Insys Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:INSY) Might Be A Discount At Current Prices

Throughout December last year, Insys Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:INSY) flat lined around $9 a share. Despite continued effort by management to maintain a positive news flow, and in turn, to buoy positive sentiment, the company couldn’t break the $10 a share mark.As the new year rolled in, however, the break came, and a brief early Feb dip, Insys hasn’t looked back. The company now trades for just shy of $11.5, having gained more than 21% since Valentine's day.What's driving the run, and what's next?The recent gains are rooted in a press released put out last Wednesday detailing the company's ongoing CBD program in epilepsy. For those unfamiliar with the program, Insys had carried out what amounts to a safety study for what it refers to as its Cannabidiol Oral Solution. It's targeting a specific type of epilepsy (as a secondary to the safety in this study) and the study, for some patients, drew to completion recently. A number of the patients, however, and we don't have too much info on how many, have expressed a desire to continue receiving the drug, even after the study has finished. What we do have on the numbers front tells us that 53 subjects continued into the long-term safety study, of which 15 subjects have completed 48 weeks of treatment with Cannabidiol Oral Solution across multiple investigative sites in the United States. It is to these 15 completed patients, then, that the news relates. Not necessarily all of them, of course, but the news that some are continuing therapy is a real bonus in itself.Why?Because Insys is developing this drug in a host of epilepsy related indications, and there's a multiple billion-dollar market out there, primed and ready for a drug to fill a variety of its unmet needs, if this drug can get to market. However, over the last twenty-four months, there have been some real issues that have hit press, and these issues have sparked the suggestion that Insys might not continue with its COS development.Namely, the issues involved a drug called Subsys, which is a painkiller developed by the company, and some seemingly illegal marketing practices associated with the rollout. The exact details remain unclear, and subject to court ruling, but it seems the company was pushing for a broad spectrum administration as opposed to the far narrower spec authorized, and that there was some degree of kickback between company and prescriber based on admin volume. We say this allegedly, of course.Anyway, many thought that this situation (which is still very much present and boiling away in the background) might lead Insys to discontinue some of its ongoing development operations, and either unload or wrap up completely.That the company has now announced it is offering continuation therapy to patients on the COS trials, and that it's doing so free of charge and under recommendation from the overseers, seems to put this suggestion to bed. At least, that is, for now.So what's next?Well, we'd like to see the company wrestle back markets' focus from the ongoing legal situation, to the development pipeline. Whatever is happening in the background, this is a really promising set of drugs, in a really rewarding spectrum of indications. If and when Insys can get markets to recognize this (and markets once did recognize this, it's just that they have been distracted of late by the legal situation) then we think the company should see a swift return to a much higher market capitalization.There's risk, of course, and it's rooted in the uncertain outcome of the ongoing Subsys investigation. For those willing to shoulder it, however, this may be a discount opportunity.We will be updating our subscribers as soon as we know more. For the latest updates on INSY, sign up below!Disclosure: We have no position in INSY and have not been compensated for this article.