CytRx Rises On Analyst's 'Outperform' Rating

NEW YORK (AP) — Shares of development stage biotechnology company CytRx Corp. jumped Monday after a Rodman & Renshaw analyst began covering the stock with his highest rating.

Simos Simeonidis assigned a "Market Outperform" rating to CytRx stock, along with a price target of $2 per share. That was almost four times the stock's Friday closing price of 54 cents. Simeonidis thinks the company will have several chances to form partnerships for its nerve drug candidates over the next year.

In afternoon trading, shares of Los Angeles-based CytRx rose 15 cents, or 27.9 percent, to 69 cents.

CytRx is testing drugs to treat cancer and degenerative nerve disorders like amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or Lou Gehrig's disease. According to CytRx's Web site, the company is running human tests of five drugs and has completed preclinical testing of another group of compounds. Simeonidis said that gives the company a variety of partnership opportunities, which will allow it to continue testing and gain additional funds.

Until then, he said a leukemia drug candidate called tamibarotene could aid CytRx's transition into a commercial biotechnology company. CytRx is currently conducting midstage tests of tamibarotene.

Shares of CytRx have traded between 23 cents and $1.01 over the last year. About 2 million shares changed hands by Monday afternoon. Over the last 100 days, average volume for the stock was around 298,000 shares per day.

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