NPS Pharmaceuticals Popped: What You Need to Know

Although we don't believe in timing the market or panicking over market movements, we do like to keep an eye on big changes -- just in case they're material to our investing thesis.

What: Shares of gastrointestinal drug developer NPS Pharmaceuticals (NAS: NPSP) canceled a large order of antacids this morning after spiking as much as 13.6% on moderate volume.

So what: This stock tends to move in small batches, but a couple of very large trades were pushed through in the first five minutes of today's trading. There's no news of any kind to explain the big buys; we're simply watching the big boys at play in a small stock.

Now what: The last time NPS made a seemingly inexplicable move, a Japanese partner had just submitted a leukemia drug for regulatory review. And that submission had absolutely nothing to do with the NPS partnership. Recently, the stock has suffered from American health-care worries, not helped even by a significant earnings beat in the second quarter or a renewed licensing deal with pharma giant GlaxoSmithKline (NYS: GSK) .

So nothing changed today other than a short-lived price boost for a handful of lucky sellers. As with fellow biotech developers cast from the same mold as Dendreon (NAS: DNDN) and Cell Therapeutics (NAS: CTIC) , NPS investors are hanging on the success or failure of new drugs going through FDA approvals -- and there's no news (good or bad) to report on that front.

Interested in more info on NPS Pharmaceuticals? Add it to your watchlist.

At the time thisarticle was published Fool contributor Anders Bylund holds no position in any of the companies discussed here. The Motley Fool owns shares of GlaxoSmithKline, andMotley Fool newsletter serviceshave also recommended buying shares of GlaxoSmithKline. Try any of our Foolish newsletter servicesfree for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe thatconsidering a diverse range of insightsmakes us better investors. The Motley Fool isinvestors writing for investors.

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