Biotech Alert: Searches spiking for these stocks today

Stay ahead of biotech stocks seeing a surge in interest from retail and financial professional investors with this exclusive recap from The Fly

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

They include:

• Jounce Therapeutics (JNCE), 2,860% surge in interest
• Rapt Therapeutics (RAPT), 1,250% surge in interest
• Avid Bioservices (CDMO), 1,077% surge in interest
• Corbus Pharma (CRBP), 458% surge in interest
• Galera Therapeutics (GRTX), 176 surge in interest

Pipeline and key clinical candidates for these companies:

Jounce Therapeutics is a clinical-stage immunotherapy company that currently has multiple development stage programs ongoing. Jounce’s highest priority program, JTX-8064, is a LILRB2 receptor antagonist shown to reprogram immune-suppressive tumor associated macrophages to an anti-tumor state in preclinical studies. JTX-8064 is currently being investigated alone and in combination with pimivalimab, Jounce’s internal PD-1 inhibitor, in one monotherapy and eight indication-specific combination therapy cohorts in the Phase 1/2 INNATE trial and is currently enrolling patients with advanced solid tumors in the Phase 2 portion of the study. Jounce’s most advanced product candidate, vopratelimab, is a monoclonal antibody that binds to and activates ICOS, and is currently being studied in the SELECT Phase 2 trial. Additionally, Jounce exclusively licensed worldwide rights to GS-1811, a monoclonal antibody targeting CCR8 and designed to selectively deplete T regulatory cells in the tumor microenvironment, to Gilead Sciences (GILD).

Rapt Therapeutics is focused on discovering, developing and commercializing oral small molecule therapies for patients with significant unmet needs in inflammatory diseases and oncology. Rapt has discovered and advanced two unique drug candidates, RPT193 and FLX475, each targeting C-C motif chemokine receptor 4, for the treatment of inflammation and cancer, respectively. The company is also pursuing a range of targets that are in the discovery stage of development.

Avid Bioservices is a dedicated contract development and manufacturing organization, or CDMO, focused on development and CGMP manufacturing of biologics. Avid’s services include CGMP clinical and commercial drug substance manufacturing, bulk packaging, release and stability testing and regulatory submissions support. For early-stage programs, the company provides a variety of process development activities, including upstream and downstream development and optimization, analytical methods development, testing and characterization.

Corbus is an oncology company "committed to connecting innovation to our purpose of improving lives by developing new medicines that target the nexus between the immune system and cancer." Corbus’ current pipeline includes anti-integrin monoclonal antibodies that block activation of TGFβ and small molecules that activate or inhibit the endocannabinoid system.

Galera Therapeutics is focused on developing and commercializing a pipeline of therapeutic candidates that have the potential to transform radiotherapy in cancer. Galera’s selective dismutase mimetic product candidate avasopasem manganese, avasopasem, or GC4419, is being evaluated for radiotherapy-induced toxicities. The company’s second product candidate, rucosopasem manganese, rucosopasem, or GC4711, is in clinical-stage development to augment the anti-cancer efficacy of stereotactic body radiation therapy in patients with non-small cell lung cancer and locally advanced pancreatic cancer.

Recent news on these stocks:

March 16

Citi lowered the firm’s price target on Galera Therapeutics to $12 from $18 and keeps a Buy rating on the shares. The analyst updated the model to reflect the Q4 results.

March 15

The board of Jounce Therapeutics confirmed that Concentra Biosciences, of which Tang Capital Partners is the controlling shareholder, has made an unsolicited and non-binding proposal to acquire 100% of the equity of Jounce. Tang Capital1 is currently approximately a 10.2% shareholder of Jounce. The proposal consists of $1.80 in cash per share plus a contingent value right , or CVR, representing the right to receive 80% of the net proceeds payable from any license or disposition of certain of Jounce’s legacy programs. The proposal is subject to limited confirmatory due diligence and is based on the availability of at least $130M of cash and cash equivalents at closing, net of any tail and closing costs. On February 23, the company announced a recommended business combination with Redx Pharma via a proposed all share merger transaction. The transaction is anticipated to be completed during the second quarter of 2023, subject to necessary regulatory and shareholder approvals.

Cantor Fitzgerald lowered the firm’s price target on Rapt Therapeutics to $40 from $44 and keeps an Overweight rating on the shares following the Q4 results. The readout timeline for the Phase 2B trial of RPT193 in atopic dermatitis is delayed to mid-2024 from the firm’s prior expectation of 4Q23 due to slower-than-expected patient enrollment driven by seasonality, the analyst tells investors in a research note. Rapt is looking at steps to speed up enrollment, the firm says, adding that the delay is not driven by any concerns related the drug and would be a buyer here.

H.C. Wainwright analyst Raghuram Selvaraju lowered the firm’s price target on Rapt Therapeutics to $43 from $50 and keeps a Buy rating on the shares. The RPT193 Phase 2 top-line data is now slated for release in mid-2024 due to slow enrollment, the analyst tells investors in a research note.

March 14

KeyBanc analyst Paul Knight upgraded Avid Bioservices to Overweight from Sector Weight with a $20 price target. The company pointed to a robust biological contract manufacturing environment and exceeded estimates with its Q3 results, the analyst told investors in a research note. The firm cites robust industry demand, a building backlog, and the company’s operating leverage for the upgrade.

Corbus Pharmaceuticals Holdings announced that an abstract highlighting pre-clinical data for CRB-601, its avβ8 blocking antibody, has been accepted for presentation at a poster at the 2023 American Association for Cancer Research, AACR, annual meeting, to be held April 14-19.

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 15-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.

Keywords: biotech, biotech sector, biotech alert, investingchannel, XBI, SPDR S&P Biotech ETF