Biotech Alert: Searches spiking for these stocks today

These names in the biotech sector are seeing a substantial increase in search activity today, as determined by InvestingChannel. They include: 

• Neurocrine Biosciences (NBIX), 337% surge in interest
• EyePoint Pharmaceuticals (EYPT), 42% surge in interest
• Regeneron (REGN), 39% surge in interest
• Novavax (NVAX), 32% surge in interest

Pipeline and key clinical candidates for these companies:

Neurocrine Biosciences describes itself as “a neuroscience-focused, biopharmaceutical company with a simple purpose: to relieve suffering for people with great needs, but few options.” The company’s portfolio includes FDA-approved treatments for tardive dyskinesia, chorea associated with Huntington’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, endometriosis and uterine fibroids, as well as “a robust pipeline including multiple compounds in mid- to late-phase clinical development across our core therapeutic areas,” the company states.

EyePoint Pharmaceuticals is committed to developing and commercializing therapeutics to help improve the lives of patients with serious eye disorders. The company’s pipeline leverages its proprietary Durasert technology for sustained intraocular drug delivery including EYP-1901, an investigational sustained delivery intravitreal treatment currently in Phase 2 clinical trials. The proven Durasert drug delivery platform has been “safely administered to thousands of patients’ eyes” across four U.S. FDA approved products, including Yutiq for the treatment of posterior segment uveitis, EyePoint says.

Regeneron is a biotechnology company that invents, develops, and commercializes medicines for people with serious diseases. “The company is accelerating and improving the traditional drug development process through its proprietary VelociSuite technologies, such as VelocImmune, which uses unique genetically humanized mice to produce optimized fully human antibodies and bispecific antibodies, and through ambitious research initiatives such as the Regeneron Genetics Center, which is conducting one of the largest genetics sequencing efforts in the world,” Regeneron says.

Dynavax is a commercial-stage biopharmaceutical company that says it is “developing and commercializing innovative vaccines to help protect the world against infectious diseases.” The company has two commercial products, HEPLISAV-B vaccine, which is approved in the U.S., the European Union and Great Britain for the prevention of infection caused by all known subtypes of hepatitis B virus in adults 18 years of age and older, and CpG 1018 adjuvant, currently used in multiple adjuvanted COVID-19 vaccines.

Recent news on these stocks:

August 18

Neurocrine Biosciences announced the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved INGREZZA capsules for the treatment of adults with chorea associated with Huntington’s disease. INGREZZA is the only selective vesicular monoamine transporter 2 inhibitor that offers an effective starting dosage that can be adjusted by a patient’s healthcare provider based on response and tolerability, with no complex titration. Only INGREZZA offers simple dosing that is always one capsule, once daily.

August 16

EyePoint Pharmaceuticals announced that the Company granted non-statutory stock options to new employees as inducement awards outside the Company’s 2023 Long-Term Incentive Plan in accordance with NASDAQ Listing Rule 5635(c)(4). The Company granted stock options to purchase up to an aggregate of 8,500 shares of EyePoint Pharmaceuticals common stock to two new employees. The stock options were granted on August 15, 2023. The grants were approved by the Compensation Committee and made as an inducement material to each employee entering into employment with EyePoint Pharmaceuticals in accordance with NASDAQ Listing Rule 5635(c)(4). The option awards have an exercise price of $14.19 per share, the closing price of EyePoint Pharmaceuticals’ common stock on August 15, 2023. The options have a ten-year term and vest over four years, with 25% of the original number of shares vesting on the first anniversary of the applicable employee’s date of grant and the remainder vesting in equal monthly installments over the following three years. Vesting of the options is subject to the employee’s continued service with EyePoint Pharmaceuticals through the applicable vesting dates.

August 22

Novavax announced that its updated protein-based XBB COVID vaccine candidate induced neutralizing antibody responses to the EG.5.1 and XBB.1.16.6 subvariants in small animal and non-human primate studies. XBB sublineage variants are overwhelmingly responsible for the majority of current COVID cases in the U.S. and European Union. “Our data have shown that Novavax’s protein-based COVID vaccine induces broadly neutralizing responses against XBB subvariants, including EG.5.1 and XBB.1.16.6,” said Filip Dubovsky, President of Research and Development, Novavax. “We have a lot of confidence in our updated COVID vaccine and are working diligently with global regulatory bodies to ensure our protein-based vaccine is available this fall.” Non-clinical data previously showed that Novavax’s COVID vaccine candidate induced functional immune responses for XBB.1.5, XBB.1.16 and XBB.2.3 variants, indicating a broad response that could potentially be applicable for forward-drift variants. Novavax is in the process of submitting applications for its XBB.1.5 COVID vaccine candidate to regulatory authorities globally.

August 22

Regeneron Pharmaceuticals announced that the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority has entered into an agreement with Regeneron to support clinical development, clinical manufacturing and the regulatory licensure process of a next-generation Covid-19 monoclonal antibody therapy for the prevention of SARS-CoV-2 infection. The agreement is part of “Project NextGen,” an initiative by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to advance a pipeline of new, innovative vaccines and therapeutics for Covid-19. The new contract has an estimated value of up to approximately $326M of government funding. Under the project structure, Regeneron independently invents and proposes an antibody candidate, which BARDA and Regeneron will then evaluate and agree upon for further development, manufacturing and regulatory activities. Regeneron’s most advanced next-generation antibody candidate under this agreement is expected to enter clinical trials later this year.

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About “Biotech Alert”

The Fly will report on a selection of biotech stocks seeing a surge in interest from retail and financial professional investors, based on data from InvestingChannel.

This Fly exclusive recap reveals the biotech stocks that are seeing a spike in searches among the 20-plus million retail and financial professional investors through InvestingChannel’s online financial news media ecosystem.

This increased attention from the investors may be in response to, or advance of, outsized moves for stocks in the biotech sector, which tend to be volatile and prone to sharp swings in share price around binary events such as clinical study results and FDA approvals.