Organovo Holdings Inc Pops On Positive Liver Study Results

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Organovo Holdings Inc (NYSEMKT:ONVO) said in a regulatory filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission today that “a key opinion leader” has presented positive results from “a collaborative study.” The 3D tissue printing company said its scientists worked with the Roche Innovation Center Basel. Dr. Adrian Roth from Roche showed off the results at the 3D Cell Culture 2014 conference in Germany on Wednesday.

After the release of the regulatory filing, shares of Organovo rose as much as 10%.

Details on Organovo’s results

The company said the study showed that its 3D liver system could tell the difference between a known toxin that causes liver problems and “a close chemical analogue that is known to be non-toxic. Organovo Holdings Inc (NYSEMKT:ONVO) also reported that their liver tissue was able to detect the toxic at “physiologically relevant doses.” This is a different finding than previous studies using the same compounds with other liver tissue systems.

Organovo on track

Organovo said it is on track to follow the timelines it previously announced. The company still plans to launch its 3D Human Liver Tissue by the end of this year. Organovo started signing contracts in April so that it could make its liver tissue technology “available” for clients with “specific testing needs in their preclinical drug discovery programs.”

The 3D printing company also said it is currently “in discussions for additional customers for near-term needs in a limited initial release” of its liver tissue service.

Organovo crushes short sellers

Today Organovo Holdings Inc (NYSEMKT:ONVO)’s trading volume has gone through the roof after the positive news. As of this writing, more than 3 million shares have changed hands. The average daily volume is currently closer to 965,000 shares.

Historically, short interest in Organovo has been fairly high. Short sellers are probably hurting today though after the company’s gains. As of June 16, more than 16 million shares were sold short. It would have taken about 15.6 days to cover that short position. The question now is whether today’s news was enough to trigger a short squeeze.

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