Volume Spike Investor

United Therapeutics (NASDAQ: UTHR) is down sharply this morning on news that the company’s pulmonary arterial hypertension product failed to meet its primary objectives.  The company did say this will merit ongoing studies and Eli Lilly (NYSE: LLY) has licensed the rights to UTHR for $150 million in an equity stake.

UTHR is trading down sharply on active volume this morning.  As of 8:34 AM EST we have seen over 400,000 shares trade hands, and the last print was down a sharp 29% at $63.70.

Average volume on a normal day is about 660,000 shares, so it is likely that we will see an average day’s worth of trading volume occur even before the opening bell.  This is a new 52-week low as teh prior 52-week trading range was $72.55 to $117.82.

JON OGG
NOV. 17, 2008