Arena Pharmaceuticals Plunges Then Recovers

Shares of Arena Pharmaceuticals

plunged at the open on Friday. The stock has been red hot as a FDA decision on its obesity drug Lorcaserin looms. The stock had been trading up in the pre-market, but came off of its highs near the open. After falling slightly to begin trading, ARNA shares suddenly plunged on extremely heavy volume falling as low as $7.80 after opening the day at $11.96, representing a loss of nearly 35%. The stock has since recovered strongly, however, and was last trading down just 5.40% to $11.05. It is unclear what caused the plunge in the stock, but this pattern has been seen before in other biotech names leading up to FDA decisions. Arena Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Arena) is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on discovering, developing and commercializing oral drugs that target G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs), in four therapeutic areas: cardiovascular, central nervous system, inflammatory and metabolic diseases.