$PTGX call prices surge 6-fold

Option traders are scoring big profits on upside positions opened in Protagonist Therapeutics Inc (PTGX) only three weeks ago.

On Sep. 21, Market Rebellion’s Unusual Activity Service found that 5,500 January $20 calls were bought as part of a complex bullish spread for $2.50 to $2.65 above the existing open interest of 126 contracts with shares at $14.98.

Those calls have traded up to $17.00 this session, about 6 times their purchase prices. The stock rose 139.79% in the same time frame, illustrating the kind of leverage that can be achieved with options.

Long calls lock in the price where a stock can be purchased, gaining with a rally and providing leverage to the underlying shares. The contracts can quickly lose value if the stock stalls or pulls back but also carry less risk than owning the shares themselves.

PTGX was last higher this session by 95.73% at $35.70. The biopharmaceutical company announced this morning that the U.S. FDA has removed the full clinical hold on the company’s rusfertide clinical studies, that was announced on September 17.