Why Egalet Corp. 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 Egalet , a clinical-stage specialty biopharmaceutical company engaged in the development of abuse-resistant therapies for pain and other indications, jumped as much as 20% after announcing that its IPO underwriters had exercised their over-allotment option.

So what: According to Egalet's press release, the company's IPO underwriters have exercised their option to purchase 630,000 shares at the IPO price of $12 per share. After accounting for underwriting discounts and commissions, Egalet estimates that it will clear an additional $7.5 million in net proceeds from the sale. These funds are important because Egalet currently has only two therapies in phase 1 studies. Based on its pipeline timeline found on its website, we would expect to see its first product hit pharmacy shelves no sooner than mid-2015. In other words, while Egalet is conducting these studies, it needs as much free capital as it can get.

Now what: Despite its early-stage pipeline, I would certainly recommend keeping an eye on Egalet because abuse-resistant technologies represent a genuine opportunity to win over a Food and Drug Administration that's very leery when it comes to approving pain medications, which can sometimes become addictive. Keep in mind that there are more than a handful of questions left to be answered with such a young pipeline and there could be plenty of potential for this valuation to deflate. Still, I'd suggest adding it to your watchlist and keeping an eye on its two lead compounds Egalet-001 an abuse-deterrent extended-release version of morphine, and Egalet-002, an abuse-deterrent extended-release version of oxycodone.

Egalet may be soaring today, but even it could have a difficult time keeping up with this top stock in 2014
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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.The Motley Fool has no position in any companies mentioned in this article. 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.

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