Titan Pharma Stock Remains Primed to Spike

Titan Pharmaceuticals (TTNP.PK) was mentioned in a weekend article by the Washington Post that highlighted the CEO of Vanda Pharmaceuticals, Mihael Polymeropoulos, and Fanapt - Vanda's recently approved drug to treat schizophrenia of which Titan will reap up to 10% in royalties.

While Novartis (NVS) emerged as Vanda's partner to commercialize the product, it's long been my speculation that Titan will eventually be gobbled up by a larger company, and the following comment by Titan CEO Sunil Bhonsle in the Post article does nothing to stave off my speculation: "There tends to be a pattern where smaller companies do a lot of the innovation, then the larger companies acquire them at a certain point," he said.

I'm just waiting to see where that "certain point" is for Titan.

With the latest Probuphine trial paid for by an NIH grant and Fanapt royalites ready to start rolling in early next year, Titan's stock continues to remain in a prime position to spike, whether a buyout occurs or not.

I still suspect that buyout talks are in the works, but if Titan does go it alone, then I would expect a move to a prominent exchange to take place.

Disclosure: VFC is long TTNP.

Comments

[User 169109:]

If so, what price in your opinion? Who...Novartis must be a front runner?

Nov 05 09:10 AM