PTC Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: PTCT)
PTC Therapeutics, Inc. (PTCT), a biopharmaceutical company yesterday gapped down over 40% on news that the company received a “Refuse to File” letter from the FDA on their new drug application. The letter was for PTC’s treatment for Duchenne muscular dystrophy which is a muscle disorder. The letter stated that PTC’s application was not complete and the company stated that it “is reviewing its content to determine the appropriate next steps.” (The Street). As of late afternoon trading on Tuesday PTCT is trading down 56% at $12.32. The combination of a low float and the FDA news has led many speculators to drive the stock down quickly. It will be interesting to see if the stock can rebound and recoup some of the losses heading into the closing bell.
PTCT Technical Analysis
PTCT gapped down in price yesterday to $16.13, up from the prior day’s close of $28.26, which is a 43% decrease in price. Taking a look at the daily chart we can see that the last time PTCT traded below this price level was on May 22nd when it traded at $15.32. Taking a closer look at the daily chart we can see that PTCT has been on an overall decline dating back to July 20th when it traded at $61.85. PTCT has a float of 32.50 million shares and is trading over 22 times the normal daily trading volume. PTCT did reach pre market lows of $15.98, but bounced back $0.15 at the open. For trading purposes, my entry point short would have been $16.00 looking for a run down to $15. My stop loss would have been $16.20, fearing anything above that and the stock would start to fill in the gap down.
Company Profile
PTC Therapeutics, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company, focuses on the discovery, development, and commercialization of orally administered, small molecule drugs that target post-transcriptional control processes. The companys lead product is Translarna (ataluren), which is in Phase III clinical trials for the treatment of nonsense mutation Duchenne muscular dystrophy in ambulatory patients; and for the treatment of cystic fibrosis caused by nonsense mutations. It also intends to develop Translarna for the treatment of mucopolysaccharidosis type I caused by nonsense mutation, as well as develops spinal muscular atrophy, which is in Phase II clinical program. The companys preclinical development programs include PTC596, a development candidate used for the treatment of chemotherapy resistant cancers; and PTC672, an antibacterial development candidate for the treatment of life-threatening infections caused by multidrug-resistant Gram-negative bacteria. PTC Therapeutics, Inc. has collaborations with F. Hoffman-La Roche Ltd and Hoffman-La Roche Inc., and the Spinal Muscular Atrophy Foundation to develop and commercialize compounds identified under its spinal muscular atrophy sponsored research program; and research collaboration with Massachusetts General Hospital for the treatment of rare genetic disorders resulting from pre-mRNA. The company was founded in 1998 and is based in South Plainfield, New Jersey. Yahoo Finance
