One Vehicle-Repair Giant and Two Biotech Companies with Clusters of Insider Buying

BioDelivery Sciences International Inc. (NASDAQ:BDSI) also had a cluster of insider buying in the past two weeks. To start with, Director Charles J. Bramlage purchased 8,850 shares last Monday for $2.82 each, lifting his ownership to 28,150 shares. Chief Technology Officer Niraj Vasisht snapped up 1,000 units of common stock on March 18 at $2.80 apiece, which increased his direct ownership stake to 68,420 shares. Director Barry I. Feinberg bought a 10,000-share block on the same day at a weighted average price of $2.74, which is entirely held by the BIF Family Trust. The Director’s trust fund continues to hold a stake of 15,000 shares. Lastly, Ernest R. De Paolantonio, Chief Financial Officer, Secretary and Treasurer, purchased 4,000 shares a day earlier for $2.60 each, boosting his stake to 13,383 shares.

BioDelivery Sciences International is a specialty pharmaceutical company that focuses on the development and commercialization of new applications of approved therapeutics to address unmet medical needs, with a primary focus on pharmaceutical products related to pain management and addiction. The company’s first FDA-approved product, ONSOLIS, as well as its BUNAVAIL and BELBUCAL buccal films, utilize BioDelivery’s proprietary BioErodible MucoAdhesive (BEMA) drug delivery technology. This drug delivery technology represents an erodible polymer film that is applied to the buccal mucosa, the lining inside the cheek. These BEMA films are designed to deliver a dose of drug across the mucous membranes of a patient. BioDelivery Sciences recognized $4.2 million in product sales for 2015, up from only $0.1 million in 2014. The increase entirely reflects the launch of the company’s BUNAVAIL, which obtained FDA approval for the maintenance treatment of opioid dependence in June 2014, in November 2014. BELBUCA, a partial mu-opioid agonist and a treatment for the management of severe pain, received FDA approval in October 2015. Shares of BioDelivery Sciences have lost 78% in the past 52 weeks and are down 38% year-to-date. The number of hedge funds with stakes in the pharmaceutical company declined to 17 from 22 during the December quarter. Steven Boyd’s Armistice Capital had 2.62 million shares of BioDelivery Sciences International Inc. (NASDAQ:BDSI) in its portfolio at the end of 2015.

Disclosure: None