Curis, PharmAthene: Midday Volume Plays

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Several stocks trading near $5 were moving on above-average volume during Friday's session.

Curis (CRIS) dropped by 59 cents, or 19.9%, to $2.37 after the drug company priced a registered direct offering of 6.45 million units at a price of $2.52 a unit for gross proceeds of $15.26 million before fees and expenses. Each unit consists of one share of common stock and a warrant to buy 0.25 of a share at an exercise price of $3.55 per share. Volume topped 1.81 million shares, compared to the 50-day average daily volume of 409,000, according to the Nasdaq.

IsoRay (ISR) declined by 36 cents, or 22.8%, to $1.22, retracing some of Thursday's 92% rally. On Thursday, after the company announced that a patient with colorectal cancer tolerated the first Cesium-131(Cs-131) implant well and had no evidence of cancer recurrence or any side effects that can be attributed to the implant at the last follow-up visit. Volume topped 1.34 million shares, compared to the three-month average daily volume of 229,000, according to Yahoo! Finance.

Lodgian (LGN) jumped by 67 cents, or 38%, to $2.45 after an affiliate of Lone Star Funds agreed to acquire the hotel operator for $2.50 in an all-cash deal worth $270 million. Volume topped 979,000 shares, compared to the three-month average daily volume of 18,000.

PharmAthene (PIP) rallied by 15 cents, or 8.7%, to $1.88 in the absence of any company-specific news Friday. Earlier this month, the biodefense company said that the Biomedical Advance Research and Development Authority, or BARDA, has intentions to negotiate a contract modification for continued development of its recombinant protective rPA anthrax vaccine candidate, SparVax. PharmAthene said that it would submit a proposal to BARDA by Feb. 1 for funding to advance the rPA vaccine program to the stage of a procurement solicitation. Volume topped 1.66 million shares, compared to the three-month average daily volume of 629,000.

-- Written by Robert Holmes in Boston.

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