WSJ Article on Warp Speed
The market for small biotechs working on coronavirus treatments is so hot that sometimes all it takes is a whisper to send a stock soaring.
So it was with CytoDyn Inc. , which climbed more than 20% after a former adviser told television host Dr. Drew Pinksy on Thursday that he thought the company would move forward with a federal-government program aimed at fast- tracking virus treatments.
CytoDyn isn't being considered for the program, known as Operation Warp Speed, according to a senior administration official.
Yet in the quick-punch world of retail investing, the video clip of the former adviser, Bruce Patterson , has already gone viral. Investors who closely follow the company shared it on social media and message boards, including Investors Hub, a forum popular with penny-stock traders. Shares of CytoDyn rallied 13% to $3.43 a share on Friday, notching the company's biggest daily gain in about a month, before rising another 12% on Monday.
CytoDyn Shares have plateaued since then, declining a more than 2% over the last two trading sessions.
Operation Warp Speed is a federal initiative to accelerate the development and manufacturing of drugs and vaccines for Covid-19, which has claimed more than 175,000 lives in the U.S. Through the program, the government has given funding to companies such as Moderna Inc. , Novavax Inc. and Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc.
The senior administration official said CytoDyn had only completed a preliminary qualification for being included in the initiative. The Vancouver, Wash ., company had submitted information through a so-called CoronaWatch, a program run by the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority , or Barda, to assess the viability of drugs and therapeutics that might be effective against Covid-19, the official said. Technical experts reviewed the submission and opted not to proceed further at this time, the official added.
The team responsible for reviewing the materials makes clear to companies that submissions are for informational purposes only and don't lead to funding on their own, the official added. Companies must apply to specific grant programs to receive funding, the official said, which CytoDyn hasn't done at this time.
Dr. Patterson told The Wall Street Journal that he helped arrange an initial exchange of information between CytoDyn and Barda. He hadn't been involved in further discussions, he said.
CytoDyn declined to comment on the exchange or on any communication with Operation Warp Speed.
" CytoDyn received an email. I received an email from Operation Warp Speed. So yes they are aware of it," Dr. Patterson said in the video. "And I think we'll move forward with them."
The company hired Dr. Patterson as an adviser, in addition to hiring his company, IncellDx, to provide diagnostic services. CytoDyn and Dr. Patterson said his tenure as a consultant ended in May. CytoDyn also no longer uses Dr. Patterson's company for diagnostic services.
An April securities filing disclosed that Dr. Patterson was a CytoDyn shareholder.
In the interview with the Journal, Dr. Patterson said he never received paperwork regarding his ownership in CytoDyn . "I've gotten little to no paperwork regarding that," he said. "I don't think of it as real."
On the question of Dr. Patterson's share ownership, Arian Colachis , CytoDyn's general counsel, pointed to the April filing.
"The document speaks for itself, and we have no further comment," she said.
Write to Michael Wursthorn at Michael.Wursthorn@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
08-26-20 1145ET
Copyright (c) 2020 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
The market for small biotechs working on coronavirus treatments is so hot that sometimes all it takes is a whisper to send a stock soaring.
So it was with CytoDyn Inc. , which climbed more than 20% after a former adviser told television host Dr. Drew Pinksy on Thursday that he thought the company would move forward with a federal-government program aimed at fast- tracking virus treatments.
CytoDyn isn't being considered for the program, known as Operation Warp Speed, according to a senior administration official.
Yet in the quick-punch world of retail investing, the video clip of the former adviser, Bruce Patterson , has already gone viral. Investors who closely follow the company shared it on social media and message boards, including Investors Hub, a forum popular with penny-stock traders. Shares of CytoDyn rallied 13% to $3.43 a share on Friday, notching the company's biggest daily gain in about a month, before rising another 12% on Monday.
CytoDyn Shares have plateaued since then, declining a more than 2% over the last two trading sessions.
Operation Warp Speed is a federal initiative to accelerate the development and manufacturing of drugs and vaccines for Covid-19, which has claimed more than 175,000 lives in the U.S. Through the program, the government has given funding to companies such as Moderna Inc. , Novavax Inc. and Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc.
The senior administration official said CytoDyn had only completed a preliminary qualification for being included in the initiative. The Vancouver, Wash ., company had submitted information through a so-called CoronaWatch, a program run by the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority , or Barda, to assess the viability of drugs and therapeutics that might be effective against Covid-19, the official said. Technical experts reviewed the submission and opted not to proceed further at this time, the official added.
The team responsible for reviewing the materials makes clear to companies that submissions are for informational purposes only and don't lead to funding on their own, the official added. Companies must apply to specific grant programs to receive funding, the official said, which CytoDyn hasn't done at this time.
Dr. Patterson told The Wall Street Journal that he helped arrange an initial exchange of information between CytoDyn and Barda. He hadn't been involved in further discussions, he said.
CytoDyn declined to comment on the exchange or on any communication with Operation Warp Speed.
" CytoDyn received an email. I received an email from Operation Warp Speed. So yes they are aware of it," Dr. Patterson said in the video. "And I think we'll move forward with them."
The company hired Dr. Patterson as an adviser, in addition to hiring his company, IncellDx, to provide diagnostic services. CytoDyn and Dr. Patterson said his tenure as a consultant ended in May. CytoDyn also no longer uses Dr. Patterson's company for diagnostic services.
An April securities filing disclosed that Dr. Patterson was a CytoDyn shareholder.
In the interview with the Journal, Dr. Patterson said he never received paperwork regarding his ownership in CytoDyn . "I've gotten little to no paperwork regarding that," he said. "I don't think of it as real."
On the question of Dr. Patterson's share ownership, Arian Colachis , CytoDyn's general counsel, pointed to the April filing.
"The document speaks for itself, and we have no further comment," she said.
Write to Michael Wursthorn at Michael.Wursthorn@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
08-26-20 1145ET
Copyright (c) 2020 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
