Why Halozyme Therapeutics Inc. Shares Jumped
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 Halozyme Therapeutics , a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing human enzymes for clinical benefit purposes, jumped as much as 15% following the official launch of Roche's Herceptin SC in Europe.
So what: Why does this matter? Because Roche's newly approved subcutaneous injection of Herceptin -- which can be given in a fraction of the time that the standard IV can -- utilizes Halozyme's recombinant human hyaluronidase. As such, the official launch of Herceptin SC in Europe triggered a $10 million milestone payment from Roche to Halozyme, bumping Halozyme's net cash position up to $55 million (based on its most recent quarterly filing).
Now what: Everyone loves a good milestone payment, but a $150 million market cap boost for a $10 million payment might be a bit steep. Expectations are high surrounding Herceptin SC -- as they should be -- since the drug could remarkably increase patient convenience. Now we need to see how well its launch is actually executed before we get too excited. I'd certainly advocate adding Halozyme Therapeutics to your watchlist, but as an investment at these levels I still see plenty of questions that are only going to be answered by watching and waiting a few quarters to see if sales take off.
Two additional biotechs you need to watch right now!
The best way to play the biotech space is to find companies that shun the status quo and instead discover revolutionary, groundbreaking technologies. In the Motley Fool's brand-new FREE report "2 Game-Changing Biotechs Revolutionizing the Way We Treat Cancer," find out about a new technology that big pharma is endorsing through partnerships, and the two companies that are set to profit from this emerging drug class. Click here to get your copy today.
The article Why Halozyme Therapeutics Inc. Shares Jumped originally appeared on Fool.com.
Fool contributor Sean Williams has no material interest in any companies mentioned in this article. You can follow him on CAPS under the screen name TMFUltraLong, track every pick he makes under the screen name TrackUltraLong, and check him out on Twitter, where he goes by the handle @TMFUltraLong.Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools don't all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
Copyright © 1995 - 2013 The Motley Fool, LLC. All rights reserved. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
