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: 

• Hookipa Pharma (HOOK), 132% surge in interest
• Cerus Corp (CERS), 103% surge in interest
• Exicure (XCUR), 102% surge in interest
• Ligand Pharmaceuticals (LGND), 100% surge in interest
• Satsuma Pharmaceuticals (STSA), 92% surge in interest

Pipeline and key clinical candidates for these companies:

Hookipa Pharma is focused on developing novel immunotherapies, based on its proprietary arenavirus platform, which are designed to mobilize and amplify targeted T cells and thereby fight or prevent serious disease. Hookipa’s pipeline includes its wholly owned investigational arenaviral immunotherapies targeting Human Papillomavirus 16-positive cancers, prostate cancers, and other undisclosed programs.

Cerus Corporation is dedicated to "safeguarding the world’s blood supply and aims to become the preeminent global blood products company," it has said. The company develops and supplies technologies and pathogen-protected blood components to blood centers, hospitals, and ultimately patients who rely on safe blood. The INTERCEPT Blood System for platelets and plasma is available globally and "remains the only pathogen reduction system with both CE Mark and FDA approval for these two blood components," Cerus states. Also in the US, the INTERCEPT Blood System for Cryoprecipitation is approved for the production of INTERCEPT Fibrinogen Complex, a therapeutic product for the treatment and control of bleeding, including massive hemorrhage, associated with fibrinogen deficiency.

Exicure is an early-stage biotechnology company historically focused on developing nucleic acid therapies targeting ribonucleic acid against validated targets. The company says it continues to actively pursue out-licensing opportunities for its clinical asset, cavrotolimod, as well as for its preclinical candidates, including the SCN9A program for neuropathic pain, and to pursue all strategic alternatives with the goal of maximizing stockholder value.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals is focused on developing or acquiring technologies that help pharmaceutical companies discover and develop medicines. Ligand’s Captisol platform technology is a patent-protected, chemically modified cyclodextrin with a structure designed to optimize the solubility and stability of drugs. Ligand’s Pelican Expression Technology is a "validated and scalable" platform for recombinant protein production that is suited for complex, large-scale protein production "where traditional systems are not," the company states.

Satsuma Pharmaceuticals is developing a novel therapeutic product, STS101, for the acute treatment of migraine. STS101 is a unique and proprietary nasal powder formulation of the well-established anti-migraine drug, dihydroergotamine mesylate, or DHE, administered via Satsuma’s proprietary nasal delivery device.

Recent news on these stocks:

June 15

Satsuma Pharmaceuticals and its corporate parent, Shin Nippon Biomedical Laboratories, announced that three abstracts describing efficacy and safety results from the STS101 Phase 3 efficacy trial were selected for presentation at the American Headache Society’s, ASH, 65th Annual Scientific Meeting.

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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