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: 

• Tenax Therapeutics (TENX), 9,235% surge in interest
• Aclaris Therapeutics (ACRS), 456% surge in interest
• CorMedix (CRMD), 55% surge in interest
• Seelos Therapeutics (SEEL), 46% surge in interest
• Puma Biotechnology (PBYI), 15% surge in interest

Pipeline and key clinical candidates for these companies:

Tenax Therapeutics is a specialty pharmaceutical company focused on identifying, developing, and commercializing products that address cardiovascular and pulmonary diseases with high unmet medical need. Tenax Therapeutics is developing a unique oral formulation of imatinib. The company also owns North American rights to develop and commercialize subcutaneous and oral formulations of levosimendan.

Aclaris Therapeutics is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing a pipeline of novel drug candidates to address the needs of patients with immuno-inflammatory diseases who lack satisfactory treatment options. The company has a multi-stage portfolio of drug candidates powered by a robust R&D engine exploring protein kinase regulation.

CorMedix is a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing and commercializing therapeutic products for the prevention and treatment of life-threatening conditions and diseases. The company is focused on developing its lead product DefenCath, a novel, non-antibiotic antimicrobial solution designed to prevent costly and life-threatening bloodstream infections associated with the use of central venous catheters in patients undergoing chronic hemodialysis. DefenCath has been designated by FDA as Fast Track and as a Qualified Infectious Disease Product, and the original New Drug Application received priority review in recognition of its potential to address an unmet medical need. QIDP provides for an additional five years of marketing exclusivity, which will be added to the five years granted to a New Chemical Entity upon approval of the NDA. CorMedix also committed to conducting a clinical study in pediatric patients using a central venous catheter for hemodialysis when the NDA is approved, which will add an additional six months of marketing exclusivity when the study is completed.

Seelos Therapeutics is focused on the development and advancement of novel therapeutics to address unmet medical needs for the benefit of patients with central nervous system, or CNS, disorders and other rare diseases. The company’s portfolio includes several late-stage clinical assets targeting indications including Acute Suicidal Ideation and Behavior in Major Depressive Disorder, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS, and spinocerebellar ataxia, or SCA, as well as early-stage programs in Huntington’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease, and Parkinson’s disease.

Puma Biotechnology is focused on the development and commercialization of products to enhance cancer care. Puma in-licenses the global development and commercialization rights to PB272 — neratinib, oral; PB272 — neratinib, intravenous; and PB357. Neratinib, oral was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in 2017 for the extended adjuvant treatment of adult patients with early stage HER2-overexpressed/amplified breast cancer, following adjuvant trastuzumab-based therapy, and is marketed in the United States as NERLYNX, neratinib, tablets. In February 2020, NERLYNX was also approved by the FDA in combination with capecitabine for the treatment of adult patients with advanced or metastatic HER2-positive breast cancer who have received two or more prior anti-HER2-based regimens in the metastatic setting.

Recent news on these stocks:

November 15

RBC Capital raised the firm’s price target on CorMedix to $10 from $6 and kept an Outperform rating on the shares. The company reported Q3 “with optimism” heading into its key DefenCath PDUFA in catheter-related blood stream infections prevention in hemodialysis, the analyst tells investors in a research note. All signals appeared positive on the prospects of an approval outcome, which is now seen as increasingly likely this time around, the firm added.

November 13

Tenax Therapeutics announced that the FDA has reviewed and cleared the company’s Investigational New Drug, or IND, Application for TNX-103 oral levosimendan for the treatment of pulmonary hypertension with heart failure with preserved ejection fraction, enabling Tenax to proceed with the first of two Phase 3 studies. The LEVEL Study is expected to launch in Q4.

Cantor Fitzgerald analyst Louise Chen downgraded Aclaris Therapeutics to Neutral from Overweight without a price target after the company announced that zunsemetinib did not meet the primary or secondary efficacy endpoints for its rheumatoid arthritis study. The firm is moving to the sidelines until the company’s go-forward strategy becomes more clear.

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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.