News (see below...brief but still news)...Hans: my (latest) purchase was at 89 5/8 about 10 mins before closing bell...we keep banging out new 52 week highs here...think the only reason for some slowing was the mkts in general and still gained on the day!
Friday February 18, 2:38 pm Eastern Time
Licensing, biotech frenzy fuels Techniclone rally
LOS ANGELES, Feb 18 (Reuters) - Shares of cancer treatment developer Techniclone Inc. (NasdaqSC:TCLN - news) soared more than 30 percent on Friday amid renewed investor interest after recent patents and licensing fueled overall enthusiasm for biotechnology stocks.
Shares of the Tustin, Calif.-based company were up 2-9/16 at 8-9/16 on Nasdaq after hitting a new 52-week high of 9-1/4 earlier in the day.
``We have had numerous calls from investors who were very interested to see whether Techniclone would be able to come through on licensing agreements,' said Marjorie Hays, a spokeswoman for the company.
On Tuesday Techniclone announced the completion of an exclusive worldwide licensing deal with the University of Southern California for a permeability-enhancing protein used to increase the uptake of chemotherapeutic drugs into tumors.
The company also said it was issued a U.S. patent for the protein, but further terms of the licensing agreement were not disclosed.
Techniclone said the protein covered by the licensing deal gives the company complete access to a technology that fits very well into the drug development efforts of many pharmaceutical companies.
``The whole biotech sector is really coming into the fore, creating enormous attention for the company,' Hays said.
As recently as last December, Techniclone's shares were trading at less than 50 cents a share after the company acknowledged defaulting on a $3.3 million loan, its interim chairman resigned and clinical trials of its direct tumor targeting agent, Oncolym, were halted.
At the time, the company warned that it was in danger of being delisted from the Nasdaq exchange unless the price of its shares reached $1.00 for a sustained period.
Meanwhile, several other biotechnology stocks continued on Friday to extend their recent run-ups with the Nasdaq biotech index up 2.38 percent in morning trading.
Shares of early-stage drug development companies Hyseq Inc. (NasdaqNM:HYSQ - news) and Tularik Inc. (NasdaqNM:TLRK - news) were up 4-13/16 at 125-1/16 and 5-5/8 at 92-3/4, respectively.
Shares of Millennium Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NasdaqNM:MLNM - news) were up 45-1/16 at 269-1/2, while Gene Logic Inc.'s (NasdaqNM:GLGC - news) stock was up 7-23/32 at 109-1/2. |
