The U.S.-listed shares of Aslan Pharmaceuticals Ltd. plunged 47% in active afternoon trading on Tuesday, after the Singapore-based biotechnology company's stock offering priced at less than half the previous session's closing price. Trading volume was 7.4 million shares, compared with the full-day average of about 2.1 million shares. The company announced in midday trading Monday that it had commenced a public offering of American Despositary Shares, but did not disclose the number of ADS to be sold or estimate a price. The stock closed Monday at $5.20, a 14-fold rise from the Nov. 13 record closing low of 37 cents, amid upbeat data from studies of its ASLAN004 and ASLAN003 products. Late Monday, the company said its public offering of about 5.1 million ADS priced at $2.50 per ADS, or 52% below Monday's closing price, for expected proceeds of about $12.8 million. All of the ADS in the offering were sold by the company. The stock has run up 71% over the past three months, but was still down 23% year to date. In comparison, the iShares Nasdaq Biotechnology ETF has run up 23% this year and the S&P 500 has climbed 23%.
Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.
