What happened
Shares of Orchestra BioMed Holdings (OBIO -0.89%) were up 26% for the week as of Friday afternoon, according to data provided by S&P Global Market Intelligence. The healthcare stock closed at $12.18 last Friday and rose to as high as $17.43 on Tuesday. Orchestra BioMed has a 52-week low of $7.49 and a 52-week high of $19.18.
The medical device technology company went public via a special purpose acquisition company merger (SPAC) on Jan. 26 and is up more than 54% since it began trading. The stock rose a day after the global market intelligence company Tracxn named Orchestra BioMed to its list of top cardiac and vascular disorders start-ups.
So what
The medical device company focuses on partnerships with medical device companies, helping them to develop new products. Its revenue will come from royalties payments, as well as double-digit revenue sharing from its products. It has a strategic partnership with Medtronic to help develop BackBeat Cardiac Neuromodulation Therapy, a potential hypertension treatment for patients with cardiac pacemakers.
The company's other flagship product is its Virtue Sirolimus AngioInfusion Balloon (SAB), which it is partnering with Terumo on. The device is designed to deliver an extended-release formulation of the antirejection drug sirolimus during a balloon angioplasty.
Now what
The reason for the excitement regarding Orchestra is both of its main pipeline candidates address large potential patient populations. The company estimates that the annual market for the BackBeat Cardiac Neuromodulation Therapy is more than $2 billion for pacemaker patients with hypertension, and possibly as much as $8 billion if approved for the larger population with serious hypertension. The market for the Virtue SAB is thought to be more than $3 billion.
The company had, as of Dec. 31, $67.8 million in cash, and last year it lost $2.7 million. If its devices win regulatory approval, the stock will likely jump much higher because it will begin to earn royalties from its partners.
