SuperGen reinvented through a merger, Dacogen continues to fill the merged company's coffers. I'll admit, pick #2 is miles south of my #1 pick, but whenever I see a company better itself the way Astex has, it has my attention. Astex is cash-flush bar few. As investors know, Dacogen is up before the FDA as a supplemental new drug for Acute Myeloid Leukemia in early March; I think the odds are good that it will be approved.
I still think the way forward for Astex is to in-license a late stage phase 3 drug, or do the unthinkable, merge again with another late-stage phase 3 biotech firm. I suggested Cel-Sci (CVM) for Multikine for head and neck cancer as that company is running out of money; of course, some think TEVA (TEVA) will step in and save the day. With $100 million in cash, Astex is more of a need for a business partnership then another drug in its pipeline. The right decision could jerk the share price out of the low $2/share price range and put the company on the center stage of plus $5/share stocks many institutions would then buy into.
There's no way Astex should have dipped to $1.51/share on 30 November 2011 and since then the stock closed Friday at $2.15/share. Once over $3/share in 2011, I see it slowly moving back into that range if not higher should management better the company's strategic business plan.
Astex's volume is ~350M shares/day, so I'm inclined to think it's a low-flier among biotechs. Just remember: there is going to be a run-up to the FDA decision and a post-FDA reaction. The opportunity to get in could be influenced by the FDA decision date.
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