MannKind, Celsion shares skyrocket before TASE delisting

Mannkind execs open TASE trading
Mannkind execs open TASE trading

The shares have nevertheless not made up the ground lost in the two years during which they were listed on the TASE.

The share prices of MannKind Corporation (Nasdaq: MNKD) and Celsion, two US medical companies, have more than doubled in recent days, just before their scheduled delisting from the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange (TASE). The prices of the two shares plummeted shortly after being listed on the TASE, from which they will now be delisted. Needless to say, these sharp rises do not offset the heavy losses suffered by investors in the two shares since they were first listed for trading on the TASE in late 2015, when the companies took advantage of a loophole in the TASE Rules and Regulations that enabled them to enter the local indices and boost demand for their shares, and also to raise capital.

Neither of the two companies has any connection with Israel, and they took little notice of Israeli investors during the time they were listed on the TASE. The two shares will be dropped from the TASE indices on October 16. The last day on which Celsion's share will be traded on the TASE will be November 2, while MannKind had not yet announced on what date it will delisted. The rises in the two company's share prices are unrelated to their looming delisting; they are a result of trading on Nasdaq, and were sparked by recent reports by the two companies. The share price of MannKind is down 9.4% today, after rising by no less than 137% yesterday, boosting the company's market cap to NIS 1.8 billion. The share price is still 75% lower than it was when it was first listed on the TASE two years ago.

MannKind's share surged following the company's announcement that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) had agreed that MannKind's product would be recognized as "rapid-acting" insulin absorbed more quickly in the patient's body.

At the same time, MannKind also announced the conversion of bonds into shares, thereby removing a restriction accompanying the original bonds that barred the company from raising more than $10 million. MannKind can now utilize a $50 million ATM, which will probably lower the share price gradually, but is also likely to help the company reduce its $167 million debt, including $80 million to the Mann group (the controlling shareholder in MannKind), $28 million in convertible shares, and the rest to the Deerfield fund.

The share of Celsion, which is developing a cancer treatment drug, has risen 122% in two days, following announcement of success in a clinical trial. The share is up 2.14% today.

Published by Globes [online], Israel Business News - www.globes-online.com - on October 9, 2017

© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd. 2017

Mannkind execs open TASE trading
Mannkind execs open TASE trading
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