Why Ziopharm (ZIOP) Stock Is Tanking Today
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NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Shares of Ziopharm Oncology (ZIOP) - Get Report are plummeting 22.22% to $4.41 in pre-market trading Friday after a brain cancer patient died from bleeding in the skull soon after being injected with a gene therapy from the biopharmaceutical company.
The Ziopharm patient, who was diagnosed with a recurrent brain tumor, was treated with the company's experimental gene therapy Ad-RTS-hIL-12, TheStreet's Adam Feuerstein reported last night.
The gene therapy, which is supposed to stimulate a tumor-killing immune response, is directly injected into the tumor, Feuerstein noted.
The patient died fifteen days after the injection from an intracranial hemorrhage.
The Boston-based biopharmaceutical company is seeking to develop and commercialize a portfolio of treatments for people with cancer and graft-versus-host-disease.
Separately, TheStreet Ratings Team has a "Sell" rating with a score of D on the stock.
The company's weaknesses can be seen in multiple areas, such as its weak operating cash flow and generally disappointing historical performance in the stock itself.
Recently, TheStreet Ratings objectively rated this stock according to its "risk-adjusted" total return prospect over a 12-month investment horizon. Not based on the news in any given day, the rating may differ from Jim Cramer's view or that of this articles's author.
You can view the full analysis from the report here: ZIOP