Aeterna Zentaris Inc. (NASDAQ: AEZS)
Aeterna Zentaris Inc. (AEZS), a specialty biopharmaceutical company yesterday announced a co-marketing agreement with Armune BioScience, Inc. to promote APIFINY. APIFINY is the only cancer specific non-PSA blood test for detection of prostate cancer.
Aeterna Zentaris Inc. CEO Comments
David A. Dodd, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Company, commented on the opportunity, stating
“Promoting APIFINY will give our sales force experience in the oncology market, which will serve us well as we move toward the commercialization of Zoptrex™, if it is approved by the FDA. We are also looking forward to developing a much more in-depth relationship with Armune in connection with the evaluation of Zoptrex™ for prostate cancer and perhaps other indications.” Business Wire
AEZS Technical Analysis
AEZS gapped up in price yesterday to $11.05, up from the prior day’s close of $9.70, which is a 14% increase on the favorable news. Taking a look at the daily chart, we can see the last time AEZS traded at this price level was on November 27th, when it traded at highs of $11.06. Taking a further look back on the daily chart, we can see that AEZS has been on an overall decline dating back to April 17th when it traded at $64.00. More recently, AEZS has been bouncing off of its 52 week low price of $3.19 reached on November 20th. AEZS has a low float of 6.32 million shares and was trading almost 2 times the normal daily trading volume. AEZS did reach pre market highs of $11.70, but gave back $0.65 at the open, or equivalent to 6%. For trading purposes, my entry point would have been $11.10 looking for a run up to $11.50. My stop loss would have been $11.00, fearing anything below that and the stock would start to fill in the gap up.
Company Profile
Aeterna Zentaris Inc., incorporated on September 12, 1990, is a Canada-based specialty biopharmaceutical company engaged in developing treatments in oncology, endocrinology and women’s health. The Company has three wholly owned direct and indirect subsidiaries: AEZS GmbH, based in Frankfurt, Germany, Zentaris IVF GmbH, a direct wholly owned subsidiary of AEZS Germany based in Frankfurt, Germany, and Aeterna Zentaris, Inc.
The Company’s drug development efforts are focused on two compounds, zoptarelin doxorubicin and Macrilen, which are in clinical development, and on two oncology compounds (an Erk inhibitor and LHRH-disorazol Z product candidates), which are in pre-clinical development. The Company’s principal product candidates include zoptarelin doxorubicin and Macrilen in oncology and endocrinology.
The Company’s Zoptarelin doxorubicin is a type of compound known as a cytotoxic conjugate. Zoptarelin doxorubicin represents a hybrid molecule composed of a synthetic peptide carrier and a chemotherapy agent, doxorubicin. The compound is an intravenous drug in advanced clinical development that directs the chemotherapy agent specifically to Luteinizing Hormone-Releasing Hormone-receptor expressing tumors, resulting in more targeted treatment with potentially less damage to healthy tissue. Macrilen (macimorelin acetate) is an orally available peptidomimetic ghrelin receptor agonist that stimulates the secretion of growth hormone by binding to the ghrelin receptor (GHSR-1a). Macrilen has been granted orphan-drug designation by the FDA for use in evaluating growth hormone deficiency. Reuters
