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: 

• Argenx (ARGX), 467% surge in interest
• Kura Oncology (KURA), 373% surge in interest
• Immunogen (IMGN), 368% surge in interest
• Geron (GERN), 348% surge in interest
• Codexis (CDXS), 297% surge in interest

Pipeline and key clinical candidates for these companies:

Argenx is an immunology company that says it is "committed to improving the lives of people suffering from severe autoimmune diseases" and "aims to translate immunology breakthroughs into a world-class portfolio of novel antibody-based medicines." Argenx developed and is commercializing what it calls "the first-and-only approved neonatal Fc receptor blocker in the U.S., the EU and UK, and Japan." The company is evaluating efgartigimod in multiple autoimmune diseases and advancing several earlier stage experimental medicines within its therapeutic franchises.

Kura Oncology is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company whose pipeline consists of small molecule drug candidates that target cancer signaling pathways. Ziftomenib is a once-daily, oral drug candidate targeting the menin-KMT2A protein-protein interaction for the treatment of genetically defined AML patients with high unmet need. The company is currently enrolling patients in a Phase 2 registration-directed trial of ziftomenib in NPM1-mutant relapsed or refractory AML and is preparing to initiate multiple Phase 1 trials to evaluate ziftomenib in combination with current standards of care in earlier lines of therapy and across multiple patient populations. Tipifarnib, a potent and selective FTI, is currently in a Phase 1/2 trial in combination with alpelisib for patients with PIK3CA-dependent HNSCC. Kura intends to evaluate KO-2806, a next-generation FTI, in a Phase 1 dose-escalation trial as a monotherapy and in combination with other targeted therapies in adult patients with advanced solid tumors.

ImmunoGen is developing the next generation of antibody-drug conjugates to improve outcomes for cancer patients. By generating targeted therapies with enhanced anti-tumor activity and favorable tolerability profiles, the company aims to disrupt the progression of cancer and offer patients more good days.

Geron is a late-stage biopharmaceutical company pursuing therapies with the potential to extend and enrich the lives of patients living with hematologic malignancies. Its investigational first-in-class telomerase inhibitor, imetelstat, "harnesses Nobel Prize winning science in a treatment that may alter the underlying course of these diseases," the company says.

Codexis is an enzyme engineering company leveraging its proprietary CodeEvolver technology platform to discover, develop and enhance novel, high-performance enzymes and other classes of proteins. "Codexis enzymes solve for real-world challenges associated with small molecule pharmaceuticals manufacturing, nucleic acid synthesis and genomic sequencing, and — as biotherapeutic candidates — they have the potential to treat challenging diseases," the company says.

Recent news on these stocks:

April 17

Argenx and Genmab (GMAB) announced that they have entered into a collaboration agreement to jointly discover, develop and commercialize novel therapeutic antibodies with applications in immunology, as well as in oncology therapeutic areas. The multiyear collaboration will leverage the antibody engineering expertise and knowledge of disease biology of both companies to accelerate the identification and development of novel antibody therapeutic candidates with a goal to address unmet patient needs in immunology and cancer. As per the agreement, Argenx and Genmab will each have access to the suites of proprietary antibody technologies of both companies to advance the identification of lead antibody candidates against differentiated disease targets. Under the terms of the agreement, Argenx and Genmab will jointly discover, develop and commercialize products emerging from the collaboration while equally sharing costs as well as any potential future profits. The collaboration will initially focus on two differentiated targets, including one within immunology and one within cancer, with the potential to expand to more.

Kura Oncology reported preclinical data supporting the potential use of farnesyl transferase inhibitors to treat various types of solid tumors in combination with targeted therapies, including KRASG12C inhibitors and anti-angiogenic tyrosine kinase inhibitors. These data were featured in two poster presentations at the American Association for Cancer Research, AACR, Annual Meeting on Sunday, April 16 in Orlando. New preclinical data in the poster titled, ‘Tipifarnib synergizes with a TKI in clear cell renal cell carcinoma models,’ demonstrates the synergistic activity of tipifarnib and axitinib, a TKI approved to treat advanced renal cell carcinoma, in cell- and patient-derived RCC xenograft models. These data support the potential to administer an FTI in combination with a TKI for the treatment of RCC, and studies are ongoing to further evaluate the mechanistic basis of the synergy observed with the combination. In addition, new findings were presented in the poster titled, ‘Combination of tipifarnib with KRASG12C inhibitors to prevent adaptive resistance,’ evaluating the effects of tipifarnib in combination with adagrasib and sotorasib in cell line and xenograft models of KRASG12C mutant non-small cell lung cancer. These data reveal that the addition of tipifarnib leads to significant tumor regression in xenograft models and suppresses mTOR signaling reactivation relative to treatment with the KRASG12C inhibitors alone.

Piper Sandler lowered the firm’s price target on Codexis to $14 from $21 and kept an Overweight rating on the shares after taking over coverage of the name. In the midst of a shift away from its heritage small molecule pharma manufacturing business in favor of more scalable opportunities in the life sciences business, and now with its biotherapeutics pipeline emerging as a top priority, the setup for Codexis shares if favorable, the analyst told investors in a research note.

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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.

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