The drug company saw a clinical hold lifted by the regulatory agency
Shares of Advaxis, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADXS) are surging, after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) lifted its clinical hold on a trial for the company's cervical cancer drug, axalimogene filolisbac. The hold was initiated back in March following the death of a patient due to respiratory failure. ADXS stock is up 34% out of the gate to trade at $1.64 -- on track for its best day since September 2013.
Longer term, the drug stock has been charting a steady path lower, and was down roughly 81% year-over-year heading into today's trading. What's more, ADXS bottomed at a record low of $1.15 yesterday. Against this backdrop, the equity's 14-day Relative Strength Index (RSI) closed last night at 27 -- in oversold territory -- suggesting a short-term bounce may have been in the cards.
Amid the stock's most recent leg lower, short sellers started cashing out. Short interest fell nearly 33% in the most recent reporting period to 2.75 million shares. This still represents a healthy 6% of ADXS' available float, and would take almost four days to cover, at the equity's average pace of trading.
Analysts, meanwhile, have been slow to initiate coverage on Advaxis stock. Just two brokerages cover ADXS -- down from four in mid-May -- with one maintaining a "buy" rating, and the other calling the equity a "hold." Nevertheless, the average 12-month price target sits all the way up at $2.50, territory not charted since a late-February bear gap.