StreetSweeper Shorts Questcor; Investigative Piece Out Next Week

TheStreetSweeper.org, the Website noted for unearthing corporate fraud in public companies across scores of industries has initiated a short position in Questcor Pharmaceuticals QCOR and news of that short trade has shares of the biotech company plunging more than 11% in early afternoon trading. TheStreetSweeper will issue a two-part investigative article on California-base Questcor with the first part scheduled to be released early next week. The first article raises serious questions about the aggressive marketing practices that QCOR has used to generate explosive – but potentially unsustainable – growth in prescriptions for its only drug while the second story further examines QCOR's business practices, while taking a hard look at the leaders who have struck it rich as a result of the company's controversial growth strategy, according to an e-mail issued by TheStreetSweeper. TheStreetSweeper said it "has sold 80,599 shares of QCOR short at an average price of $41.46 a share in anticipation of a future decline in the stock price." Questcor's primary product is H.P. Acthar Gel (repository corticotropin injection), an injectable drug for the treatment of acute exacerbations of multiple sclerosis; infantile spasms in infants and children under two years of age; nephrotic syndrome; and Lupus. Shares of Questcor had risen more than 150% in the past year prior to today, but selling pressure in the stock is intense as volume has reached more than seven times the daily average, forcing the stock below support at $40.