Immune Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:IMNP) Finally Bounces

Shares of Immune Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:IMNP) are finally bouncing after being on a downtrend all year. Bottom fishers are waking up to the fact that Immune is a cheap lotto ticket at current levels. We look at IMNP as a great risk/reward play with the upside potentially being several times your money. That's why it's a worthwhile look at these levels.Immune Pharmaceuticals describes itself as "a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company specializing in the development and commercialization of novel targeted therapeutics in the fields of immuno-inflammation and immuno-oncology. The company focuses on a precision medicine approach to treatment of diseases by incorporating methods for better patient selection in its clinical trials and the potential for development of companion diagnostics. The company's immuno-inflammation product pipeline includes: bertilimumab, a clinical-stage first-in-class fully human antibody, targeting eotaxin-1, a key regulator of immuno-inflammation, a portfolio of clinical-stage immune oncology products and NanoCyclo, a topical nanocapsule formulation of cyclosporine-A, for the treatment of atopic dermatitis and psoriasis."The highlight of the recent update was that IMNP executed an exclusive 60-day option with Novel Pain Therapeutics ("NPT") to enter into a worldwide license agreement for AmiKet and AmiKet Nano for the treatment of peripheral neuropathic pain. Upon execution of the license agreement pursuant to agreed material terms in the option, NPT will assume all research and development costs and Immune will be eligible to receive up to $160 million, comprised of an upfront fee of at least $15 million in the form of equity in NPT, up to $25 million in development milestones, and up to $120 million in commercial milestones, as well as product sales royalties. Immune will also be eligible to receive 25% and up to 50% of sublicense fees received by NPT.While the news is indeed positive, it's still just a 60-day option and needs to be executed. That's why shares ultimately sold off after the news was announced. The recent bounce has us thinking that the deal may be happening and some in the know are buying in anticipation of the option being executed. Shares also put in a triple bottom at $.20 per share and that signaled to momentum players to pile in and drive the shorts to cover their positions.In terms of the first quarter results, Immune reported a loss attributable to common stockholders of $6.0 million, or $0.17 per share, for the quarter ended March 31, 2016, compared to a loss attributable to common stockholders of $3.6 million, or $0.15 per share, for the quarter ended March 31, 2015. R&D expenses increased by $0.9 million, due to higher salaries and employee benefits, license fees and clinical trial expenses. Salaries and employee benefits increased due to higher R&D employee head count for the three months ended March 31, 2016 compared with the three months ended March 31, 2015.There are two ways to look at the results. Either management is trying to burn through the money or management believes the increase in R&D will pay off. We're betting on the former and think IMNP is closer to some major developments than many are thinking. As CEO Dr Daniel Teper said:

"We are structuring the Company strategically to ensure long term comprehensive financing of our product pipeline and enable focused execution. We continue to progress in our clinical trials with bertilimumab as we increase patient enrollment and we are on track to achieve our operational and financial objectives for 2016."

Currently trading with a market cap of $13 million, IMNP exploded up the charts by over 57% on the highest volume we've seen so far this year. Data from the Phase 2a program in BP is expected later this year. IMNP is continuing to enroll patients in two Phase 2 clinical trials with bertilimumab for the treatment of ulcerative colitis and bullous pemphigoid (BP). A third Phase 2 program in atopic dermatitis is planned for later this year. We will be updating Insider Financial as soon as we know more. For continuing coverage on IMNP, sign up for our free newsletter today and get our next hot stock pick!Disclosure: We have no position in IMNP and have not been compensated for this article.