Heron Therapeutics Inc (HRTX), La Jolla Pharmaceutical Company (LJPC), Salix Pharmaceuticals, Ltd. (SLXP) Are Tang Capital’s Largest Bets in Q4

Kevin Tang‘s Tang Capital Partners is one of the funds that have already revealed their equity portfolios as of the end of last year. The healthcare-focused investment firm reported an equity portfolio valued at $182.38 million, down from $193.00 million in the previous quarter. In this article we are going to take a closer look at Tang’s track record and will discuss in detail its top three largest holdings in terms of value, which are represented by Heron Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:HRTX), La Jolla Pharmaceutical Company (NASDAQ:LJPC), and Salix Pharmaceuticals, Ltd. (NASDAQ:SLXP). These three stakes amass around 68% of the fund’s equity portfolio value.

Tang Capital Partners was founded by Kevin Tang in 2002. Mr. Tang has an extensive experience of 19 years in evaluating biopharmaceutical companies from the perspective of portfolio manager and also as a financial analyst at Deutsche Bank Alex. Brown. Moreover, Mr. Tang serves on the board of several companies, including Heron Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:HRTX), and La Jolla Pharmaceutical Company (NASDAQ:LJPC). Mr. Tang’s fund has an impressive track record and since its inception managed to provide sold returns to its investors. Since its inception in 2002 aand until June 2010, Tang provided total returns net of all fees and expenses of 520%, while its annualized rate of return amounted to 26%.

Let’s talk about Tang’s largest equity stakes as of the end of 2014. On the first place is Heron Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:HRTX), where Mr. Tang serves as a board director. In its latest 13F filing, Tang Capital reported ownership of around 4.92 million shares of the company, valued at $49.49 million. The fund first disclosed shares of Heron Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:HRTX) in its 13F for the first quarter of 2014, initially holding around 4.41 million shares. Overall, the stock of the $249 biopharmaceutical company gained around 13% during the last year. Also, at the beginning of 2014, Heron Therapeutics changed its name from A.P. Pharma and conducted a 1-for-20 reverse stock split aimed to increase its share price. Moreover, its last financial report showed a significant year-on-year increase in revenues to $15 million, from $6.0 million a year ago and the company also narrowed its net loss to $0.66 from $0.80.

Another shareholder of Heron Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:HRTX) is Kevin Kotler‘s Broadfin Capital, which reported ownership of 2.81 million shares, held as of the end of June. Venrock Healthcare Capital Partners, an investor that focuses entirely on biotech stocks, also disclosed ownership of around 1.1 million shares.