RA Capital Management Sells 800,000 Shares of Achillion Pharmaceuticals Inc. (ACHN)

RA Capital Management, managed by Peter Kolchinsky, has sold 800,000 shares of Achillion Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:ACHN) in two transactions for about $8 apiece on June 20, 2014. Following the sale, the fund currently owns around 22.49 million shares, down from 23.37 million shares disclosed previously, according to a new filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The new position amasses 23.2% of the outstanding common stock.

Achillion Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:ACHN) is a pharmaceutical company focused on solutions for the most challenging problems in infectious disease including HCV. The company has a market cap of $720.2 million.

For the first quarter of 2014, the company reported a net loss of $16.1 million, or $0.17 per share, compared with a net loss of $11.7 million, or $0.14 per share, in the same period of 2013. It reported an increase in research and development expenses to $12.8 million in the first quarter, compared with $8.7 million for the same period of 2013, primarily due to increased preclinical and manufacturing costs for ACH-3422, combined with increased clinical development costs for ACH-3102 and ACH-2684, according to a statement.

Shares of the company traded down 2.11% to $7.43 on Wednesday. It has a 52 week high of $8.61 and a 52 week low of $2.26. Analysts have the consensus average target price of $10.00 for the stock. The consensus average recommendation is ‘overweight’.

Other significant shareholders of the company include Daniel Gold’s QVT Financial, which holds 10.82 million shares, and Kevin Kotler’s Broadfin Capital, which owns 1.0 million shares.

Boston-based RA Capital invests in companies with promising drugs and technologies. At the end of first quarter of 2014, the value of the fund’s equity portfolio was $1.4 billion. The largest holding was represented by Sangamo Biosciences Inc. (NASDAQ:SGMO), in which RA Capital disclosed ownership of 5.22 million shares. Dicerna Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:DRNA) is another important holding, in which the fund revealed holding 2.43 million shares.

Disclosure: none