Breaking Down The Hemispherx BioPharma, Inc (NYSEMKT:HEB) Catalsysts

Hemispherx BioPharma, Inc (NYSEMKT:HEB) took a hit of more than 30% at the end of this week, on the company's announcement that it is set to raise $1 million by way of a registered direct offering (RDO). Just as did a large portion of the biotechnology sector, Hemispherx declined into the final quarter 2016, and this the sentiment continued into early 2017. With the latest dip, however, the company is now trading around all-time lows, and with an accompanying volume spike, it looks as though it could be set for further decline very near term.Beyond this initial pressure, however, there may be a chance for some recovery driven upside. The thing is, this is a development stage biotechnology company, and one that hasn't really been able to put out much in the way of positive news over the last six months. Over the coming six months, however, there are number of potential catalysts set to hit press, each of which could spark some sort of reversal and get the company moving in a direction it has as yet struggled to achieve.Here is what we are watching.As a quick introduction, Hemispherx engages in the clinical development of new drug therapies based on natural immune system enhancing technologies for the treatment of viral and immune based chronic disorders. The company has one approved treatment called Alferon N Injection, and two primary experimental therapeutics called Rintatolimod (tradenames Ampligen or Rintamod) and Alferon LDO. It doesn’t generate anything substantial from the approved product (around $20,000 during the last reported quarter – third quarter 2016) and so the majority of its value is rooted in the development side of its operations.Ampligen is the the primary focus right now. The company has an active NDA with the FDA for the drug in a CFS/ME indication, and is also investigating its impact as part of collaboration with University of Pittsburgh in three types of cancer – ovarian, colorectal and peritoneal. There are also orphan drug designations in place for a flurry of other indications for the drug, including HIV, metastatic melanoma and renal cell carcinoma.Further, the company just announced the extension of an early access program in Europe that should see the drug distributed to pancreatic cancer patients in the Netherlands.So, what are we looking for going forward?Coverage regarding the use of proceeds associated with the latest registered direct offering release is pretty vague, and as such, we haven't really got that much insight into why the company wants to raise the funds. With that said, the assumption here is that the funds will go towards the manufacturing of product for clinic trials in the above discussed indications.As such, these trials are what we are watching as potential near term drivers.If the company can hit press with the announcing of any fresh trial initiations, or can shed any light on early-stage data from said trials (especially in the oncology indications) then there's some real upside potential on offer.The big risk here is further dilution. The company is raising cash now, but the $850,000 it is set to net from the transaction is nowhere near enough to carry out multiple trials, and as such, we expect further dilution near to medium term. We have seen the impact that even a small raise can have on sentiment, and so chances are, shareholders are going to have to stomach some short term dips ahead of longer term growth. We have said it before, and we will say it again – these sorts of setbacks are not generally prohibitive to a longer-term holding, but they do necessitate a certain degree of patience that some traders aren't willing to accommodate.We will be updating our subscribers as soon as we know more. For the latest updates on HEB, sign up below!Disclosure: We have no position in HEB and have not been compensated for this article.