Indevus soars on drug, hedge fund news

Just days after winning regulatory approval for the manufacture and marketing of its cancer therapy for bladder cancer, Indevus Pharmaceuticals Inc. disclosed that a North Carolina hedge fund has acquired 8.5 percent of its common stock.

Lexington, Mass.-based Indevus made the announcements via regulatory filings late Friday and early Monday with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

On Friday, the company said the U.S. Food and Drug Administration had approved its supplemental new drug application for Valstar, a therapy that aims to treat bladder cancer through an injectable technology.

Valstar was first approved by the FDA in 2002, however design as well as manufacturing issues have prevented Indevus from marketing the drug in the United States since 2002.

Indevus said it intends to market Valstar during the second half of this year.

Meanwhile, Indevus (Nasdaq: IDEV) disclosed Monday that Black Horse Capital, an activist hedge fund based in Charlotte, N.C., had acquired roughly 6.9 million shares of its common stock on Feb. 17. The filing was also made with the SEC.

Black Horse’ stake was worth roughly $37 million as of early trading Monday. At around $5.44 a share, Indevus’ stock is up nearly 74 percent year-to-date.