Medicure (
TSX:V.MPH,
Stock Forum), a Winnipeg Manitoba-based biopharmaceutical firm engaged in researching, developing, and commercializing human therapeutics, announced today that in the face of recent trading activity and by request of the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada (“IIROC”), it wanted to comment on the spike in share value that had values up 40%+.
According to the
news release, the company reaffirmed its direction of the past few years as an entity that was exploring its opportunities for growth through acquisition and that presently, the company had one opportunity in particular that it was pursuing that would make it a party of an acquisition, however, there were no assurances that said transaction would take place.
The news that seemed to instigate the sudden explosion in share value came first in the company’s release of its third quarter financial results at the end of the March and then at the end of trading yesterday, the
announcement that the company had appointed top-40-under-40 industry expert and CEO of Knight Therapeutics, Jonathan Ross Goodman.
Goodman was the co-founder of Paladin Labs, which through a carve out for Paladin investors after the company was acquired by ENDO Health Solutions for $1.6 billion, eventually became Knight Therapeutics currently operating with a market cap of $147.9 million.
Goodman’s appointment was taken by many as a precursor to an acquisition citing that
Medicure’s Tax Loss Carry Forwards made them a prime target for a profit-driven entity such as Knight and share values flared up 40% in morning trading. Other took to the bullboards at Stockhouse and countered that
Goodman’s interest is merely a strategic investment based on a strong confidence in the company’s cardio-vascular drug, AGGRASTAT.
Medicure’s news release responding to the increased market activity paused the morning’s ravenous trading and shares deflated somewhat but the action still remains.
Medicure was in the news recently when
the company posted Q3 2014 financial results and share values began climbing at the end of March.
Shares are up 26.67% on the news to $2.66 per share.
Currently there are 12.2m outstanding shares with a market cap of $30.7 million.