MORRISVILLE, N.C. – The panic in selling of Trimeris shares eased on Monday, but the price of the pharmaceutical firm’s stock still fell another 2 percent.
Following announcement of management changes and ending of a product relationship with Roche on Thursday, Trimeris was rocked on Friday as its stock plummted 29 percent to close at $7.12.
On Monday, Trimeris (NASDAQ: TRMS) dropped 14 cents to close at $6.98. That’s less than half the stock’s 52-week high of $14.18. More than 865,000 shares traded hands, nearly four times the average daily total.
Several analysts cut their rating for Trimeris on Thursday and Friday. helping ignite a frenzy in trading. Nearly 4.4 million shares were traded. Typically trading volume is 211,000 shares a day.
Trimeris sells in conjunction with Roche an AIDS drug called Fuzeon, and Trimeris did for the first time report a profitable year on Thursday in its annual earnings report. However, news that co-founder and chief executive officer Dani Bolognesi would retire effective Friday overshadowed the positive earning news. Robert Bonczek, the chief financial officer, also is retiring.
