Biotech Implosion: Vanda Pharmaceuticals (VNDA)
Vanda Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: VNDA) is seeing a major implosion this morning. The company has disclosed that it received a dreaded FDA not-approvable letter on its iloperidone. This was its late-stage schizoprenia candidate as well. The drug candidate is apparently too close to other drugs already on the market and the FDA said more safety data would be required to consider another application.
Vanda shares are down 59% at $1.35, which has gone from the good to the bad to the ugly. Its prior 52-week trading range was $2.70 to $19.62. Its current market cap after the drop is about $36 million. While that is well under its cash levels on the books, it will burn through much cash to fulfill its FDA obligations to proceed.
This one isn’t a biotech zombie yet, but you’d never know it if you just looked at its stock chart.
Jon Ogg
July 28, 2008