Although we don't believe in timing the market or panicking over market movements, we do like to keep an eye on big changes -- just in case they're material to our investing thesis.
What: Shares of Halozyme Therapeutics (HALO -1.53%), a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing human enzymes which help facilitate the drug delivery process, surged as much as 21% after announcing that it planned to resume patient enrollment and dosing in Study 202 which is evaluating PEGPH20 in patients with pancreatic cancer.
So what: According to Halozyme's press release which came after the bell last night, the Food and Drug Administration removed the clinical hold that was in place on patient enrollment and dosing following a recommendation from the independent data monitoring committee in May that the study resume under revised protocol. The study was originally placed on hold in early April due to thromboembolic event concerns, but that appears to be well in the rearview mirror with today's announcement.
Now what: I've said it a number of times before and I'm going to say it again: there's no reason that the temporarily hold on PEGPH20 trials should have had such a large effect on Halozyme's share price. PEGPH20 is still very early in the development process and investors should instead be turning their attention toward MabThera SC, which utilizes Halozyme's proprietary subcutaneous delivery technology, and Hylenex, which met the primary endpoint of non-inferiority of A1c levels after six months for a new formulation in the CONSISTENT-1 trial. In my opinion Halozyme shares appear to be on the precipice of profitability within the next 12-24 months and they could represent a sneaky value play in the biotech sector as long its developing pipeline continues to cooperate. I'd suggest biotech-savvy investors add Halozyme to their watchlist.
