Lion Biotechnologies Inc (LBIO): Ayer Capital Management Halves Its Stake

Biotech stocks have been in the middle of everyone’s attention lately and many have gained impressive ground (often not justified by the company’s lack of revenue and huge losses). In this way, some investors are picking profits, such as Jay Venkatesen‘s Ayer Capital Management, which has sold 2.78 million shares of Lion Biotechnologies Inc (NASDAQ:LBIO) and slashed its stake to 2.82 million shares, representing around 6.30% of the company’s outstanding stock. As Ayer disclosed in the filing, it sold the shares in one transaction at $9.63 per unit.

Ayer’s transaction was a part of an underwritten secondary offering that involved $4.75 million shares of Lion Biotechnologies Inc (NASDAQ:LBIO) with a 0.375 gross spread to the underwriters. The securities were sold only by stockholders, including members of the board, while Lion Biotechnologies has not disposed of any shares and therefore has not received any proceeds.

Lion Biotechnologies Inc (NASDAQ:LBIO) is a $484 million development-stage biotechnology company, whose stock surged by 36% since the beginning of the year. It represented the largest position in Ayer Capital’s equity portfolio at the end of March, the only other holding being a 250,000 shares in Oncothyreon Inc (USA) (NASDAQ:ONTY), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, whose stock is up by 25% year-to-date.

Other shareholders of Lion Biotechnologies Inc (NASDAQ:LBIO) include Daniel Gold’s QVT Financial and Baker Bros. Advisors, which initiated stakes with 1.33 million shares each during the first quarter. Kevin Kotler‘s Broadfin Capital also disclosed a new position with 1.06 million shares in its latest 13F filing.

Disclosure: none