Corcept Therapeutics: Pump Up the Volume

MENLO PARK, Calif. (TheStreet) -- Corcept Therapeutics (CORT) shares rallied sharply higher Tuesday on heavy volume after the company said it plans raise about $18 million by selling stock and options to institutional investors.

Corcept Therapeutics said it has agreed to sell an aggregate of up to approximately 12.6 million units for $1.43 per unit. Each unit consists of one share of common stock and one warrant to purchase 0.35 shares of common stock at a per share exercise price of $1.66.

Corcept said it intends to use the net proceeds from the offering to fund the completion of enrollment in its Phase 3 trial of its Corlux drug for the treatment of Cushing's Syndrome and the submission of its Cushing's Syndrome NDA, as well as for general corporate purposes, including working capital.

Corcept Therapeutics shares were jumping by 30 cents, or 21.7%, to $1.68. Earlier in the session, the stock touched an intraday and new 52-week high of $2. More than 372,000 shares changed hands by 3:30 p.m. EDT Tuesday, compared to the stock's 50-day average daily volume of 19,000, according to the Nasdaq.

Corcept, which develops drugs to treat severe metabolic and psychiatric disorders, has a 10.8 million-share float with only 2,910 shares short as of Sept. 10, according to Yahoo! Finance. More than 65% of the company's shares are held by insiders with another 4.6% owned by institutions.

Read more about today's high-volume stocks in earlier "Pump Up the Volume" posts.

-- Written by Robert Holmes in New York.