Achillion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (ACHN): Peter Kolchinsky’s RA Capital Sells Some More Shares

Peter Kolchinsky‘s RA Capital Management, in a new filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, has disclosed the sale of around 1.70 million shares of Achillion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:ACHN). The securities have been sold in 11 transactions at an average price of $12.45 per share, which raises the total value of the transaction to some $21.22 million.

Peter Kolchinsky

Mr. Kolchinsky has been unloading shares of Achillion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:ACHN) for some time now. RA Capital has unloaded 835,293 shares of the company at an average price of $11.63 apiece last week. Overall, the fund has reduced its exposure to Achillion from almost 22.49 million shares the fund held at the end of the second quarter. During the April-June period, RA Capital has decreased its position by 4%.

Among the funds we track at Insider Monkey, Daniel Gold‘s QVT Financial has also reduced its stake in Achillion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:ACHN) by around 32% over the quarter, reporting ownership of some 7.39 million shares in its latest 13F. On the other hand, Camber Capital Management, led by Stephen Dubois, has disclosed a new stake in Achillion in its latest 13F, holding a total of 5.80 million shares.

Overall, Achillion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:ACHN) has had an exceptional performance during this year. Its stock has advanced by over 270% year-to-date, with a significant surge taking place in June. This upsurge probably explains why RA Capital and QVT Financial have reduced their stakes. The funds have taken the opportunity to take some profits.

In June, Achillion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:ACHN) announced the launch of dosing tests for its ACH-3422 drug, under the Phase 1 clinical trial. ACH-3422 is a nucleotide polymerase inhibitor for the treatment of chronic hepatitis C viral infection. The company is continuing to develop another drug also for the treatment of chronic hepatitis C virus and has recently received a patent from the US Patent & Trademark Office. However, even though Achillion’s stock is still trading below its 52-week high, it managed to recover significantly due to a lift of the ban on its Sovaprevir, another drug candidate for the treatment of hepatitis C.

Following these developments, the stock of the company might be poised to increase further, which makes it an attractive investment, which is also supported by the fact that several other hedge funds among those that we track have disclosed new multi-million stakes in Achillion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:ACHN) in the latest round of 13F filings.

Disclosure: none