U.S. politicians have an edge over the general public that many consider to be unfair. Lawmakers, whether they’re sitting in the House of Representatives or the Senate, are privy to information that is not widely accessible. On top of that, they regulate the very industries they invest in.
However, not every trade made on Capitol Hill qualifies as suspicious — investing in Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA) isn’t a sign of an informational edge. On the other hand, every once in a while, a U.S. politician will invest in some obscure, small stock or ‘penny stock,’ no one has ever heard of — only to see it skyrocket within days.
That happened in late November — although the trade we’ll be looking into today, made by Representative Laura Lee of Florida’s 15th congressional district, was retrieved by Finbold’s congressional trading radar from a periodic transaction report made public much later — on January 7.
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Laurel Lee invested in a pharmaceutical penny stock at the perfect time
On November 25, the congresswoman’s spouse, former Florida State Senate representative, Tom Lee, invested between $1,001 and $15,000 in TuHURA Biosciences (NASDAQ: HURA) stock.
The business in question is researching novel cancer treatments, mostly focused on immunotherapy. However, HURA stock isn’t exactly in the spotlight — although the company was founded back in 1993, it’s still a small-cap stock, with a market capitalization of just $176.3 million. To be more precise, such a market cap would even see it fall under the ‘micro-cap’ label.
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At the time of the purchase TuHURA stock was trading at $3.36 — just a week and a half later, on December 6, it had reached a price of $6.68 — equating to a 98.81% rise. While the price of HURA stock has receded to $4.17 after a $31 million merger with Kintara Therapeutics, the timing of the purchase certainly raises suspicion.
Interestingly enough, on November 25, the biotech research business outlined a development pathway for IFx-2.0 — a potential treatment for immunotherapy-resistant tumors. TuHURA biosciences also happens to be based in Tampa — within Lee’s congressional district.
Featured image via Shutterstock
