The meme stock crowd have their sights set on new targets and orphan drug treatment company Orphazyme (NASDAQ:ORPH) is up nearly 90% today as a result. ORPH stock has been trading jaggedly since last week, at one point up more than 1,000% on Friday, June 11.
Trading volume of 115 million shares on the day at time of writing was dramatically up from an average daily trading volume of 1.3 million. Orphazyme management released a press release on Friday saying there was no reason for the stock movement.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has set a review date of June 17 for ORPH stock’s key drug candidate ariclomal, which will be used to treat Niemann-Pick Disease Type C.
The company is also exploring the efficacy of ariclomal in treating other orphan diseases, though that endeavor hasn’t yielded positive results yet. Two different Phase 2/3 trials for treatment of Inclusion Body Myositis and Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis did not meet their primary and secondary endpoints. In the company’s 2020 annual report, released in March 2021, addressable markets for IBM and ALS made up 45,000 of 62,000 patients across the four diseases discussed.
ORPH stock is presently covered by two analysts, with a price consensus of $16. That’s more than 15% lower than its current price of $18.88. Meme stock traders have announced their intention to send Orphazyme to the moon, but it’s hard to believe the stock won’t deflate following FDA results, even if positive.
On the date of publication, Vivian Medithi did not have (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer, subject to the InvestorPlace.com Publishing Guidelines.
