According to a separate 13G filing, James E. Flynn’s Deerfield Management and its affiliates own 1.30 million shares of Zafgen Inc. (NASDAQ:ZFGN), representing 4.78% of the company’s outstanding shares. The filing was issued to report that Deerfield Management ceased to be the beneficial owner of more than 5% of Zafgen’s outstanding common stock. James Flynn’s Deerfield reported owning a 553,472-share position in the company through its 13F filing for the September quarter.
The shares of the biopharmaceutical company that aims to improve the health of patients affected by obesity and complex metabolic disorders plummeted in early-October following the announcement that a patient had died while being involved in the ongoing Phase 3 clinical trial of beloranib, leading the FDA to put the Investigational NDA for beloranib on partial clinical hold. Zafgen Inc. (NASDAQ:ZFGN)’s lead product candidate, beloranib, is a novel, first-in-class subcutaneous injection developed for the treatment of severe obesity. While the company’s stock is down by 45% this year, the shock from the October news is slowly fading away (it is not known whether the patient’s death was related to the treatment with beloranib), as the stock has embarked on a slow uptrend since mid-October.
Follow James E. Flynn's Deerfield Management
The number of hedge fund investors with positions in the company climbed to 14 from 12 during the third quarter, while the overall value of these positions declined to $82.28 million from $100.75 million quarter-over-quarter. At the same time, these investors had stockpiled nearly 10% of the company’s shares as of September 30. Jason Karp’s Tourbillon Capital Partners added a 458,758-share position in Zafgen Inc. (NASDAQ:ZFGN) to its portfolio during the third quarter.
The final 13G filing we’ll discuss disclosed that Jacob Gottlieb’s Visium Asset Management currently holds 2.17 million shares of Zeltiq Aesthetics Inc. (NASDAQ:ZLTQ), accounting for 5.6% of its outstanding common stock. This denotes an increase of 914,419 shares from the position that Visium disclosed via the latest round of 13Fs. The medical technology company primarily generates revenue from its first commercial product, the CoolSculpting system, which is designed to selectively reduce stubborn fat bulges. The company generated $61.2 million in revenue in the third quarter, compared to $45.7 million for the third quarter of last year. 48% of the aforementioned figure was attributable to the company’s CoolSculpting system, while the remaining revenue was generated by its consumable procedure packs. Meanwhile, Zeltiq Aesthetics Inc. (NASDAQ:ZLTQ) reported net income of only $1.5 million for the year that ended December 31, 2014 and reported a bottom-line of $1.2 million for the nine-month period that ended September 30, 2015. The shares of the medical technology company have gained almost 9% this year. It is also worth pointing out that the aesthetics industry in which the company operates is highly interconnected with the broader economic conditions, as the decision to undertake a procedure is primarily propelled by consumer demand.
The number of smart money investors with positions in the company at the end of the third quarter stood at 25, compared to 26 reported following the previous one. These 25 investors owned slightly more than 27% of the company’s shares. Steve Cohen’s Point72 Asset Management owns a 1.44 million-share position in Zeltiq Aesthetics Inc. (NASDAQ:ZLTQ) as of the end of the third quarter.
Follow Jacob Gottlieb's Visium Asset Management
Disclosure: None
