Shares of Tesaro Inc (TSRO) have recently traded to new all time highs and are now sitting at $29.40  The shares have now more than doubled since coming public at $13.50 in June of 2012. However, a series of near term challenges to its lead drug candidate could see the shares drop back below $21.00 in coming weeks. The latest leg up for Tesaro has largely been the result of optimism towards Tesaro’s prospects with its cancer drug Niraparib.  Niraparib is a poly...

Shares of TearLab (TEAR) have nearly doubled in 2013, buoyed by a stream of analyst upgrades from small, retail oriented brokerages. However, it now looks as if a near term equity offering will likely take the shares lower. Investment thesis Despite the recent bullish analyst reports, financial performance at TearLab has been consistently very poor. The company’s balance sheet continues to be weak and the company has lost money every year in its history. The...

Disclosure: I am short OPK. (More…) When I first raised the alarm about Ziopharm Oncology (ZIOP), I received death threats and threats of lawsuits from many retail investors. Some of these can still be found posted online. Many retail investors were so enthralled with this “guaranteed winner” that any suggestion to sell by anyone at any price was shouted down as being illegal manipulation. I continue to believe that Ziopharm was a tragedy...

Investment Thesis     ServiceNow insiders have now sold over $400 million of stock even after its IPO, disregarding bullish calls from research firms (who happen to also be its bankers).   On February 1st – the first day of the February lockup expiration – the CEO and the company founder began selling large amounts of stock at below $28.00. In the past 8 weeks a wide range of insiders have now sold over $80 million of stock with no sensitivity to...

  Shares of Ziopharm Oncology (ZIOP) plunged by 64% to $1.82 on Tuesday when it released news that its only late stage drug candidate failed to meet its primary endpoint. For now, there isn’t much of a play except for those who may wish to bet on some further downside. No one can truly predict in advance the outcome of Phase III trials, however with Ziopharm there were a steady stream of clues that investors should be skeptical about its...

  Pacira Pharmaceuticals (PCRX) is an emerging specialty pharma company which in 2012 launched an opiate alternative (“Exparel”) for post surgical pain management. The product is currently approved for use in certain post surgical pain applications including removal of hemorrhoids and bunions. Since the product launch in April 2012, the shares have tripled, enjoying a boost from strong sequential revenue growth along with a surging bull market for...

  Shares of Opko Health (OPK) have risen 65% in the past three months as a string of domestic and international acquisitions, along with a greater collaboration with Bristol Meyers (BMY), has opened up numerous new pathways for the company. Opko’s prospects as a company continue to be bright, however at the current price of around $7.00 the market cap of Opko now exceeds $2 billion. This is in spite of the fact that Opko has recently disclosed that it...