XOMA Corporation (NASDAQ : XOMA)
XOMA Corporation (XOMA), a company that develops antibody-based therapeutics yesterday announced a development and commercialization agreement for its Anti -TGF- beta antibody program with Novartis. The anti-TGF beta program is meant to help fight the progression of cancer and other diseases in the body.
XOMA Corporation CEO’s Comments
“XOMA and Novartis have worked closely together for several years to develop new product candidates. When they expressed interest in our anti-TGFb program, we knew Novartis was the best company to bring this exciting potential therapy to the patients whom it may help,” stated John Varian, Chief Executive Officer of XOMA. “Novartis is recognized as a leader in oncology, where an anti-TGFb molecule has real potential either as monotherapy or in combination with other therapeutic options.”We had said we did not plan to raise equity capital at our recent stock price in order to fund the development of our very exciting endocrine portfolio. With this non-dilutive liquidity of essentially $50.5 million, we currently project this capital, in combination with our planned cost savings measures, will fund operations into 2017. We remain on track to begin our XOMA 358 Phase 2 clinical program this fall and fully anticipate we will have the data from these studies during that timeframe,” concluded Mr. Varian. Globe Newswire
XOMA Technical Analysis
XOMA gapped up in price yesterday to $1.13, up from the prior day’s close of $0.75 which is a 51% increase in price based on favorable news. Taking a look at the daily chart, we can see the last time the stock traded above this price level was on July 21st when the stock closed at $4.39.
On that occasion, the stock fell all the way to lows of $0.85 the very next day of trading equivalent to an 81% drop in price. The stock fell due to disappointing results from its Phase 3 EYEGUARD-B study. As we can see, the stock is very sensitive to its drug study news. Since the big drop in price, the stock has been in a tight consolidation period ranging from $0.75 to $1.00. Today is the first day that the stock broke through the $1 level since the big drop. It will be interesting to see if the stock can now use the $1.00 price as a support level. The stock does have a high float of 110.45 million shares but the short percentage is 39% so there is still opportunity for the stock to move up on shorts covering positions. The stock is also trading on heavy volume, almost 3 times the normal daily trading volume. The stock did reach pre market highs of $1.40 which means that it gave back $0.27 at the open equivalent to 19%. For trading purposes, my entry point would have been $1.20 looking for a run through pre market highs. My stop loss would have been $1.00 fearing anything below that and the stock would start to fill in the gap up.
Company Profile
XOMA Corporation discovers and develops antibody-based therapeutics in the United States, Europe, and the Asia Pacific. The companys lead product candidate includes gevokizumab, a proprietary humanized allosteric-modulating monoclonal antibody that binds to the inflammatory cytokine interleukin-1 beta, which is in Phase III clinical trial for NIU and Behçets disease uveitis, pyoderma gangrenosum, active non-infectious anterior scleritis, autoimmune inner ear disease, and cardiovascular diseases, as well as diseases under the neutrophilic dermatoses designation, Schnitzler syndrome, and other diseases; and various proof-of-concept studies comprising polymyositis/dermatomyositis, Schnitzler syndrome, and giant cell arteritis. Its proprietary product pipeline also comprises XOMA metabolic activating, sensitizing, and deactivating/antagonizing antibodies that are in preclinical stage for the treatment of diabetes patients; XOMA 3AB, a multi-antibody product for the treatment of human botulism poisoning; and XOMA 629, a topical anti-bacterial product for the treatment of human immune system. In addition, the company licenses antibody discovery, optimization, and development technologies, including Antibody Discovery Advanced Platform Technologies, ModulX, and OptimX. It has collaboration and licensing agreements with Les Laboratoires Servier; National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases; Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited; Novartis AG; Pfizer Inc.; Symplmed Pharmaceuticals, LLC; and Texas A&M University. The company was founded in 1981 and is headquartered in Berkeley, California. Yahoo Finance
