Corporate Insiders Are Backing Up the Truck on Two Battered Healthcare-related Companies and One Private Equity Firm

Let’s wrap up our discussion by looking into the insider buying activity at InspireMD Inc. (NYSEMKT:NSPR), which had four different insiders purchase shares this week. To start with, Sol J. Barer, Chairman of the company’s Board, reported purchasing 847,458 shares of common stock at $0.59 apiece, which lifted his direct ownership stake to 1.14 million shares. The Chairman also holds warrants to purchase up to 423,729 shares. In fact, the shares of common stock and warrants were purchased as components of units, where each unit consisted of one share of common stock and a warrant to purchase one half of a share. Director James J. Loughlin bought 50,000 units (consisting of 50,000 shares of common stock and warrants to purchase an additional 25,000 shares) on the same day for $0.59 per unit, lifting his direct ownership stake to 51,501 shares (excluding warrants). Campbell Rogers, another member of the company’s Board, purchased 8,474 units. After the recent purchase, the Director currently owns 8,475 shares. Last but not least, Director Paul S. Stuka reported the acquisition of 127,119 units, which are held by Osiris Investment Partners L.P. that currently owns 267,060 shares. The aforementioned purchases were conducted through a private placement of approximately 1.03 million shares. The net proceeds from the placement will be used to conduct sales activities related to the company’s CGuard EPS, and MGuard Prime EPS products, as well as for general corporate purposes.

InspireMD is a medical device company that focuses on the development and commercialization of its proprietary MicroNet stent platform technology for the treatment of complex coronary and vascular disease. A stent is a small mesh tube that is inserted into an artery to expand the inside passage and improve blood flow. InspireMD’s losses, negative cash flows from operations, and weak cash position might have a serious impact on the company’s successful commercialization of its products. The company stated in previous SEC filings that it does not have sufficient resources to fund operations beyond the first half of 2016, but the recent private placement might enable InspireMD to survive for longer. Moreover, some of the company’s competitors, which commercialize various types of stents, have significantly stronger financial, technology, R&D, marketing and sales capabilities than InsipreMD, so it might take quite some time until its products reach commercial profitability. Shares of InspireMD have declined 84% in the past year. There were five hedge funds from our system with stakes in the medical device company at the end of 2015. Ken Griffin’s Citadel Advisors LLC owns 22,392 shares of InspireMD Inc. (NYSEMKT:NSPR) as of the end of the fourth quarter.

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