Small
cap stocks making big moves on Tuesday, January 7, 2014 (as of 12 pm EST)
Epizyme,
Inc. (NASDAQ: EPZM) shares powered 73% higher
to $35.51 on volume of more than 2.4 million shares Tuesday after the clinical
stage biopharmaceutical company announced the achievement of the proof of
concept (POC) milestone in the EPZ-5676 DOT1L inhibitor clinical program,
earning a $25 million payment under the company’s collaboration with Celgene
Corporation. Epizyme is developing EPZ-5676, a small molecule inhibitor of
DOT1L created with Epizyme’s proprietary product platform, for the treatment of
patients with acute leukemia in which the MLL gene is rearranged due to a
chromosomal translocation (MLL-r) or a partial tandem duplication (MLL-PTD).
As
well, shares of Cyan Inc. (NASDAQ: CYNI) slid 28% to $3.75 as the
software company reported that its fourth-quarter revenue may come in lower
than expected.
Verso Paper Corp. (NYSE: VRS) shares,
meanwhile, continued to move higher Tuesday, up 48% to $4.74. On Monday its
stock price skyrocketed 394% after the coated paper maker said it would
buy privately held NewPage Holdings Inc. for $1.4 billion. The combined company
will have annual sales of about $4.5 billion and 11 manufacturing facilities
located in six states. NewPage shareholders will receive $250 million in cash
and $650 million in notes. They will also receive a roughly 20% stake in Verso.
Finally, shares of Plug Power Inc. (NASDAQ: PLUG) shot up 45% to $4.02 on more than 70.3
million shares traded after the company announced that it will develop hydrogen
fuel cell range extenders for 20 FedEx Express electric delivery trucks,
allowing FedEx Express to nearly double the amount of territory the vehicles
can cover with one charge. This $3 million project is funded by the U.S.
Department of Energy (DOE) and includes project partners FedEx Express, Plug
Power and Smith Electric Vehicles.
