Biodel stock drops despite positive PhII insulin data

After big gains in its stock price, Biodel ($BIOD) shares slipped more than 20% this morning on the back of mid-stage trial results for its fast-acting, mealtime insulin candidate. TheStreet's Adam Feuerstein pinned a "me-too" tag on the experimental product, noting that the most distinguishing factor of Biodel's BIOD-123 was the 14% of diabetic subjects who complained about injection aches compared with 1.5% of those getting Eli Lilly's ($LLY) Humalog. And there was very little to distinguish the efficacy of the experimental and marketed products. Yet he also commented that some of the drop in the stock's price could be a result of trading dynamics in a heated market for biotech stocks. "Now, to be fair to Biodel, the stock had already doubled in value this year, with most of the gains coming this summer in anticipation of the BIOD-123 study results," he wrote. "Still, the lack of a follow through is a disappointment and likely reflects investor ambivalence about the ultimate commercial potential of BIOD-123." Article