Another Round of Insider Buying at Corbus Pharmaceuticals Holdings Inc (CRBP)

With the open label extension granted as of April, data should be available by early next year, at which point we should have a much better idea of the drug’s efficacy. Corbus is in a special situation here where any substantial evidence of efficacy for either indication could attract the attention of Big Pharma looking for new blockbusters. Anti inflammatory drugs are actually the best selling class of drugs in the world, led by AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) megablockbuster Humira, which also targets the inflammatory response. If Resunab is effective against the symptoms of cystic fibrosis and scleroderma, we could start seeing bids for the company as early as next year. If it works for these two with a good safety profile, the possibilities for expanding its label are immense. These could include Humira’s main target of rheumatoid arthritis among a host of other autoimmune disorders.

Corbus Pharmaceuticals Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:CRBP) has enough cash at $9.7 million to carry it through the next four quarters, so enough to ride it through its next major catalysts due in only two. The risks are big with Corbus because safety is not going to cut it. If efficacy results come the end of the year are not compelling, the company won’t have much value because it only has Resunab. But if they are, the potentialities for Resunab are on a Humira level, and Humira has nothing to do with cystic fibrosis.

Dr. Cohen and CFO Morin are not the only insiders to hold significant positions in their own company. Chief Scientific Officer and company cofounder Dr. Mark Tepper owns over 2.1 million shares. Chief Medical Officer Dr. Barbara White owns nearly 120,000. The largest single shareholder is also a company insider, scientific advisor Dr. Sumner Burstein, one of the world’s leading authorities on cannabinoids whose research was responsible for the discovery of ajulemic acid in the first place. Dr. Burstein has staked 3.6 million shares on the drug’s success. Total insider ownership for Corbus Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:CRBP) is now over 25% of shares outstanding.

Disclosure: Rafi Farber is long Corbus Pharmaceuticals