That’s not a v shape, it’s a fall off a Grand Canyon red wall and a winch lift back up. Straight down on that first wanger of a drop.
I like the idea of it being done to clear out shorts before a big run but how would MM know about things going on with IPIX! That seems very unlikely. My thinking is it was just a “we do because we can” thing. Or maybe someone placed an order for a million shares and the MMs saw someone with a stop loss down at .18.