Sarepta Therapeutics’ positive data on its lead muscular dystrophy drug eteplirsen puts the company in a strong position at the partnering table and sets the stage for a neck and neck race with GSK/Prosensa to bring the first treatment for the rare disease to market.

Two companies in the biopharma space began trading publicly this week, one to pay off debt, the other to fund an early-stage pipeline.

The biotech is shifting gears after clinical hold on its lead drug was unlikely to be lifted, but the early-stage candidate that it's placing its hopes on is raising red flags for analysts and investors.