Curis (CRIS) has been around for quite some time with little to show for it but a significant long-term loss and some dud product candidates. But a few early-stage oncology assets at the company have caught our eye due to their novel tack on compelling cancer-treatment approaches. And, the company has gotten more aggressive about development in the back half of this year. Here’s the story.
Incyte (INCY), says Mr. Deryugin, is well-positioned for progress in the second half of 2013 as Jakafi continues to ramp and the company entertains some new indications for the JAK-inhibitor, in addition to pipeline progress.
Sunshine Heart got a lot of attention over the last two weeks despite no major news flow out of the company. We’ve been anticipating more visibility since we indicated our interest in the medical device developer just after the company’s April financing. At an $85M market capitalization, we still believe Sunshine Heart is undervalued. Read the full assessment here. SSH is up almost 50% from our entrance.
Israeli drug developer Alcobra (ADHD) IPO’d in June at $8.25 before trading back to $7.00, and up to to $11 this week. While we missed most of the rally as we took an initial look at the company, ADHD is still cheap on an EV basis and, says management, has enough cash to get through key milestones. Metadoxine ER, Alcobra’s lead candidate, is a non-stimulant treatment for ADHD. While the completed Phase II trial looked good, we have some questions about the IP estate, and of course trials run outside the U.S. always raise eyebrows. We’re still conducting diligence, but are cautiously optimistic about Alcobra as the company gains visibility in 2H13.
Celsion (CLSN) upcycled some older press release content on Friday. The company spotlighted its collaboration with Zhejiang Hisun Pharmaceutical Company, and the stock closed 16% higher in the session. We pointed out that not a whole lot has actually changed — Hisun hasn’t put up anything substantial for ThermoDox’s development since the $5M payment in January. Simply put, the fundamentals don’t support Friday’s price action.
Shares of Achillion (ACHN) have come back from their gap down at the beginning of this month. We bought stock on the weakness and told PropThink Premium subscribers as much. Achillion has continued to rally off of its lows, closing on Friday at $7.26 and a 16% gain in two weeks.
Since Mr. King outlined the trade in diaDexus (DDXS) last week, the stock is up 13%. But we’re interested in much bigger upside. diaDexus offers an interesting play on a GlaxoSmithKline cardiovascular drug candidate — darapladib. It’s a binary trade, but one that Mr. King believes holds an oddly imbalanced risk/reward.
In addition, see our assessment of Acorda Therapeutics’ (ACOR), as Mr. Deryugin laid out the bull thesis on July 11. The company is going through some adjustments as it moves from a reliance on Zanaflex, expands the Ampyra franchise, and moves along some pipeline assets.
In connection with SSH, INCY, ACHN, ACOR, and DDXS, PropThink has taken a long position.
