4 BioPharma Movers That Cannot Be Ignored

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By Chris Lange Updated Published
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4 BioPharma Movers That Cannot Be Ignored

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Over the past week, a few biotech companies made absolutely massive runs, either up and down. 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, but results are becoming more mixed as the valuation of these companies comes into question. Not to mention we seem to be in a bear market as well.

These companies 24/7 Wall St. has picked stood out from the rest with big moves over the course of last week. We have included information about each company, as well as recent trading activity and the consensus price target.

CTI BioPharma

Following an update from its Investigational New Drug application for pacritinib, CTI BioPharma Corp. (NASDAQ: CTIC) practically has become a penny stock overnight. The update basically states that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has placed pacritinib on a full clinical hold.

As a result, the company has withdrawn its New Drug Application until it has had a chance to review the safety and efficacy data from the Persist-2 Phase 3 clinical trial and decide next steps. Also under the full clinical hold, all patients currently on pacritinib must discontinue it immediately, and no patients can be enrolled or start pacritinib as initial or crossover treatment.

Over the course of the past week, CTI shares fell 72%, and they are down 74% year to date. The stock traded at $0.34 per share on Friday’s close. It has a consensus analyst price target of $4.28 and a 52-week trading range of $0.25 to $2.94.
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Incyte

After the markets closed on Wednesday, Incyte Corp. (NASDAQ: INCY) reported its fourth-quarter financial results. The company posted $0.29 in earnings per share (EPS) on $243.88 million in revenue, which compares to consensus estimates from Thomson Reuters of $0.09 in EPS on $225.92 million in revenue. As for guidance, Incyte expects to have revenues in the range of $800 million to $815 million for the 2016 full year. The consensus estimates call for $0.58 in EPS on $735.53 in revenue.

Last week, shares fell 9%, and they are down about 40% year to date. Incyte was trading at $68.36 on Friday’s close. The stock has a consensus price target of $104.77 and a 52-week range of $55.00 to $133.62.

BioCryst Pharmaceuticals

Shares of BioCryst Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: BCRX) got crushed after it announced results from OPuS-2 for the treatment of hereditary angioedema (HAE) attacks. Unfortunately, the company said that this treatment failed to demonstrate a statistically significantly lower mean attack rate than a placebo. This was a liquid-filled soft gel formulation for the prophylactic treatment of HAE.

BioCryst did say that oral administration of avoralstat in OPuS-2 was generally safe and well tolerated. It also noted that the adverse event profile was similar to that for the placebo, and no safety signals were observed. Unfortunately, safety profiles just do not matter if the overall endpoints are not met.

Shares fell 74% last week, and they are down 84% year to date. BioCryst ended trading at $1.71 on Friday. The consensus price target is $13.00, and the 52-week range is $1.63 to $16.83.

Nxstage Medical

Also reporting fourth-quarter financial results this week was Nxstage Medical Inc. (NASDAQ: NXTM). The company had a net loss of $0.04 per share on $89.8 million in revenue. That compared to consensus estimates from Thomson Reuters of a net loss of $0.04 per share on revenue of $86.83 million. In terms of guidance, the company expects a net loss in the range of $2 million to $4 million for the first quarter on revenues of $87 million to $89 million. The consensus estimates call for a net loss of $0.05 per share on $88.56 million.

Over the course of the past week, Nxstage shares tumbled 24%. They are 33% lower year to date. The stock traded at $14.00 on Friday’s close. It has a consensus analyst target of $24.71 and a 52-week range of $13.47 to $22.60.

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About the Author Chris Lange →

Chris Lange is a writer for 24/7 Wall St., based in Houston. He has covered financial markets over the past decade with an emphasis on healthcare, tech, and IPOs. During this time, he has published thousands of articles with insightful analysis across these complex fields. Currently, Lange's focus is on military and geopolitical topics.

Lange's work has been quoted or mentioned in Forbes, The New York Times, Business Insider, USA Today, MSN, Yahoo, The Verge, Vice, The Intelligencer, Quartz, Nasdaq, The Motley Fool, Fox Business, International Business Times, The Street, Seeking Alpha, Barron’s, Benzinga, and many other major publications.

A graduate of Southwestern University in Georgetown, Texas, Lange majored in business with a particular focus on investments. He has previous experience in the banking industry and startups.

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