Ed Lin

Company insiders recently bought up two beaten-down biotech stocks.

Nuvation Bio and Ardelyx stock are both down 27% so far this year. The shares have generally been on downtrends for years; since the end of 2020, Nuvation stock has plunged 83% while Ardelyx stock is down 43%.

David Hung, founder, president, and CEO of Nuvation, paid $893,500 on June 16 for 500,000 shares, an average price of $1.79 each. He now owns 59.3 million shares, according to a form Hung filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Hung owns more than 25% of Nuvation's shares outstanding.

Nuvation didn't make Hung available for comment, and the company also declined to comment.

Hung last bought Nuvation stock in April, paying $820,220 over April 4 and 7 for a total of 500,000 shares, an average price of $1.64 each.

David Mott, chairman of Ardelyx, paid $1.46 million over June 9 and 16 for a total of 400,000 shares, an average price of $3.66 each. He now owns 2.9 million Ardelyx shares.

Ardelyx didn't make Mott available for comment.

Mott, a private investor through Mott Family Capital, last bought Ardelyx stock in May, paying $329,120 for 100,000 shares, an average price of $3.29 each.

Inside Scoop is a regular Barron's feature covering stock transactions by corporate executives and board members -- so-called insiders -- as well as large shareholders, politicians, and other prominent figures. Due to their insider status, these investors are required to disclose stock trades with the Securities and Exchange Commission or other regulatory groups.

Write to Ed Lin at ed.lin@barrons.com

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June 29, 2025 03:00 ET (07:00 GMT)

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