The short interest data are out for the most recent settlement date, July 31. Generally speaking, companies within the biotech industry are considered a riskier group of stocks, with big potential upside and big potential downside.

As we have said before, FDA rulings can make or break the biotech stocks, and short sellers and mega-bulls often go to war against each other in these companies. After all, if a single failed clinical trial can mean disaster for a stock, then some short sellers can argue for a stock implosion down the road.

24/7 Wall St. has reviewed the top biotech companies, without focusing on speculative companies. The July 31 short interest data has been compared with the previous report, and short interest in most of these selected biotech stocks decreased.

Alexion Pharmaceuticals Inc.’s (NASDAQ: ALXN) short interest dropped ever so slightly to 4.41 million shares from the previous 4.42 million. Shares recently traded at $101.24, in a 52-week range of $72.67 to $125.52.

Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ: AMGN) saw its short interest decrease to 4.92 million shares from the previous level of 5.50 million. Shares were trading at $234.65, in a 52-week range of $177.05 to $264.97.

Short interest in Biogen Inc. (NASDAQ: BIIB) fell to 2.55 million shares from the previous 2.78 million. The stock traded at $289.94, within a 52-week range of $215.78 to $374.99.

Gilead Sciences Inc. (NASDAQ: GILD) saw its short interest drop to 21.33 million shares from 22.09 million in the previous period. Shares were trading at $68.10, in a 52-week range of $60.89 to $85.97.

And the number of MannKind Corp. (NASDAQ: MNKD) shares short decreased to 27.64 million. The previous reading was 31.69 million. The stock traded at $1.60 a share, in a 52-week range of $0.80 to $2.48.

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