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: 

• Viking Therapeutics (VKTX), 71% surge in interest
• Mannkind (MNKD), 66% surge in interest
• Jaguar Health (JAGX), 66% surge in interest
• CRISPR Therapeutics (CRSP), 64% surge in interest
• Avidity Biosciences (RNA), 63% surge in interest

Pipeline and key clinical candidates for these companies:

Viking Therapeutics is focused on the development of novel first-in-class or best-in-class therapies for the treatment of metabolic and endocrine disorders. The company’s clinical programs include VK2809, a novel, orally available, small molecule selective thyroid hormone receptor beta agonist for the treatment of lipid and metabolic disorders, which is currently being evaluated in a Phase 2b study for the treatment of biopsy-confirmed non-alcoholic steatohepatitis, or NASH, and fibrosis.

MannKind Corporation focuses on the development and commercialization of inhaled therapeutic products for patients with endocrine and orphan lung diseases.

Jaguar Health is a commercial stage pharmaceuticals company focused on developing novel, plant-based, sustainably derived prescription medicines for people and animals with GI distress, including chronic, debilitating diarrhea. Jaguar Health’s wholly owned subsidiary, Napo Pharmaceuticals, focuses on developing and commercializing proprietary plant-based human pharmaceuticals from plants harvested responsibly from rainforest areas. Their crofelemer drug product candidate is the subject of the OnTarget study, an ongoing pivotal Phase 3 clinical trial for prophylaxis of diarrhea in adult cancer patients receiving targeted 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.

Avidity Bioscience‘s proprietary AOCs – Antibody Oligonucleotide Conjugates – are designed to combine the specificity of monoclonal antibodies with the precision of oligonucleotide therapies to target the root cause of diseases previously untreatable with RNA therapeutics, the company says. Avidity’s advancing and expanding pipeline has three programs in clinical development. AOC 1001 is designed to treat people with myotonic dystrophy type 1 and is currently in Phase 1/2 development with the ongoing MARINA and MARINA-OLE trials. AOC 1020 is designed to treat people living with facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy and is currently in Phase 1/2 development with the FORTITUDE trial. AOC 1044 is designed for people with Duchenne muscular dystrophy mutations amenable to exon 44 skipping and is currently in Phase 1/2 development with the EXPLORE44 trial.

Recent news on these stocks:

July 8

Napo Pharmaceuticals, a Jaguar Health company, announced that the European Patent Office and IP Australia, the Australian patent office, have each issued a new patent to Napo. The European patent covers methods for treating SBS, bile acid diarrhea, and diarrhea associated with small intestine resection or gallbladder removal, in patients with an inhibitor of chloride-ion transport such as crofelemer, Napo’s novel plant-based prescription drug. The Australian patent covers methods of preventing, ameliorating and/or treating diarrhea associated with CDDs using a proanthocyanidin polymer composition such as crofelemer.

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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.