The next stock to review is Tranzyme, Inc. (TZYM). 2012 is a year this company wants to forget after suffering not one, but two drug failures in the course of a month. As a result the stock shed 75% of its value. The first piece of bad news came in November when the first of two Phase 2 trials did not meet its primary endpoint. In December the company reported that its was also stopping its Phase IIb trial after finding it too was no better than the placebo. As of today shares of Tranzyme are trading under 60c with an implied market cap of $15m with $20m in cash and no debt. The company's pipeline is comprised of two preclinical stage compounds, TZP-201, a motilin agonist for chemotherapy-induced diarrhea, and TZP-301, a ghrelin antagonist for the treatment of metabolic diseases. Tranzyme's product candidates were discovered using its proprietary chemistry technology platform, MATCH™, which enables the construction of synthetic libraries of drug-like, macrocyclic compounds in a predictable and efficient manner. MATCH™ is a proven technology capable of finding candidate macrocycle molecules independent of target type or disease area. It is this technology that makes Tranzyme an interesting play here. In January they announced the successful completion of a chemistry-based drug discovery collaboration with Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMY). As a result of the joint research efforts, Tranzyme transferred compounds to Bristol-Myers Squibb for further development across multiple drug targets. Bristol-Myers Squibb is responsible for completing preclinical and clinical development of all products arising from the collaboration, and for their commercialization globally. Total milestone payments under the agreement, excluding royalties and sales milestones, could reach up to approximately $80 million for each target program. This could prove to be a very lucrative deal for Tranzyme in the coming months and years as new drugs are developed. Each new drug could be worth up to $80m and Tranzyme does not have to spend a dime of its cash developing! A look at the chart here shows a breakout at 61c with an upside potential of 50-75%. Tranzyme has been consolidating for tow months now like Peregrine did and may be ready for its bad news bounce now.
