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: 

• OncoCyte (OCX), 463% surge in interest
• Alterity Therapeutics (ATHE), 106% surge in interest
• Entera Bio (ENTX), 15% surge in interest
• Agenus (AGEN), 12% surge in interest

Pipeline and key clinical candidates for these companies:

OncoCyte is a precision diagnostics company. The company’s tests are designed to help provide clarity and confidence to physicians and their patients. VitaGraft is a blood-based solid organ transplantation monitoring test. DetermaIO is a gene expression test that assesses the tumor microenvironment to predict response to immunotherapies, and the pipeline test DetermaCNI is blood-based monitoring tool for assessing therapeutic efficacy.

Alterity Therapeutics is a clinical stage biotechnology company that says it is “dedicated to creating an alternate future for people living with neurodegenerative diseases.” The company’s lead asset, ATH434, has the potential to treat various Parkinsonian disorders and is currently being evaluated in two Phase 2 clinical trials in Multiple System Atrophy. Alterity also has a “broad drug discovery platform generating patentable chemical compounds to treat the underlying pathology of neurological diseases,” the company states.

Entera Bio is a clinical stage company focused on developing oral peptide or protein replacement therapies for significant unmet medical needs where an oral tablet form holds the potential to transform the standard of care. The company leverages on a disruptive and proprietary technology platform and its pipeline includes five differentiated, first-in-class oral peptide programs, expected to enter into the clinic by 2025. The company’s most advanced product candidate, EB613, is being developed as the first oral, osteoanabolic once-daily tablet treatment for post-menopausal women with low BMD and high-risk osteoporosis, with no prior fracture.

Agenus is an immuno-oncology company targeting cancer and infectious diseases with a comprehensive pipeline of immunological agents. The company’s mission is to expand patient populations benefiting from cancer immunotherapy through combination approaches, using a broad repertoire of antibody therapeutics, adoptive cell therapies and adjuvants.

Recent news on these stocks:

April 12

OncoCyte reported Q4 revenue $314,000 against a consensus of $320,000. Loss from operations for the three months ended December 31, 2023, was $16.2M, an increase of 39% compared to fourth quarter 2022. “In 2023, we made significant progress on cost controls and in the development of our transplant monitoring IP,” said Josh Riggs, CEO of Oncocyte. “We achieved reimbursement for VitaGraft Kidney, manufactured the first lots of GraftAssure RUO, and ran a competitive partnering process that resulted in the announced Bio-Rad agreement. We look forward to working with them on the commercialization of GraftAssure RUO and the development of VitaGraft Kidney IVD. We continue to benefit from strong support from our core investors and welcome new ones in our recently completed $15.8 million private placement offering. With this partnership and financing we believe that we are well-positioned to meet our critical commercial and regulatory milestones.”

Agenus announced updated results from its Phase 1 clinical trial of BOT/BAL combination therapy in patients with metastatic CRC that is not microsatellite instability-high, or MSS, or deficient mismatch repair, or dMMR. These findings build upon the compelling clinical activity demonstrated by BOT/BAL across nine different cancer types in Agenus’ broad clinical development program. In the Phase 1 trial of 77 patients with refractory MSS-CRC without active liver metastases, a 23% overall response rate, or ORR, was observed after a median follow up of 13.6 months at the data cutoff of March 1, 2024. The median duration of response in 18 responders was not yet reached. The estimated 12-month and 18-month OS rates were 71% and 62%, respectively. The median OS was 21.2 months. The Phase 2 trial has completed enrollment and the company plans to discuss the encouraging interim results with the FDA. Pending planned meetings with the FDA, Agenus plans to submit a Biologics License Application for BOT/BAL in refractory MSS CRC later this year and plans to present detailed Phase 2 efficacy results, including response durability and updated Phase 1 survival data, at a major medical conference in the second half of 2024. This growing body of clinical evidence underscores the significant potential of BOT/BAL to transform the treatment landscape for difficult-to-treat solid tumors.

April 8

Entera Bio announced that data from the Phase 2 Trial of its lead clinical compound, EB613 Oral PTH Tablets for the Treatment of Post-Menopausal Women with Low BMD or Osteoporosis compared to placebo were published in the Journal of Bone and Mineral Research JBMR .Miranda Toledano, CEO of Entera, commented, “We are excited to share that data from our successful Phase 2 study of EB613 has been accepted and now published in the prestigious JBMR. We believe EB613 addresses the current treatment gap in osteoporosis as the first oral, osteoanabolic bone building once-daily tablet treatment due to its unique format and potential dual mode of action. We remain highly committed to moving EB613 forward to meet the needs of patients.”We conclude that this PTH tablet might be the first effective orally administered bone building medication and should be studied further in treatment of women with osteoporosis.

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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.