Spyre Therapeutics Inc. stock plunged more than 12% on Wednesday as investors reacted to large insider stock sales. The decline comes despite the stock being up more than 160% year to date and over 450% over the past year. The insider transactions have weighed on market sentiment following a period of strong performance driven by positive clinical trial results.
Insider Sales Weigh on Sentiment
Fairmount Healthcare Fund II L.P., affiliated with company directors, sold 4,684,781 shares at $85.31 per share on Tuesday, according to an SEC filing. The transaction was valued at approximately $399.7 million. In a separate transaction on Monday, director Michael Thomas Henderson sold 20,000 shares.
Recent Clinical Developments
In June, Spyre Therapeutics shared positive 12-week induction data from Part A of the Phase 2 SKYLINE trial of SPY002 for moderately-to-severely active ulcerative colitis (UC). SPY002 met its primary endpoint with a statistically significant reduction of 10.7 points (p<0.0001) from baseline at Week 12 in Robart’s Histopathology Index (RHI) score. Secondary endpoints included clinical remission by the modified Mayo Score of 33% and endoscopic improvement of 42%.
In April, the clinical-stage biotechnology company released positive results from the Phase 2 SKYLINE trial for SPY001 for UC, which met its primary endpoint with a statistically significant reduction in the Robart’s Histopathology Index score. Soon after the positive trial data, Spyre Therapeutics raised approximately $463.5 million in gross proceeds from a public offering of 7.475 million shares at $62/share.
Technical Signals and Stock Activity
Spyre Therapeutics’ stock is currently showing a strong bullish trend, trading well above its key moving averages. The 20-day SMA is positioned 7.4% above the 50-day SMA, and both the 50-day and 200-day SMAs indicate a solid long-term bullish trend. With the RSI at 60.48, the stock is in neutral territory, suggesting that while momentum is positive, it isn’t yet overbought. The MACD is above its signal line, indicating bullish momentum. Traders should keep an eye on the support level at 68.50, as a drop below this could signal a trend change. Spyre Therapeutics shares were down 11.72% at $85.67 at the time of publication on Wednesday.