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: 

• Altamira Therapeutics (CYTO), 1,925% surge in interest
• AgeX Therapeutics (AGE), 1,833% surge in interest
• Curis (CRIS), 521% surge in interest
• Kodiak Sciences (KOD), 338% surge in interest
• Iterum Therapeutics (ITRM), 328% surge in interest
• Fortress Biotech (FBIO), 222% surge in interest
• CRISPR Therapeutics (CRSP), 42% surge in interest

Pipeline and key clinical candidates for these companies:

Altamira Therapeutics is currently active in three areas: the development of RNA therapeutics for extrahepatic therapeutic targets via the OligoPhore/SemaPhore platforms; nasal sprays for protection against airborne allergens and, where approved, viruses or for the treatment of vertigo; and the development of therapeutics for intratympanic treatment of tinnitus or hearing loss.

AgeX Therapeutics is focused on developing and commercializing innovative therapeutics to treat human diseases to increase healthspan and combat the effects of aging.

Curis is a biotechnology company focused on the development of emavusertib, an orally available, small molecule IRAK4 inhibitor for the treatment of hematologic malignancies. Emavusertib is currently undergoing testing in the Phase 1/2 TakeAim Lymphoma study in patients with hematologic malignancies, such as non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma and other B cell malignancies in combination with the BTK inhibitor, ibrutinib, and as a monotherapy in the Phase 1/2 TakeAim Leukemia study in patients with acute myeloid leukemia and myelodysplastic syndrome, for which it has received Orphan Drug Designation from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Curis, through its 2015 collaboration with Aurigene, has the exclusive license to emavusertib. Curis licensed its rights to Erivedge to Genentech, a member of the Roche Group, under which they are commercializing Erivedge for the treatment of advanced basal cell carcinoma.

Kodiak is a biopharmaceutical company committed to researching, developing and commercializing transformative therapeutics to treat high prevalence retinal diseases. KSI-501 is their dual inhibitor antibody biopolymer conjugate targeting both VEGF and IL-6 for the treatment of retinal diseases. The company is expanding its early research pipeline to include ABC Platform based triplet inhibitors for multifactorial retinal diseases such as dry AMD and glaucoma.

Iterum Therapeutics is dedicated to developing differentiated anti-infectives aimed at combating multi-drug resistant pathogens to improve the lives of people affected by related diseases. Iterum is currently advancing its first compound, sulopenem, a novel penem anti-infective compound, in Phase 3 clinical development with an oral formulation. Sulopenem also has an IV formulation. Iterum has received Qualified Infectious Disease Product and Fast Track designations for its oral and IV formulations of sulopenem in seven indications.

Fortress Biotech is focused on acquiring, developing and commercializing high-potential marketed and development-stage drugs and drug candidates. The company has nine marketed prescription pharmaceutical products and over 30 programs in development at Fortress, at its majority-owned and majority-controlled partners and subsidiaries and at partners and subsidiaries it founded and in which it holds significant minority ownership positions. Such product candidates span six large-market areas, including oncology, rare diseases and gene therapy.

CRISPR Therapeutics is a gene editing company focused on developing gene-based medicines for serious diseases using its proprietary CRISPR/Cas9 platform. “CRISPR/Cas9 is a revolutionary gene editing technology that allows for precise, directed changes to genomic DNA. CRISPR Therapeutics has established a portfolio of therapeutic programs across a broad range of disease areas including hemoglobinopathies, oncology, regenerative medicine and rare diseases. To accelerate and expand its efforts, CRISPR Therapeutics has established strategic partnerships with leading companies including Bayer, Vertex Pharmaceuticals and ViaCyte,” the company states.

Recent news on these stocks:

November 17

Altamira Therapeutics has entered into a binding agreement for the sale of a 51% stake in its subsidiary Altamira Medica AG to a Swiss private equity investor as part of its strategic repositioning around its RNA delivery technology. Medica’s key asset is Bentrio, a drug-free OTC nasal spray utilized for the treatment of allergic rhinitis, which has been cleared by the FDA and is being commercialized in a growing number of countries. Altamira has agreed to sell the 51% stake in Medica for a cash consideration of CHF 2,040,000 and will retain 49% of the company’s share capital. Further, Altamira will be entitled to receive 25% of Medica’s future licensing income. In addition, the transaction includes the sale of Auris Medical Pty Ltd, Melbourne and a cash contribution of CHF 1,000,000 in total to Medica’s capital by its two shareholders pro rata of their shareholdings following the closing. Medica will continue its operations under its current name and with current staff in collaboration with Altamira. The transaction is set to close on November 21, 2023, subject to customary closing conditions. The Company anticipates recording a financial gain of approximately $5.2 million from the transaction in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards.

Serina Therapeutics, which entered a proposed merger transaction with AgeX, announced Serina has entered into a License Agreement under which Pfizer (PFE) will license, on a non-exclusive basis, Serina’s POZ polymer technology. “We are excited about the license to Pfizer for its use of the POZ polymer technology in initial research and development activities,” stated Dr. Milton Harris, Executive Board Chair at Serina Therapeutics. “The license agreement represents an important milestone for Serina.”

Capital One upgraded Kodiak Sciences to Overweight from Equalweight with a price target of $12, up from $7. The company released its Q3 update, which reaffirmed plans to move its lead drug toward approval in wet age-related macular degeneration, retinal vein occlusion and non-proliferative diabetic retinopathy, the analyst tells investors in a research note. While the company is now pursuing fewer indications than originally intended, the update is still a positive relative to the July announcement regarding the decision to discontinue further development of tarcocimab, said the firm. It believes the stock is “significantly undervalued” at current levels.

November 16

Vertex Pharmaceuticals (VRTX) and Crispr Therapeutics announced that the United Kingdom Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, or MHRA, has granted conditional marketing authorization for Casgevy, a CRISPR/Cas9 gene-edited therapy, for the treatment of sickle cell disease, or SCD, and transfusion-dependent beta thalassemia, or TDT. Casgevy has been authorized for the treatment of eligible patients 12 years of age and older with SCD with recurrent vaso-occlusive crises, or VOCs, or TDT, for whom a human leukocyte antigen, or HLA, matched related hematopoietic stem cell donor is not available. There are an estimated 2,000 patients eligible for Casgevy in the U.K. In two global clinical trials of Casgevy in SCD and TDT, the trials met their respective primary outcome of becoming free from severe VOCs or transfusion independent for at least 12 consecutive months. Once achieved, these benefits are potentially expected to be life-long. The safety profile of 97 SCD and TDT patients treated to date with Casgevy in these ongoing studies is generally consistent with myeloablative conditioning with busulfan and hematopoietic stem cell transplant.

November 14

Fortress Biotech reported Q3 EPS (94c), consensus ($3.21), and reported Q3 revenue $34.8M, consensus $14.58M. CEO Lindsay Rosenwald, M.D., said, “In the third quarter of 2023, Fortress and our partner companies and subsidiaries continued to advance our diverse portfolio of drug candidates. Our total consolidated net revenue this quarter was $34.8M, which includes an upfront payment of $19M that Journey Medical received upon entering into an exclusive license agreement with Maruho for commercialization of Qbrexza in additional territories in Asia. We’re looking forward to multiple significant near-term milestones, including potentially up to four New Drug Application and Biologics License Application submissions to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration between 2023 and 2025, one of which is a NDA for DFD-29 to treat rosacea around the end of this year. We are also anticipating the PDUFA goal date of January 3 for cosibelimab, our investigational anti-PD-L1 antibody, as a treatment for patients with metastatic or locally advanced cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma ”

Hear more from InvestingChannel by signing up for The Spill.

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.