What happened
Shares of Zentalis Pharmaceuticals (ZNTL -6.36%) were down 13.5% for the week as of Friday afternoon, according to data provided by S&P Global Market Intelligence. The healthcare company closed last week at $30.05 then fell as low as $25.17 on Thursday. The stock's prices were likely driven down by lowered investor sentiment due to a rash of insider selling.
So what
Zentalis is a clinical-stage biotech company that focuses on small-molecule therapies to treat cancer, specifically cancers with broad patient populations. On May 25, the stock got a jolt when the company released phase 1b trial information regarding azenosertib as a combination therapy with chemotherapy to treat patients with platinum-resistant ovarian cancer. The data was mostly positive, with azenosertib demonstrating an objective response rate (ORR) of 50% when combined with paclitaxel and an ORR when combined with gemcitabine.
Unfortunately, when Zentalis' co-founders, President Cam Gallagher and Chief Scientific Officer Kevin Bunker, used the price swing as an opportunity to sell some of their shares of Zentalis, the stock fell this week, though not as low as it had been before its trials announcement.
Now what
Insiders sell their stock for a variety of reasons, some of which often have nothing to do with the health of their company. The positive news for investors is the stock is up 29% so far this year, and the company said it expects to put azenosertib in a phase 3 trial to treat ovarian cancer by 2024. The company is collaborating with Roche and Foundation Medicine to help advance azenosertib. In the first quarter, the company said it had enough cash, $392 million, to fund operations into the second quarter of 2025.
