The FDA just rejected Teva Pharmaceuticals’ marketing application for its schizophrenia treatment

The actions of Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd (NYSE:TEVA) are down 3.3% to $9.84 this morning following news that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has sent a letter rejecting the company’s marketing application for its treatment of schizophrenia. Teva said it is currently reviewing its next steps and plans to work closely with the FDA as it considers their options. The treatment was created in partnership with French pharmaceutical developer MedinCell (MEDCL), whose work is also making headlines.

Despite today’s decline, however, TEVA is still a relative outperformer on the charts. The stock has managed to add around 27% in 2022, although today’s decline will take it even lower from recent pressure at its year-over-year breakeven. The stock recently broke a former rejection level at the 320-day moving average after an opioid settlement helped it climb the charts in mid-March, and that trendline could still serve as a floor. in the future.

Analysts remained bearish on Teva stock, even after Bernstein has changed his tone late last month. Of the 12 covers, 10 call it a “hold” or worse, versus two “strong buy” ratings. Additionally, the 12-month consensus price target of $10.81 is a slim 6.2% premium to last night’s close.

Futures options traders have been a lot heavier than usual lately. This is Schaeffer’s TEVA put/call open interest ratio (SOIR) of 0.87, which is above 96% of last year’s readings.