NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- KaloBios Pharmaceuticals (KBIO) stock is popping 81.54% to $18.88 on heavy trading volume on Friday, after the company appointed hedge fund manager Martin Shkreli as its new CEO and chairman of its board.

The bio-pharmaceutical company, which is developing a treatment for chronic myelomonocytic leukemia, announced on Thursday that an investor group led by Shkreli had purchased more than 70% of its outstanding shares.

Last week, KaloBios said it was planning to "wind down" its operations. But in a statement on Wednesday, the company said it was in discussions with Shkreli about "a possible direction for the company to continue in operation."

Shkreli, who is a co-founder of MSMB Capital Management and CEO of a private pharmaceutical company, is known for trying to raise the price of an HIV drug by more than 5,000%.

"We believe that the KaloBios' lenzilumab is a very promising candidate for the treatment of various rare and orphan diseases," Shkreli said in a statement on Thursday.

So far today, 6.05 million shares of KaloBios have traded, versus its 30-day average of 1.02 million shares.

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