InVivo Therapeutics (OTC:NVIV) shares soared more than 40% this week after Arizona doctors confirmed they had treated the 1st patient in a study of the company’s experimental bio-scaffolding device for acute spinal cord injuries.
The stock, which began the week at around $1 a share, hit $1.43 Nov. 12, the day after researchers released the update. InVivo shares closed at $1.34 apiece today.
InVivo shares have had a rocky ride this year. The stock hit a 52-week high of $2.60 in late February, but slid to a 52-week low of 50¢ by late September. Shares began rebounding in mid-October, when the company announced the enrollment of its 1st spinal-cord injury patient in an investigational device exemption study.
Doctors revealed the identity of the 1st patient, Jordan Fellis, a 25-year-old Arizonan who sustained a severe spinal-cord injury in a dirt-bike accident last month. News outlets also ran interviews with Fellis, who said he was hopeful the device would help him walk again.
In a separate announcement InVivo said it named former Genzyme Biosurgery executive Ann Merrifield to its board. Merrifield was most recently CEO of biotech firm PathoGenetix. She is also a former partner of investment group Bain & Co.
InVivo shares have roller-coastered since the August 2013 resignation of the company’s chairman and chief executive officer, Francis Reynolds, due to health reasons. That announcement was followed a few days later by news that the company’s IDE study for its spinal-scaffolding product would take longer than expected. InVivo has since sued Reynolds over $500,000 in allegedly "personal and/or exorbitant expenses."