It was an excellent day yesterday for the shares of Inotek Pharmaceuticals Corp (NASDAQ:ITEK), as they continued their momentum from their gangbusters Thursday and closed another 14.83% higher on Friday. One of the primary reasons for today’s boost was a price target update from Cowen’s analyst, Ken Cacciatore, who updated his target to $40.00 from an earlier $15.00 price target. Earlier, Inotek Pharmaceuticals Corp (NASDAQ:ITEK) announced its strategy for the phase 3 development trial of its leading Glaucoma drug, trabodenoson. The clinical stage bio-pharmaceutical company had a meeting with the FDA after the end of its second phase of testing for the drug.
David P. Southwell, CEO of Inotek Pharmaceuticals Corp (NASDAQ:ITEK), said, “…We are pleased with the agency’s guidance on the pivotal trial design which will enable a more efficient registration path to potentially bring this novel glaucoma therapy to market for the benefit of patient.” Trabodenoson has shown positive results in the second phase of its clinical study, without any waning effect with extended duration of the treatment.
Mr. Cacciatore gave the reason for this upgrade stating, “This appears unprecedented and we and our consultants believe that the clinical and regulatory risk is now significantly lowered. Phase II data have been compelling – and consistent – and this morning’s disclosure provides us with even greater conviction.”
The shares of Inotek Pharmaceuticals Corp (NASDAQ:ITEK) have grown by 194.17% since its IPO in February 2015, and by even more, 237.48% in the last two days alone. The stock was up by nearly 200% on Thursday following the release of its phase 2 study data for the drug, as well as its aforementioned meeting with the FDA. If its phase 3 study goes through successfully, it could open a new market for the biopharmaceutical company. Hedge funds mostly missed out on the fun, at least according to their known holdings as of March 31. Only two funds tracked by Insider Monkey, Efrem Kamen‘s Pura Vida Investments, and Matthew Halbower‘s Pentwater Capital, had long positions in the company as of that date. Pentwater held 700,000 shares valued at $3.79 million, while Pura Vida held 87,500 shares.
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Earlier this year, Aerie Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:AERI) reported successful results in its phase two study of Rhopressa, its own treatment for glaucoma, only to fail in the third phase of clinical trials reported on April 23. The shares of Aerie Pharmaceuticals fell in excess of 70% after the failed study, but the company announced near-future phase 3 trials for another glaucoma drug, Roclatan™. Vicente Anido, Jr., CEO and Chairman of Aerie Pharmaceuticals Inc, expressed his disappointment with Rhopressa while highlighting his plans for Roclatan. He said, “… we are well prepared to commence the quadruple-action RoclatanTM Phase 3 trials later in 2015. As of the end of the first quarter 2015, we had over $179 million of cash and investments on our balance sheet, and are well-financed to proceed with our key strategies.”
The shares of Aerie Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:AERI) have declined by 35.93% year-to-date and are currently trading at $18.62. The hedge fund managers tracked by Insider Monkey had interesting activity in the stock of the biopharmaceutical company during the first quarter. Out of the 737 funds in our database, 21 hedge funds held positions worth $101.27 million in the company compared to holdings of $124.93 million from 13 investors at the end of the fourth quarter. It is important to consider that the shares of Aerie Pharmaceuticals grew by 7.85% during the first quarter, which makes the depreciation in net investments even more significant, despite the fact that the number of funds holding positions increased by eight. James E. Flynn’s Deerfield Management held the largest position in the company of those funds, with 606,118 shares valued at $19.00 million.
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