Over the past week, a few biotech companies made absolutely massive runs. In the past year, the health care sector was on fire from positive trials, U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approvals and mergers and acquisitions.
The companies 24/7 Wall St. has picked stood out from the rest with incredible gains or losses over the course of the past week. We have included information about each company, as well as recent trading activity and the consensus price target.
Clovis Oncology
Clovis Oncology Inc. (NASDAQ: CLVS) announced that during its regularly scheduled Mid-Cycle Communication Meeting held last week with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the agency requested additional clinical data for use in the efficacy analysis for both the 500 mg and 625 mg BID dose patient groups for rociletinib. Perhaps the most important part of this story is that Clovis anticipates that the review of this additional information will result in a delay of a potential approval. This additional review could lead to an extension of its March 30, 2016, Prescription Drug User Fee Act (PDUFA) date.
Shares were trading at $26.41 late on Friday’s close, down sharply from the $99.43 close the prior Friday. The consensus analyst price target is $49.67, and the 52-week trading range is $25.91 to $116.75.
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KaloBios Pharmaceuticals
Shares of KaloBios Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: KBIO) absolutely skyrocketed after the markets closed on Wednesday. Turing Pharmaceuticals CEO Martin Shkreli took a major stake in this small biopharma company over the course of this week. KaloBios disclosed Wednesday afternoon that over half of its stock was owned by Shkreli. The gain was massive, although some skeptical investors might want to remember that Shkreli is now one of the most recognized faces for potential price gouging going into an election year.
KaloBios was trading up more than 75% at $18.25 on Friday’s close, after peaking at $23.11 that morning. The stock was trading at just $0.90 last Friday, and the trading volume of a few thousand shares a day went through the roof this week. The stock has a 52-week range of $0.44 to $23.11.
Celladon
Celladon Corp. (NASDAQ: CLDN), along with Eiger BioPharmaceuticals, announced that they had entered into a definitive merger agreement. We can expect Eiger stockholders will become the majority owners of Celladon after the companies have combined operations. This merger remains subject to customary closing conditions, including the approval of Celladon stockholders. Celladon shares closed up over 9% at $1.26 on Friday.
Sarepta
Sarepta Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ: SPRT) was one of the biggest gainers on Friday, with its shares ending the day up about 28% at $33.36. It turns out that BioMarin’s FDA review on its Duchenne muscular dystrophy drug is potentially a big boost for Sarepta. Another boost here is that Sarepta’s upcoming catalyst was highlighted positively by Jefferies in a positive research report.
Zafgen
Zafgen Inc. (NASDAQ: ZFGN) has been absolutely booming since late October. Consensus earnings estimates are rising and momentum has been building, starting just after Zafgen tanked on news of a late stage clinical trial of beloranib. At this point, it appears the shock of the trial has worn off and investors have been building positions as the stock has risen about 50% from mid-October.
Shares ended last week up just almost $2.00 from the prior week’s close of $13.43. The stock has a consensus price target of $32.86 and a 52-week range of $9.53 to $55.36. Despite the recent gains, Zafgen remains very pressured from earlier this year.
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Valeant Pharmaceuticals
After Citron compared it to Enron in a recent research report, Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc. (NYSE: VRX) continues to be under fire for its business practices. This was a $200 stock in September, but it briefly broke under $70 this past week. Now that Valeant has cut ties with Philidor, and now that Citron has said it has covered a substantial portion of its short sale position, the stock closed trading at $91.00 on Friday. This past week was more positive than other recent weeks, and the 52-week trading range is $69.33 to $263.81.
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