Glaxo Acquires Sirtris...Shorts Slaughtered
Looks like a large amount of Shorts are taking it on the chin with GSK Acquiring Sirtis........ bodes well for the smaller Biotechs with active Clinical Programs. Yup. Like Transition.
Almost 7 1/2% of Sirtis Outstanding Shares were Shorted!! 2,142,268 of the 29 Million Outstanding. With a 17 Day to Cover Ratio to boot.......Yikes!!
Glaxo is paying $22.50 (an 80% Premium) to acquire all the outstanding shares of Sirtis which closed today around $12.50...... https://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=185399&p=irol-newsArticle_print&ID=1133582 .....goes to show you though that its a Risky Business shorting a perfectly good Co. like Transition Therapeutics or Sirtris these days!!
I'd hazard a guess that Hugh Cleland (the self described prolific Shorter) & his NR Funds got caught in this one for sure!! Well we can hope so anyways. Would serve him right.
In this current environment with Big Pharma's Pipelines drying up faster than they can replenish them from their own Internal sources, theres bound to be many many more Definitive Acquisition Agreements of this sort.
Even though the $720 Million that GSK got SIRT for is below my own estimates of what TTHI would go for in about 8 or 9 months, it is still interesting to note that it would equate to about $31 /share. I know it's a completely different Scenario......BUT from what I can see Transition has more Indications available for it's current Clinical Drugs and more Pre-Clinical Drugs with multiple Indications in their back pocket than Sirtris does potentially generating multiple clinically and commercially important products as well.
Check out this article by Lisa Springer..... https://www.smallcapinvestor.com/articles/04092008-sector_watch_an_apple_or_pill_a_day .....was she way off on her valuations HEY!!....... $17 Target for SIRT which just went up to $22.50 2 weeks after. Her call is for $18 for Transition and I'd say she's just as far off as she was with Sirtris plus even more.
Not only that I had to email the Editor to get the article changed to reflect up to date Clinical Developments for TT223 SA and 2 other mistakes two times!! It was changed very very quickly however reflecting, I suppose, their desire to report the up to date facts........