Weak Earnings And Terminated Partnerships, Oh My! Tuesday’s Hottest Stocks

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Anthera Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:ANTH) was trading lower this morning after the company’s partnership with Japanese medical company, Zenyaku, for the development of Blisimod was terminated. However, shares have strongly rebounded in early trading and are now up by over 1%, perhaps indicating that investors believe Anthera could score an even better deal in its place. The partnership will be terminated effective January 7, 2016, allowing the firm to regain worldwide rights for the clinical-stage treatment. Blisimod is developed for the treatment of lupus and IgA nephropathy, with positive results in the phase 1 and phase 2 clinical studies conducted on patients suffering from lupus. The primary reason for the termination was “disappointing” progress-rate of Blisimod under the leadership of Zenyaku. The company is planning to streamline the development process, including paying special attention towards the IgA nepropathy program.

The shares of Anthera Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:ANTH) have received an average rating of ‘Buy’ from analysts, with a short-term price target of $13.33, indicating upside potential of 76.56% from its current share price. The smart money was bearish on the stock of the medical company during the second quarter, with the aggregate holdings of hedge funds growing by 48.71% to $38.80 million, despite a 92.84% growth in its share price. Anthera Pharmaceuticals was in the equity portfolio of 11 hedge funds in our database, an improvement of two from the previous quarter. Broadfin Capital, led by Kevin Kotler, and Perceptive Advisors, led by Joseph Edelman, were among the major shareholders of the company, having 1.37 million shares and 1.20 million shares in their portfolio, respectively.

Disclosure: None

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