The reason for purchasing Ocugen Inc
This post was originally published on my old finance blog in January 2021. Transferred here as I am no longer maintaining that site.
28th January 2021 was a strange day in markets. The GameStop short squeeze — driven by Reddit’s r/wallstreetbets — was in full swing. GameStop, AMC, Nokia, and a handful of other stocks were being pushed to extraordinary prices by retail traders coordinating online. It was remarkable to watch.
I do not short stocks and I had no position in any of the squeeze names, though I had previously swing-traded Nokia for small profits. I watched from the sidelines and moved on.
What I did instead that day was buy Ocugen Inc (OCGN) at $1.60. Here is why.
The reasoning
1. The Bharat Biotech connection
Ocugen had a licensing agreement with Bharat Biotech, the Indian vaccine manufacturer behind Covaxin. I had followed Bharat Biotech’s work and had confidence in their track record. The tie-up gave Ocugen rights to commercialise Covaxin in the United States — a significant potential market.
2. Covaxin’s effectiveness against variants
At the time, early data suggested Covaxin was likely effective against the UK Covid variant. As variants were becoming a central concern, a vaccine showing broad effectiveness had meaningful upside.
3. Available capital
I had just sold half my Atossa Genetics position at a 2x return, so I had cash available and was looking for the next entry.
I want to be honest: I had not done extensive due diligence on Ocugen itself. The Bharat Biotech angle and the CNA article on Covaxin’s variant effectiveness were the primary drivers. At the time of writing the original post, the stock had already dipped to $1.58 from my entry of $1.60.
What happened next is a different story — covered in the following post.
This is not financial advice. Just a record of one trade and the thinking behind it.
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