NEOS Soars On Buyout Bid, INSY Plunges On Founder's Arrest, CELG Bleeds

(RTTNews) - The following are some of the biotech stocks that made their way onto the Day's Gainers & Losers' list of October 26, 2017.

GAINERS

1. Neos Therapeutics Inc. (NEOS)

Gained 37.67% to close Thursday's (Oct.26) trading at $10.05.

News: PDL BioPharma Inc. (PDLI) has again made an unsolicited proposal to acquire Neos for $10.25 per share in cash.

On June 23, 2017, PDL BioPharma made an unsolicited proposal to acquire the Company for $10.25 per share in cash, which was unanimously rejected by the Neos Board of Directors as not in the best interest of Neos shareholders.

On July 31, 2017, PDL submitted another unsolicited acquisition proposal at the same price. At that time, Neos entered into a confidentiality agreement with PDL to facilitate engagement and sharing of information between the companies.

The Company noted that it will respond to the PDL proposal received today in due course.

Recent events:

-- On June 19, 2017, the Company was granted FDA approval for Cotempla XR-ODT, the first and only methylphenidate extended-release orally disintegrating tablet for the treatment of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in patients 6 to 17 years old. -- On September 15, 2017, the FDA approved the Company's Adzenys ER Extended-Release Oral Suspension for the treatment of ADHD in patients 6 years and older.

2. Alkermes plc (ALKS)

Gained 11.07% to close Thursday's trading at $54.97.

News: The Company reported mixed Q3, 2017 financial results, and has tweaked its forecast for 2017.

Non-GAAP net income for the third quarter of 2017 was $4.2 million or $0.03 per share compared to a non-GAAP net loss of $14.1 million or $0.09 for the same period in the prior year. Total revenues for the recent third quarter were $217.4 million, up from $180.2 million in the comparable year-ago quarter.

Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the Company to incur a loss per share of $0.01 on revenue of $231.02 million for Q3, 2017.

For full year 2017, the Company now expects total revenues to range from $850 million to $880 million, down from a previous range of $870 million to $920 million.

3. Aptevo Therapeutics Inc. (APVO)

Gained 10.33% to close Thursday's trading at $2.67.

News: No news

Recent event:

-- On October 24, 2017, the Company announced that a tumor antigen 5T4 associated with many forms of solid tumors has been identified as the second target for ALG.APV-527.

The 5T4 tumor antigen is present on a number of different solid tumors, including breast, cervical, non-small-cell-lung, prostate, renal, gastric, colorectal and bladder cancers, indicating that ALG.APV-527 may be used for the treatment of several different types of cancer.

ALG.APV-527 is being developed by Alligator Bioscience and Aptevo.

Pipeline:

The Company has two clinical drug candidates - MOR209/ES414 monotherapy in patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer, under phase I trial, and Otlertuzumab for chronic lymphocytic leukemia, under phase II study.

The Company also has 4 marketed drugs.

LOSERS

1. Idera Pharmaceuticals Inc. (IDRA)

Lost 27.41% to close Thursday's trading at $1.47.

News: The Company has priced its underwritten public offering of 33.33 million shares of its common stock at a public offering price of $1.50 each.

The net proceeds to Idera from the offering are expected to be approximately $46.8 million. The offering is expected to close on or about October 30, 2017.

The underwriters have been granted a 30-day option to purchase up to an additional 5 million shares of common stock.

2. INSYS Therapeutics Inc. (INSY)

Lost 22.64% to close Thursday's trading at $5.74.

News: The U.S. Department of Justice has announced that John N. Kapoor, the founder and majority owner of Insys Therapeutics has been arrested for allegedly bribing doctors and pharmacists to prescribe "Subsys", a Fentanyl spray, intended for cancer patients experiencing breakthrough pain.

According to the superseding indictment charges, Kapoor and several former Insys executives and managers conspired to bribe practitioners in various states, many of whom operated pain clinics, in order to get them to prescribe Subsys. In exchange for bribes and kickbacks, the practitioners wrote large numbers of prescriptions for the patients, most of whom were not diagnosed with cancer.

According to IMS health data, sales of Subsys, which were $14.2 million in 2012, had skyrocketed to $462 million in 2015.

3. Celgene Corporation (CELG)

Lost 16.37% to close Thursday's trading at $99.99.

News: The Company reported stellar third quarter results but has trimmed its 2020 long-term financial targets.

Adjusted net income for the third quarter of 2017 increased 23 percent to $1,555 million compared to $1,264 million in the third quarter of 2016. For the same period, adjusted diluted EPS increased 21 percent to $1.91 from $1.58. The net product sales in the recent third quarter were $3.28 billion, an 11 percent increase from the same period in 2016.

For 2020, the Company now expects adjusted EPS of over $12.50 and total net product sales in the range of $19.0 to $20.0 billion. Previously, the Company was expecting adjusted EPS of over $13 and total net product sales of more than $21.0 billion.

4. Cidara Therapeutics Inc. (CDTX)

Lost 10.29% to close Thursday's trading at $7.85.

News: No news

Near-term catalyst:

-- A phase II trial of CD101 IV in candidemia, dubbed STRIVE, is ongoing. This study is comparing the safety and efficacy of CD101 IV to standard-of-care therapy, Caspofungin with an optional step-down to oral Fluconazole. The top line data from the STRIVE study are anticipated this quarter (Q4, 2017).

5. Vanda Pharmaceuticals Inc. (VNDA)

Lost 9.62% to close Thursday's trading at $14.10.

News: No news

Near-term catalyst:

-- The Company is slated to release results for the third quarter of 2017 on Tuesday, November 7, 2017, after the market closes.

6. Mersana Therapeutics Inc. (MRSN)

Lost 9.09% to close Thursday's trading at $15.30.

News: No news

Recent event:

-- The Company went public on the NASDAQ Global Select Market on June 28, 2017 at an offering price of 15.00 per share.

Near-term catalysts:

-- Interim results from phase I trial of lead oncology drug candidate XMT-1522 in patients with advanced tumors expressing HER2, including breast cancer, non-small-cell-lung-cancer (NSCLC) and gastric cancer are expected around the end of this year. -- File the second IND shortly and begin clinical studies in early 2018 for XMT-1536, a potential first-in-class Dolaflexin ADC targeting NaPi2b-expressing tumors.