A biotech stock run by Martin Shkreli is up more than 100% today
The share price of KaloBios was last up $20.99, or 115%, at $39.24. The stock had hit an intraday high of $45.82.
Just two weeks ago KaloBios looked dead. The company said it was going to wind down operations and discontinue two of the drugs it had been developing.
Late Wednesday night, an investor group led by Turing Pharmaceutical's CEO Martin Shkreli, bought 70%of KaloBios' outstanding shares, sending the stock price up.
Shkreli was then appointed KaloBios CEO.
Shkreli has become a controversial figure in biotech. His company recently bought the rights to Daraprim, which is used to treat toxoplasmosis, a disease caused by a common parasite that can be deadly, especially for those who are immunosuppressed. Almost immediately, Turing increased the price of Daraprim from$13.50 per pill to $750 per pill.
The saga of KaloBios has been a nightmare for the shorts.
It was so bad for one Arizona day trader that he set up a GoFundMe page asking fellow traders to help him pay off a $106,000 debt to E-Trade after his disastrous short.
Here's a five day chart:
