3 Biotech Stocks Making Big Moves on Drug Data

Biotech stocks are on the move this morning, with several companies revealing upbeat drug trial results -- but not all of the shares are soaring higher. Among the drugmakers making big moves on the charts today are Tonix Pharmaceuticals Holding Corp. (NASDAQ:TNXP), Repros Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:RPRX), and ZIOPHARM Oncology Inc. (NASDAQ:ZIOP).

TNXP is up 9% at $3.16, after announcing positive results in a mid-stage study of its post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) drug, TNX-102 SL. The stock is off 59% year-to-date, however, and has recently been running into trouble at the $3 level, since landing there after its February bear gap. TNXP can't expect much help from the brokerage bunch, though -- all four analysts following the stock already rate it a "strong buy," and the average 12-month price target sits way overhead, at $10.63. Elsewhere, short interest on Tonix Pharmaceuticals Holding Corp. has been falling lately -- down nearly 29% over the last two reporting periods -- but still represents more than six days' worth of trading, at the stock's average daily volume.

RPRX once again reported encouraging data from Proellex -- a treatment for heavy bleeding related to uterine fibroids. The stock is 4.2% higher at $2.24, bringing its year-to-date lead to 85%. However, the shares are quickly approaching their declining 40-week moving average -- a trendline they haven't toppled on a closing basis since September. Analysts, meanwhile, have been rather lackluster toward RPRX, with the two providing coverage both rating Repros Therapeutics Inc merely a "hold." Short interest on the stock has exploded lately, though, up 385% in the past two reporting periods. These bearish bets now account for nearly 11% of RPRX's total float.

ZIOP popped nearly 3% out of the gate, but has since reversed course to trade down 3% at $6.79. The company reported favorable results in an ongoing early stage trial of its gene therapy treatment for glioblastoma -- an aggressive brain cancer -- but also reported that four trial subjects had serious adverse reactions. The shares are now off 18.3% in 2016, with recent rallies off its annual low running into trouble at the 160-day moving average. Analysts are mostly bearish, with four out of five calling the stock a "hold" or strong sell." Plus, short interest accounts for more than one-third of the equity's available float. At ZIOP's typical pace of trading, it would take more than three weeks to buy back all these bearish bets.