory drug candidate.
• The hedge fund, founded by Julian and Felix Baker, focuses its investments on biopharma and biotech companies.

A secretive biotechnology-centered hedge fund bought shares of Kymera Therapeutics after the stock soared to its highest level on record.

A Form 4 filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Dec. 11 shows Baker Brothers Advisors bought just over 2 million shares of the biopharmaceutical company for roughly $172 million in two separate transactions that day.

Kymera stock closed at a record of $94.30 on Monday. Shares pulled back slightly from those levels before Baker Bros. swooped in on Thursday.

The fund purchased 167,192 shares of Kymera for $86 each in one transaction, followed by a second purchase of 1,838,621 shares for the same price.

The shares were valued at $176 million based on Thursday’s closing price of $87.81.

The hedge fund, as the name suggests, was founded by brothers Julian and Felix Baker in 2000. If you haven’t heard of the fund before, that is intentional. The fund has no website, and the brothers have been known to avoid media interviews. Baker Bros. couldn’t be reached for comment on the latest transactions.

The fund’s investments are concentrated in biopharma and biotech companies, as evidenced by its third-quarter holdings report. As of the end of September, the fund’s largest holding by dollar value was Swiss oncology company BeOne Medicines, worth nearly $3 billion at the time.

Kymera has been the subject of heavy media coverage following its announcement on Monday of positive trial data for an anti-inflammatory drug candidate.

Wall Street is waiting to see whether KT-621, its once-daily oral treatment, will rival Dupixent, the blockbuster injectable from Regeneron Pharmaceuticals that is already on the market.

Inside Scoop is a regular Barron’s feature covering stock transactions by corporate executives and board members—so-called insiders—as well as large shareholders, politicians, and other prominent figures. Due to their insider status, these investors are required to disclose stock trades with the Securities and Exchange Commission or other regulatory groups.

Write to Mackenzie Tatananni at mackenzie.tatananni@barrons.com