As a follow-up to my recent "Falling Health Care Stocks" post, here's a few more to take a look at. Opportunities may be a-plenty if Tuesday's market dive continues.
Titan Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:TTNP): Titan continues to trade for under the two dollar price mark, even after releasing historic news last month with confirmation that the latest Probuphine Phase III trial had proven to be a success.
A meeting with the FDA to decide the regulatory path to approval for Probuphine is not scheduled until later this year, giving investors time to conduct some DD and take a look at the future prospects of Titan, but a recent report has also highlighted the fact that there might be some potential suitors out there looking to jump on Titan and its ProNeura subcutaneous drug delivery technology.
With little chance of patients being able to abuse Probuphine as they can with other options in treating opioid addiction, there's a good chance that a strong immediate push into the market could take place. Further on down the road, ProNeura could take Probuphine even deeper into the pharmaceutical market, as trials are currently underway for the treatment of chronic pain.
Although sales of Vanda's (NASDAQ:VNDA) schizophrenia drug Fanapt (which is partnered with Novartis (NYSE:NVS) have yet to become overwhelming, Titan receives an expense-free revenue rate of 8% on all sales of the product.
A $20 million credit facility secured earlier in the year has secured the short term finanical health of the company, but speculation in the investing community still has bets placed on a buyout. With the general market falling as a result of inept politicians and an economy that continues to sputter along, companies with the potential of Titan might be had for 'on the cheap', as they say.
As long as this one remains unable to breach and hold the two dollar front, it'll be well worth eyeballing for its mid to long term potential. Not bad for a stock that traded for just pennies a couple of years ago.
Human Genome (HGSI): Human Genome started a steady decline in price long before the latest market dip, and with shares now being had for under nineteen dollars, HGSI will make quite a few watch lists. The heavy slide started for HGSI immediately following the last earnings report that led to headlines about a "miss," and to fears that Benlysta, the first lupus drug to receive FDA approval in over a half decade, was failing meeting up to measure on the market.
Although any positive indications were nullified by the dropping share price, Benlysta, which is partnered with GlaxoSmithKline (NYSE:GSK), did pull in nearly $8 million during the last quarter. Much more is expected during the course of the next year as distribution picks up, and Human Genome expects profitability at some point in 2013.
It's been a while since this stock traded for under twenty for an extended period of time, and there's a real good chance that a rebound will be in store. It's just a matter of when.
SIGA Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ:SIGA): On a continuous slide since finally landing the long-awaited - and disputed - BARDA contract for the small pox antiviar ST-246, shares of SIGA are right back to trading for below seven bucks.
The stock has been heavily shorted for quite some time now, and the general market slide isn't doing anything to help the situation any. Also at hand is the pending decision of an ongoing 'breach of contract' lawsuit filed by ParmaThene (PIP) as the result of a deal gone bad back in 2006. Previous comments made by the judge hinted that PIP might get something out of the decision, which could have led to the rapid increase in SIGA shorts.
With that news pending, with the market sliding, and with the SIGA short percentage, not even the landing of a huge government contract could lead to a reversal of immediate fortunes. That said, looking over the long term, it's easy to imagine that these prices are going to be looked back upon as a steal; of course, much of that has to do with the pending court decision.
The recent trading action, in my opinion, has more to do with the short percentage in SIGA than it does with anything else. Keep an eyeball on this one.
Disclosure: Long TTNP. VFC's Stock House is not compensated to cover any of the above companies.
