NEW YORK (GenomeWeb News) –Shares of Accelr8 Technologies jumped 18 percent yesterday, though the reasons for the spike are unclear.
The firm issued a statement after the close of the market yesterday saying that its policy is to not comment on "unusual market activity or rumors."
Earlier in the week, the firm reported results of a study using its BACcel system for patients in an intensive care unit at risk of developing pneumonia. Accelr8 said that its system demonstrated 86 percent diagnostic sensitivity and 97 percent specificity in analyzing for the presence of Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Acinetobacter. In addition, the system provided results in 40 to 66 hours faster than culturing.
"This first set of results from an independent prospective clinical study marks tremendous progress in our BACcel development," Accelr8 President David Howson said in a statement. "It establishes a landmark for same-shift multi-bug and multi-drug analysis applied directly to specimens from high-risk ICU patients. It also sets the stage for the next generation of prototype instrument."
Last month, Accelr8 said that its option agreement with Novartis Vaccines and Diagnostics to negotiate the terms of a development pact regarding the BACcel system had been extended to June 30, 2011.
Accelr8's shares closed Thursday at $4.41 on the NYSE Amex, up 18 percent for the day, on very heavy volume. More than 511,000 shares were traded, compared to a three-month average of around 184,000 per day.
Accelr8's stock is up more than four-fold from its closing price of $.99 on the last day of 2010.