Why PTC Therapeutics Inc. Shares Took Off

Although we don't believe in timing the market or panicking over market movements, we do like to keep an eye on big changes -- just in case they're material to our investing thesis.

What: Shares of PTC Therapeutics , a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing oral, small-molecule drugs targeted at genetic disorders, exploded to the upside by as much as 11% after receiving positive commentary from research firm Credit Suisse.

So what: According to comments from Credit Suisse following the positive recommendation that PTC Therapeutics received on translarna from the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use in Europe, the firm expects PTC to launch its drug in the EU by the second half of this year. Credit Suisse also sees blockbuster potential for translarna, a treatment for nonsense mutation Duchenne muscular dystrophy (nmDMD), and continues to rate the company as an "outperform" with a $40 price target. Credit Suisse's price target implies up to 81% upside to PTC Therapeutics' shares.

Now what: Let's keep in mind that there's still a two or three month review process to be undertaken here by the European Medicines Agency on translarna, and that it will still need to run a broader phase 3 trial where other high-profile DMD therapies have failed to impress previously. However, based on its phase 2b results, which demonstrated a 31.3 meter benefit in the six-minute-walk distance (6MWD) test relative to the placebo, and an even more noticeable 6MWD benefit in patients who were unable to walk at least 350 meters at the start of trials, it looks promising that translarna will indeed be the very first FDA-approved nmDMD therapy. This could present an intriguing investment opportunity for investors, especially if shares pull back from their recent run.