Shares of Prima BioMed Limited (ASX: PRR) have almost tripled in price during today's session in what has been an extraordinary week for the biotechnology junior.
After having risen by as much as 245% to a high of 19 cents earlier this morning, the stock has since fallen back to 15.5 cents. At that price, it is trading 181.82% higher than yesterday's closing price, while it is up more than 604% since Monday.
To put that in perspective, if you had $10,000 worth of shares on Monday, your stake would now be worth a whopping $70,400.
Source: Yahoo! Finance
The stock, which now boasts a market value of $133 million, according to Google Finance, has been on a tear since it revealed the promising results of its ovarian cancer clinical trial earlier in the week.
The final CVac data from the Phase II CAN-003 trial showed that the treatment could add "at least 16 months" to the median survival rate for second remission patients treated with CVac. While the company acknowledged that it was "most encouraging" for cancer patients in second remission, it also stated that it would focus on finding a development partner to make the treatment widely available.
In addition, the company has raised $15 million to fund the development of two new clinical trials, while it may soon tap shareholders for another $5 million.
Given the enormity of the stock's ascent this week, it is vital that investors remain alert to the dangers of investing in companies like Prima BioMed. Should further trials succeed, Prima BioMed's shares could climb significantly higher, but as has been demonstrated by some of the largest companies in the sector recently, including Sirtex Medical Limited (ASX: SRX) and ResMed Inc. (CHESS) (ASX: RMD), poor trial results can lead to enormous losses.
Prima BioMed is by no means for the faint of heart, but could be one worth considering for a small, speculative, position within your portfolio should it fall back in price in the future.
