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: 

• Connect Biopharma (CNTB), 1,914% surge in interest
• Karuna Therapeutics (KRTX), 695% surge in interest
• iBio (IBIO), 66% surge in interest
• Acer Therapeutics (ACER), 40% surge in interest

Pipeline and key clinical candidates for these companies:

Connect Biopharma is a U.S. and China-based clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on treating inflammatory diseases with therapies derived from T cell research. The company’s lead product candidate, CBP-201, is an antibody designed to target interleukin-4 receptor alpha in development for the treatment of atopic dermatitis and asthma. The company’s second most advanced product candidate, CBP-307, is a modulator of S1P1 T cell receptor and is in development for the treatment of ulcerative colitis, or UC. The company’s third product candidate, CBP-174, is a peripherally acting antagonist of histamine receptor 3, in development for the treatment of pruritus associated with atopic dermatitis, or AD.

Karuna Therapeutics is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company driven to create and deliver transformative medicines for people living with psychiatric and neurological conditions.

iBio develops next-generation biopharmaceuticals using computational biology and 3D-modeling of subdominant and conformational epitopes, prospectively enabling the discovery of new antibody treatments for hard-to-target cancers and other diseases. iBio’s mission is to decrease drug failures, shorten drug development timelines, and open up new frontiers against the most promising targets.

Acer Therapeutics is a pharmaceutical company focused on the acquisition, development and commercialization of therapies for serious rare and life-threatening diseases with significant unmet medical needs. In the U.S., OLPRUVA is approved for the treatment of urea cycle disorders involving deficiencies of carbamylphosphate synthetase, ornithine transcarbamylase, or argininosuccinic acid synthetase. Acer is also advancing a pipeline of investigational product candidates for rare and life-threatening diseases, including: OLPRUVA for treatment of various disorders, including Maple Syrup Urine Disease; ACER-801 for treatment of Vasomotor Symptoms, post-traumatic stress disorder and prostate cancer; and EDSIVO for treatment of vascular Ehlers-Danlos syndrome in patients with a confirmed type III collagen mutation.

Recent news on these stocks:

March 22

Acer Therapeutics announced data was presented from a survey designed to quantify preferences of healthcare providers for Urea Cycle Disorders at the 44th Annual Meeting of the Society for Inherited Metabolic Disorders , March 18th-21st in Salt Lake City, Utah. Results from the discrete choice experiment presented showed that taste and odor were the most important attributes, as identified by UCD healthcare providers, that influence overall prescription of, and patient adherence to, UCD treatments when evaluating nitrogen-binding medications. "Nitrogen-binding medications, such as sodium phenylbutyrate or glycerol phenylbutyrate, can be efficacious in the treatment of UCDs if patients are adherent to their prescribed treatment1,2," stated Robert Steiner, M.D., Professor at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health. "However, 25% of life-threatening hyperammonemic crises in patients with UCDs may be precipitated by a lack of adherence to medications and/or diet and certain attributes of existing nitrogen-binding medications may negatively impact adherence3. Given these results, alternative treatment options are urgently needed."

Acer Therapeutics announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement for the purchase and sale of 2.92M shares of the company’s common stock at a purchase price of $0.916 per share of common stock in a registered direct offering priced at-the-market under Nasdaq rules. In addition, in a concurrent private placement, the company will issue warrants to purchase up to 2.92M shares of common stock. The warrants will have an exercise price of $0.791 per share, will be exercisable immediately following issuance and have a term of five and one-half years from the issuance date. H.C. Wainwright & Co. is acting as the exclusive placement agent for the offering.

March 21

Karuna Therapeutics announced the pricing of an underwritten public offering of 2.48M shares of its common stock at a public offering price of $161.33 per share. The gross proceeds to Karuna from the offering, before deducting the underwriting discounts and commissions and other estimated offering expenses, are expected to be approximately $400M. The offering is expected to close on or about March 24, subject to customary closing conditions. Goldman Sachs, J.P. Morgan Securities, and Morgan Stanley are acting as joint book-running managers for the offering. Stifel, Nicolaus & Company and Guggenheim Securities are also acting as book-running managers for the offering.

March 19

Connect Biopharma announced that data from Stage 1 of the ongoing pivotal CBP-201 China trial in moderate-to-severe atopic dermatitis showed rapid relief from symptoms, as early as week one in some cases, and no efficacy plateau at Week 16. The study met primary and secondary endpoints with mostly mild-to-moderate adverse effects reported. The data were presented as a late-breaking oral presentation at the American Academy of Dermatology Annual Meeting, taking place in New Orleans, March 17-21. In the study "CBP-201, a next-generation IL-4Ralpha antibody, achieved all primary and secondary efficacy endpoints in the treatment of adults with moderate-to-severe atopic dermatitis: A randomized, double-blind, pivotal trial in China," researchers reported on results from Stage 1 of the pivotal China trial of CBP-201 in moderate-to-severe AD. This 16-week trial stage included 255 adults in the primary analysis population who received a 600 mg CBP-201 loading dose, followed by 300 mg CBP-201 every two weeks, compared to placebo. Patients on active therapy experienced rapid relief of symptoms, with a reduction in itch at Week 1 and significant improvement in all study endpoints by Week 4, which was sustained to Week 16. Furthermore, there was no plateau in IGA and EASI efficacy response at Week 16. Specifically, the baseline median Eczema Area and Severity Index was 26.9. 54.5% of patients were considered severe, with a baseline Investigators Global Assessment score of 4. At 16 weeks, a greater proportion of patients treated with CBP-201 achieved an IGA score of 0-1 and a 2 point IGA reduction than those on placebo, meeting the study’s primary endpoint. 62.9% percent of CBP-201 patients achieved a 75% skin clearance, versus 23.4% in the placebo group and 35.8% achieved EASI-90. 46.7% of CBP-201 patients achieved a Peak Pruritus-Numerical Rating Scale reduction of 3 points, versus 16.7% on placebo, and 35.0% achieved a PP-NRS reduction of 4 points, versus 9.6% in the placebo group. CBP-201 appeared to be well tolerated.

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