Three healthcare stocks have been very active during both the pre-market and morning trading sessions today. Raptor Pharmaceutical Corp. (NASDAQ:RPTP) has seen its stock slide by more than 35% today, whereas both Aquinox Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:AQXP) and Collegium Pharmaceutical Inc (NASDAQ:COLL) are being pushed to higher levels. In the following article we will take a look at each stock and discuss what stands behind these shifts and how hedge funds feel about their prospects.
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Let’s start by discussing Raptor Pharmaceutical Corp. (NASDAQ:RPTP), which announced that its Phase 2b CyNCh study did not meet its primary endpoint of improving nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) in children. This study was testing Raptor’s drug in children with a kind of liver disease that is characterized by fat in the liver. Following the failed mid-stage study, Raptor Pharmaceutical does not plan to continue the advancement of this experimental liver drug. The shares of Raptor Pharmaceutical Corp. (NASDAQ:RPTP) were up by 14% year-to-date through Friday’s close. Ultimately, the company plans to maximize the reach of PROCYSBI, which represents its sole commercial product, and also further the development of RP103 in Huntington’s and mitochondrial diseases. It seems that Kevin Kotler’s Broadfin Capital made the wrong move by initiating a 1.32 million share-position in Raptor during the second quarter, a rare misstep for the top-performing fund.
We can now turn our attention to the big winners of today’s trading session thus far. The shares of Aquinox Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:AQXP) skyrocketed by more than 20% during Friday’s after-hours trading, though the surge has been narrowing since the start of trading, with the stock up by more than 6.7% today. On Friday, Canaccord Genuity increased the price target on the stock to $22.00 from $10.00, suggesting that the company’s consistently positive results from multiple pre-specified secondary endpoints might bring its lead product closer to success. Additionally, Aquinox Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:AQXP) has also raised additional capital through an underwritten public offering of 5.5 million shares of its common stock at a price of $15.50 per share, which suggests the company’s confidence in the development of its lead product candidate. Julian and Felix Baker’s Baker Bros. Advisors, another top performing fund with several major successes this year, is the most bullish investor on Aquinox Pharmaceuticals, holding nearly 1.20 million shares as of June 30.
Last but not least, we will take a look at what triggered the surge in Collegium Pharmaceutical Inc (NASDAQ:COLL)’s shares today. On Friday, a panel of outside advisors to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration unanimously voted in favor of the company’s experimental opioid painkiller. Therefore, Collegium’s Xtampza ER for the management of pain is one step closer to FDA approval and to its commercialization. The stock has gained more than 40% in today’s trading session as a result. However, it is worth mentioning that the FDA is not required to follow the advice of the advisory panels. The review of the Xtampza ER New Drug Application will be completed on October 12, 2015. Peter Kolchinsky’s RA Capital Management is the largest equity holder of Collegium Pharmaceutical Inc (NASDAQ:COLL), owning 1.55 million shares at the end of the latest quarter.
Disclosure: None
