Biotech Values

[DewDiligence]

Insider-trading trial against Medivation executive tests_the_definition_of_the_term:

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/sec-tests-insider-trading-theory-000517436

The civil trial that began Monday in San Francisco will answer the novel question of whether buying or selling another company’s stock based on specialized industry knowledge constitutes insider trading.

… Securities traders and lawyers are closely watching the San Francisco case of Matthew Panuwat, the SEC’s first attempt to pursue so-called shadow trading. It also underscores how Congress has never explicitly defined insider trading, leaving courts to decide when the SEC oversteps its authority.

… Seven minutes after receiving an August 2016 email from Medivation’s CEO that said Pfizer Inc. was interested in acquiring it, Panuwat invested more than $117,000, or almost half of his annual salary, on call options in rival Incyte Corp., according to the agency.

Pfizer announced the $14 billion Medivation deal days later. By taking one mid-cap biopharma company off the market, the deal made Incyte a more valuable acquisition target, the SEC alleged in its suit against Panuwat.