What happened
Biotech stocks tend to be volatile, and one of the more up-and-down titles in the sector lately has been Alaunos Therapeutics (TCRT -7.86%). True to form, the company's share price enjoyed a modest, 2%-plus pop on Tuesday after a down session Monday. Investors were encouraged by some notable insider buying activity.
So what
In regulatory filings after market hours on Monday, no fewer than four top Alaunos managers revealed that they had exercised some of their options to buy the company's stock. Specifically, these C-suite denizens were senior vice president of legal Melinda Lackey, vice president of research and development Drew Deniger, vice president of technical operations Abhishek Srivastava, and vice president of finance Michael Wong.
Of the quartet, the most eager exerciser was Deniger. The executive loaded up with 305,000 Alaunos shares. This was followed by Lackey's 185,000-strong acquisition, Wong's (50,000 shares), and Srivastava's (25,000). In all four cases, the exercise price was $2.11 per share.
The news clearly instilled fresh confidence into Alaunos' stock. It certainly needed the lift, as it hasn't yet fully rebounded from concerns about one of the patients dosed in a phase 1/2 clinical trial for the company's T-cell receptor (TCR) cancer therapy.
Now what
As ever, investors shouldn't buy or sell any stock based on the moves of insiders. Having said that, it's indisputably heartening that Alaunos' top managers are more than willing to put their money where their mouths are with their company.
We'll get a clearer picture in the coming days of where the biotech is heading; it's slated to present data from that TCR trial next Friday, Sept. 30 at an industry conference.
