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Buzz Stocks: BIND Therapeutics, Biodel, and Biogen Idec

Today's stocks to watch in the news include BIND Therapeutics Inc (BIND), Biodel Inc (BIOD), and Biogen Idec Inc (BIIB)

Jan 8, 2015 at 9:04 AM
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U.S. equities are poised to pop this morning, amid another drop in weekly initial jobless claims. In company news, today's stocks to watch include biotech issues BIND Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:BIND), Biodel Inc (NASDAQ:BIOD), and Biogen Idec Inc (NASDAQ:BIIB).

  • BIND is up more than 42% ahead of the bell, after enrolling its first patient in a phase 2 clinical trial of its non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) treatment, BIND-014. This development follows positive results from a previous trial in late 2014. "We are pleased to see these phase 2 data for BIND-014 demonstrating that our Accurin technology is providing on-target anti-tumor activity with meaningful reductions in the incidence and severity of side-effects expected from conventional drugs," the company's chief medical officer, Hagop Youssoufian, M.D., remarked. Today's expected bullish gap will represent a break from BIND Therapeutics Inc's prevailing trend lower, with the shares down 61.4% year-over-year to trade at $5.15. On the sentiment front, just one analyst covers BIND -- handing out a "strong buy" -- while 6.4% of the stock's float is sold short.

  • Also rallying in electronic trading is BIOD, which is up 36% on positive preliminary results from a phase 2 trial of its concentrated insulin formulation, BIOD-531, for treating diabetes patients with severe insulin resistance. On the charts, Biodel Inc has lost more than half of its value over the past 52 weeks, settling yesterday at $1.45. Accordingly, short sellers have been fairly active; the current accumulation of short interest would take nine sessions to repurchase, at BIOD's typical daily trading levels.

  • Finally, BIIB's acute optic neuritis treatment, anti-LINGO-1, displayed potential for reversing nerve damage in the eye during a phase 2 clinical trial. As such, the stock is pointed 1.8% higher in pre-market trading. Longer term, Biogen Idec Inc has performed well on the charts, surging nearly 22% year-over-year to rest at $353.24, and recently hitting a record high of $361.93. Not surprisingly, the brokerage bunch is firmly in the bulls' corner. Fourteen of 19 covering analysts rate BIIB a "buy" or better, and its consensus 12-month price target of $380.73 stands in uncharted territory.
 
 

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