The company has postponed the release of results from its TIVO-3 study
The shares of AVEO Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVEO) are spiraling, after the drugmaker said it has postponed the results of its late-stage TIVO-3 study for its kidney cancer treatment, with the results now expected for release in the fourth quarter. At last check, AVEO stock was down 20.4% to trade at $2.27 -- on track for its worst day since May 2013.
The volatile price action has sparked heavy options trading on AVEO already today, with more than 3,200 contracts traded -- 10 times what's typically seen at this point in the session. Most active is the August 3 call, where it looks like traders may be liquidating their positions.
And while short sellers are sidelined from getting in on today's action -- the sharp losses have AVEO stock on the short-sale restricted list -- these bearish bettors have been quick to target the drugmaker. Short interest spiked 62.6% in the most recent reporting period to a record 14.39 million shares.
Technically speaking, AVEO shares began trending lower after topping out at a four-year high of $4.24 last August. A late-June bounce from the $2.00-$2.20 region had the security rallying back up near $3, but today's bear gap has it once again testing the neighborhood that's served as support since April.