Sequenom Stock Now the Plaything of Rumors

Recommended Sources

About Pharma Industry

BNET Pharma provides daily industry trends and news coverage with insights for managers and executives about major manufacturers of pharmaceuticals and medicine. In addition to detailed drug company profiles, we bring you industry analysis on new partnerships, drug patents and products, cost management, investments, pharmaceutical related lawsuits, and a host of other important business issues.

It will be interesting to see what happens to Sequenom (SQNM)’s stock on Monday when the markets open again. The troubled company left observers with a Thanksgiving mystery on Wednesday and Friday: Why would its shares jump from $3.20 to $4.20 on no news whatsoever? And who would buy stock in this basket-case of a company?

Back story: The former vp/commercial development has been accused of insider trading; and it axed seven members of its management after the board found they had presided over corruption of the data for its Down Syndrome diagnostic test, T21/SEQureDx.

With the company a long way from producing any earnings on T21, the proper reaction from investors should be to sigh, shake your head and look elsewhere. But no. Crazy day traders are all over it:

“I am gambling with this one. I am hoping the mishandlings in the Trisomy 21 test were due to incompetent oversight, rather than inadequate science.”

That’s the most sensible take. Here’s a bigger gamble, via the Barron’s blog:

Sequenom (SQNM), the genetic research firm whose senior management resigned in September when flawed test data was confirmed for its therapies, is falling 8%, to $4.09, after running up 40% yesterday on no apparent news. Speculation has run high since the management implosion that the company is a takeover target.

And wilder still:

… investors may have been speculating that the diagnostics company will soon release positive data regarding its prenatal Down syndrome test …

Dream on. As the company said on its last investor call, there’s no specific date for that.

Tags: Stock, Data Corruption, Investor, Investment, Financial Accounting, Finance, Jim Edwards

Jim Edwards, a former managing editor of Adweek, has covered drug marketing at Brandweek for four years, and is a former Knight-Bagehot fellow at Columbia University's business and journalism schools. Follow him on Twitter or send him an email.

BNET User Analysis

Voice your 2cents

Web Buzz:

Crazy Question: What If Sequenom's Down Syndrome Test Doesn't Exist?

BNET Pharma - 15 days 9 hours 44 minutes ago

What if Sequenom (SQNM)’s Down Syndrome test doesn’t exist in any meaningful form? That is the question raised by a lawsuit filed against the company by Xenomics, which licensed a patent for the test to Sequenom and now wants its property — and a bunch of money — back. Download the complaint here. Back story: In September 2009,...
Did Sequenom Insiders Sell Stock Before Data Corruption Was Revealed?

BNET Pharma - 91 days 10 hours 13 minutes ago

Just when you think it can't get any worse at Sequenom (SQNM), it does: Three employees sold stock in the company before it was discovered that the
Sequenom: The Case for the Defense ...

BNET Pharma - 13 days 10 hours 47 minutes ago

A recent post on the ongoing troubles at Sequenom (SQNM) — in which I noted that the company has been sued by one of its partners, claiming it “has no real non-invasive testing for Down Syndrome” — really stirred the hornets’ nest. While I’m happy for day-traders to spend their time on the Yahoo stock message boards trying to make...
Sequenom Settlement Offers Clues to What Went Wrong Last Year

BNET Pharma - 22 days 15 hours 50 minutes ago

Forget 'What are your strengths and weaknesses?' If you want to get the real dope on prospective employees, ask job candidates these seven questions. Talking with your parents about their estate is important to protect your family’s finances, but the conversation can be difficult at best. Here's what you need to ask and how to...
Things Can Get Even Worse for Sequenom

Seeking Alpha - 12 days 22 hours 10 minutes ago

Now here's a weird one. The San Diego diagnostics company Sequenom (SQNM) came up with a non-invasive test for Down's Syndrome, and sold it to another outfit, Xenomics, for development. But late last year, things unraveled spectacularly. In April, Sequenom announced that there were problems with the test and announced that it had launched an...