Inhibitex shares roiled by rumors...

An article appearing today on The Street.com by Adam Feuerstein. The power of rumor realized as investors speculate on biotech analyst Rachel McMinn's comments regarding the safety profile for Inhibitex's polymerase inhibitor INX-189. In December, Pharmasset amended it's clinical trials for PSI-938, a similar drug to INX-189, due to liver toxicity signals ALPHARETTA, Ga. (TheStreet) -- Shares of hepatitis C drug developer Inhibitex(INHX_) whipsawed Wednesday on a mash of rumors, analyst chatter and speculation all tied to the safety of the company's lead drug INX-189. With an important safety check on INX-189 expected this month or next, investors are clearly twitchy nervous -- more so since Pharmasset(VRUS_) shut down clinical work on a similar hepatitis C drug last month due to liver toxicity. Inhibitex shares lost as much as 16% of their value Wednesday on no apparent news, which naturally sent investor searching for an explanation. This is on top of an 8% drop in the stock on Tuesday. At first, the Inhibitex weakness was attributed to the rival Achillion Pharmaceuticals(ACHN_) receiving FDA fast-track status for its hepatitis C drug. This explanation was quickly discarded for its utter stupidity. Inhibitex, speaking through multiple sell-side analysts defending the stock, said nothing materially had changed with the INX-189 study. The stock began to recover. Most likely, Inhibitex sold off because of cautious and unpublished comments made by Bank of America/Merrill Lynch biotech analyst Rachel McMinn to her investor clients during a series of marketing meetings this week. McMinn is the axe on hepatitis C drug stocks so her comments carry a lot of weight. Speaking about the upcoming data on INX-189, McMinn reportedly told her Wall Street clients that while the risk-reward in Inhibitex shares is still positive, the stock has dramatic downside if safety issues crop up. "Preclinical toxicity [with INX-189] is there but no one knows if it will translate into a clinical concern," McMinn told her clients, according to an email sent by Bank of America brokers to investors earlier today. The email was sent to investors in an attempt to clarify McMinn's views on Inhibitex and the outlook on INX-189. Inhibitex is conducting a phase Ib study that is evaluating a 200 mg dose of INX-189 plus ribavirin over 7 days in patients with genotype 1 hepatitis C. Another arm of the study evaluates 200 mgs of INX-189 plus interferon and ribavirin for 28 days in genotype 2/3 hepatitis C patients.