Enzon Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:ENZN) Still on Royalty-Driven Autopilot

[[tagnumber 0]][[tagnumber 1]]Enzon Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:ENZN) published a 10–Q report for the quarter ended Mar. 31, 2015 last week, only a few weeks after ENZN hit a 52–week high on the charts, became overbought and subsided again. This all occurred in a medium of increased investor interest. This time, however, a new rebound seems highly unlikely.[[tagnumber 2]] [[tagnumber 0]]Yesterday, the royalty–dependent biotech‘s shares closed trade at $1.20 per share, matching their performance last Friday. Approximately 1.5 million shares changed hands, well below the 5M+ average trading volume. Does that mean that investors‘ interest in this stock is on the wane again?[[tagnumber 2]] [[tagnumber 0]][[tagnumber 6]]It could be, yet not necessarily. The fact of the matter is that ENZN used to be actively involved in developing novel therapeutic solutions for patients whose health issues could not be addressed by contemporary medicine. As a result, Enzon is now collecting millions of dollars in the form of royalties based on licensing agreements with companies distributing and selling final drug products. In late 2012, however, the company suspended all clinical activity in the wake of an impending acquisition which never happened. ENZN has since had zero R&D activities and has no intention whatsoever of restarting them any time soon.[[tagnumber 2]] [[tagnumber 0]]While resting on old laurels has so far yielded a comfortable, risk–free cash flow for Enzon, it also leaves room for potential drawbacks, as well. For all royalty–based licensing agreements expire sooner or later. As stated in ENZN‘s latest 10–Q filing, the company‘s rights to receive royalties for four products expired last year, with four others still in force. In the normal course of events, the royalty well might run dry unless new sources of revenue are utilized by that time.[[tagnumber 2]] [[tagnumber 0]]The good news for ENZN fans is that Carl Icahn still holds a 13% stake in the company and, by the looks of it, will continue to keep it for the time being. According to the definitive proxy statement filed last Friday, ENZN‘s current BoD members will stand for re–election for one more year at the end of June. Jonathan Christodoro, the company‘s chairman of the board, has previously worked at Icahn Capital LP. In the event of re–election, the management‘s vision for Enzon‘s business activities for the next twelve months will be subject of great interest from both current and prospective stockholders.[[tagnumber 2]]