Ziopharm Traders Got A Little Too Excited

Volatility struck ZIOPHARM Oncology Inc. ZIOP's stock on Wednesday.

Ziopharm is a biopharmaceutical company that develops and commercializes a portfolio of cancer therapies. The company's management team is currently speaking at the JPM Healthcare Conference, and a presentation will focus on the cancer side of its gene therapy research.

Shares of Ziopharm soared to an intra-day high of $6.39 per share after TheStreet's biotechnology expert Adam Feuerstein tweeted: "BREAKING: $ZIOP CEO tells #JPM17 audience FDA GRANTED THEM END OF PHASE 2 MEETING for Il-12 gene therapy. Grounbreaking regulatory update."

However, investor and traders may have gotten ahead of themselves and bought the stock merely on Feuerstein's mention.

Feuerstein followed up moments later in a second tweet: "Let's be clear. FDA doesn't ‘grant’ meetings w/ drug cos. Meetings w/ drug cos. is routine, even required, part of agency's job. $ZIOP."

Sarcasm

Feuerstein is one of if not the most influential biotechnology pundits. When he tweets, investors and traders listen. And he most certainly has the influence and expertise to move a stock in either direction.

He acknowledged in another tweet that his first remark was indeed sarcastic.

Feuerstein responded to a tweet posted by Twitter user '@sharkbiotech," which read: "the algos thought @adamfeurstein tweet was serious."

The biotech expert responded: "You mean algos can't pick up on sarcasm? So much for computer intelligence."