The FDA granted accelerated approval for its cell therapy for advanced melanoma
Iovance Biotherapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:IOVA) stock is up 39.5% at $12.76 at last check, after the company received accelerated approval from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for its cell therapy for adults with advanced melanoma, which is priced at $515,000 per patient. The biopharma name also priced its $211 million common stock offering at $9.15 per share.
Shares are today trading at 52-week highs, after bouncing off the 50-day moving average earlier this month. Iovance Biotherapeutics stock is also on track for its biggest single-day percentage since March 2020, and has added a whopping 145.9% in the last three months.
Overall options volume is already running at 16 times the intraday average, with 41,000 calls and 9,176 puts exchanged so far. The weekly 2/23 15-strike call is the most active contact, with new positions being opened there.
An unwinding of short interest could further boost the shares. Short interest rose 15.3% over the last two reporting periods, and the 41.98 million shares sold short now make up 17.6% of the security's available float, or more than one weeks' worth of pent-up buying power.