Wednesday, March 6, 2013

ZIOPharm (ZIOP)

ZIOPharm is a biotech in the cancer space, with an important trial expecting data in the last week of March 2013.

PICASSO 3 is a phase 3 trial in soft tissue sarcoma, using ZIO-201, or palifosfamide. Pali, for short, is also being tested in a phase 3 trial for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) with data nearer the end of the year.

They released news this morning that Indiana University has sponsored and initiated a phase 2 trial in recurrent metastatic germ cell (testicular and ovarian) tumors, using pali also. Since the lead investigator here is the same Doctor who leads the NSCLC trial it bodes well of him using the University's time, money, and prestige in bringing this phase 2 there.

ZIOP also has some interesting drugs in their pipeline, albeit most of them are much longer term propositions. Right now, this truly is a play on the PICASSO 3 trial.

While I am cautiously optimistic on its success there, biotech is not for the faint of heart! With the stock closing yesterday at $4.74, I am looking for a runup to the mid $5s in the next two weeks. If PICASSO 3 comes in sucessful I'd like to see the price hit somewhere around $7-8. And conversely, with failure I would expect a price of around $3, although rebounding over the summer to current levels due to the NSCLC trial, and pipeline, potential.

Best,
Trond Hildahl

** This is presented for educational and informational purposes only, and should not be construed as personalized legal, tax, investment, or financial advice. My own resources, risk tolerance, and personal situation have been taken into consideration for any trades mentioned and should not be used as a basis for someone else's trades. Stocks may lose value and this is not recommendation to buy or sell this particular issue. **

Monday, March 4, 2013

AcelRx has a Good Day

News from ACRX tonight:

PR

AcelRx, in brief, is into pain. No, not Mr Grey-type pain, but the relief of such. Their NanoTab sufentanil system is a pill that melts under the tongue and is like morphine on steroids. And the device that delivers it allows the patient to safely self-dose when needed and yet prevent overdosing and drug-theft.

They already proved last November that this drug is non-inferior to morphine and the company has a third phase 3 trial that will wrap up in the 2nd quarter this year.

I'll be listening to the conference call tomorrow morning, and expect a "sunny" day share-price-wise.

Good luck to all ACRX owners.

Best,
Trond Hildahl

** This is presented for educational and informational purposes only, and should not be construed as personalized legal, tax, investment, or financial advice. My own resources, risk tolerance, and personal situation have been taken into consideration for any trades mentioned and should not be used as a basis for someone else's trades. Stocks may lose value and this is not recommendation to buy or sell this particular issue. **