The Mesoblast Ltd (ASX: MSB) share price is taking off today.
This will certainly come as welcome news to those bruised shareholders who've held onto the stock during what's been an absolute horror start to the month.
In what looks set to mark the first day of gains for the stock since 19 July, shares in the ASX biotech company are up 11.4% in late morning trade, at 39 cents apiece.
As you can see in the chart above, calling this a horror month is no hyperbole. Even with today's intraday gains factored in the Mesoblast share price is down 66% in August. And investors who bought the stock near market close on 19 July will be nursing losses of 71%.
Ouch!
What's gone so wrong for the Mesoblast share price?
Mesoblast was among 2023's standout performers for the first seven months of the year. Shares were up an impressive 59% year to date when the closing bell rang on 19 July.
The stock then began to slip, and really got into trouble last Friday, 4 August.
That's when Mesoblast exited a trading halt with a very unwelcome announcement.
The company has been attempting to gain United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval for its stem cell therapy, remestemcel-L, for a number of years.
On Friday, investors learned that the FDA was not ready to give the green light for the use of Mesoblast's treatment in the world's top economy, saying it needed more data.
Management said they would press ahead to gain that approval, but investors reacted by sending the Mesoblast share price down 56.9% on the day.
