Geron's blood cancer drug, imetelstat, was just granted fast track status by the FDA
Geron Corporation (NASDAQ:GERN) stock is soaring this morning, following an announcement that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted fast track status to the biotech's experimental therapy, imetelstat, used to treat patients with myelofibrosis (MF) -- a type of blood cancer. The firm plans to meet with the FDA by the end of the first quarter of 2020 to determine a regulatory path for the drug in cases of relapsed MF. In response, the penny stock is up 10.7% at $1.47 -- set for its biggest one-day pop since Feb. 4.
Now, GERN is trading back above its 200-day moving average, which kept a lid on the shares in late August and early September, before the stock broke out to a three-month high of $1.65. A pullback from here found support in the $1.30 area, with the equity now boasting a 47% year-to-date gain.
While the stock is still a ways away from closing the massive bear gap it suffered in September of last year, analysts have been extremely bullish. Currently, five call GERN a "buy" or better. Plus, the consensus 12-month target price sits all the way up at $3.90 -- a region the equity hasn't explored since gapping lower.
While short interest has dropped roughly 12% since its July peak, short sellers still have a firm grip on 22.2% of the stock's available float. What's more, its would take over 30 days to buy back the 41.61 shares still sold short at GERN's average pace of trading. This could create short-term tailwinds for the shares, should even more of these pessimistic positions begin to unwind.