Shares of Kala Pharmaceuticals Inc.
KALA,
+38.85%
have rocketed higher in for three-straight sessions, toward a more-than 8-fold gain, since the biopharmaceutical company announced positive news regarding its treatment of persistent corneal epithelial defect (PCED). The stock exploded up 218.4% on Wednesday, after the Food and Drug Administration accepted the investigational new drug (IND) application for the PCED treatment, KPI-012, then rose 99.0% on Thursday. On Friday, the stock shot up 34.4% in midday trading for a three-day gain of 751.8%, putting them on track to close at a 7-month high. The latest exchange data showed that short interest in the stock, which closed at a record low of $3.67 on Dec. 22, has climbed to seven-month high of 101,087 shares as of Dec. 15, or 7.86% of the public float. Kala’s stock is still down 44.8% year to date, while the iShares Biotechnology ETF
IBB,
-1.36%
has slumped 14.9% and the S&P 500
SPX,
-0.70%
has shed 19.8%.