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Cytori Therapeutics Inc (CYTX) received a green light from the FDA to expand a clinical trial
Cytori Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:CYTX) has jumped nearly 60% today to trade at $1.15, after the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the company's plans to expand a late-stage trial of its scleroderma cell therapy to an additional eight centers. The news has CYTX calls flying off the shelves. At last check, nearly 5,800 contracts were on the tape, versus an expected intraday amount of just 36.
According to data from Trade-Alert, traders are buying to open CYTX's March 1 call. This is, by far, the security's most active strike, with 4,437 contracts exchanged. While the option is now in the money, the buyers are expecting the shares to topple the breakeven mark of $1.22 -- strike plus the volume-weighted average price of $0.22 -- by the close on Friday, March 20, when the front-month series expires.
With today's surge, Cytori Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:CYTX) is now sitting on a year-to-date advance of nearly 135%. Some of these recent gains may be the result of short sellers covering their bearish positions, as close to 9% of the equity's float is sold short. In fact, it would take more than three weeks to buy back all of these shorted shares, at CYTX's typical daily trading volume.