Vanda Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:VNDA) shares are up 2.2% to trade at $7.06 at last check. The company announced last week it filed a Biologics License Application with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for isidolimab, its antibody-based treatment for patients with pustular psoriasis.
The stock is extending last week's move above the $7 level, and marked a fresh two-year high of $7.25 right out of the gate. VNDA toppled resistance at $5.50 earlier this month after spending November firmly below this level. So far this year, the equity has added over 47%.
Short interest makes up 8.5% of the security's total available float, with 4.6 million shares sold short and bearish bets climbing nearly 20% over the last two weeks. At the stock's average pace of trading, it would take nearly seven days for shorts to buy back their positions.
Drilling down to today's options activity, 2,267 calls have crossed the tape -- double the intraday average volume -- compared to only 65 puts. The most popular contract is the January 16, 2026 8-strike call.
