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: 

• Protagonist (PTGX), 1,103% surge in interest
• Journey Medical (DERM), 900% surge in interest
• IGM Biosciences (IGMS), 365% surge in interest
• VBI Vaccines (VBIV), 112% surge in interest

Pipeline and key clinical candidates for these companies:

Protagonist Therapeutics is a biopharmaceutical company with peptide-based new chemical entities rusfertide and JNJ-2113 in advanced stages of clinical development, both derived from the company’s proprietary technology platform. Rusfertide, a mimetic of the natural hormone hepcidin, is the company’s lead drug candidate currently in a global Phase 3 stage of development. The REVIVE study is now complete, with an open-label extension underway. The global Phase 3 VERIFY study of rusfertide in polycythemia vera is ongoing. Protagonist retains all worldwide development and commercialization rights to rusfertide.

Journey Medical says it is focused on identifying, acquiring, developing and strategically commercializing “innovative, differentiated dermatology products through its efficient sales and marketing model.” The company currently markets eight branded and three generic products that help treat and heal common skin conditions.

IGM Biosciences is a clinical-stage biotechnology company committed to developing and delivering a new class of medicines to treat patients with cancer, autoimmune and inflammatory diseases and infectious diseases. IGM’s pipeline of clinical and preclinical assets is based on the IgM antibody, which has 10 binding sites compared to conventional IgG antibodies with only 2 binding sites. IGM also has an exclusive worldwide collaboration agreement with Sanofi (SNY) to create, develop, manufacture, and commercialize IgM antibody agonists against oncology and immunology and inflammation targets.

VBI Vaccines is a biopharmaceutical company focused on virus-like particles, or VLPs, including a proprietary enveloped VLP, eVLP, platform technology. VBI develops vaccine candidates that mimic the natural presentation of viruses, designed to elicit the innate power of the human immune system. “VBI is committed to targeting and overcoming significant infectious diseases, including hepatitis B, coronaviruses, and cytomegalovirus, as well as aggressive cancers including glioblastoma,” the company says.

Recent news on these stocks:

July 6

VBI Vaccines’ 10.91M share spot secondary priced at $1.65 per share. The deal priced below the stock’s last closing price of $2.42. Newbridge Securities acted as the sole book running manager for the offering.

July 4

Protagonist Therapeutics announced topline results from the Phase 2b FRONTIER 1 clinical trial evaluating the oral interleukin-23 receptor antagonist JNJ-2113 in adult patients with moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis. The trial achieved all primary and secondary efficacy endpoints. JNJ-2113 is being developed by Johnson & Johnson’s (JNJ) Janssen Biotech under Protagonist’s license and collaboration agreement with Janssen. A greater proportion of patients who received JNJ-2113 achieved PASI 75 as well as PASI 90 and PASI 100 compared to placebo, at week 16, the company said in a statement. Trial results for JNJ-2113 demonstrated a profile that supports its advancement into Phase 3 clinical development for moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis in adult patients, it added.

July 3

Journey Medical announced that it expects topline results from the two Phase 3 multicenter, randomized, double-blind, parallel-group, active-comparator and placebo-controlled clinical trials, MVOR-1 and MVOR-2, evaluating DFD-29 for the treatment of moderate to severe papulopustular rosacea, to be announced the week of July 10, 2023. DFD-29 is being developed for the treatment of PPR in collaboration with Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories Ltd. The DFD-29 Phase 3 clinical program consists of two multicenter, randomized, double-blind, parallel-group, active-comparator and placebo-controlled clinical trials, MVOR-1 and MVOR-2, that are expected to support a New Drug Application submission in the United States and a Marketing Authorization Application in Europe. The combined enrollment target of 640 total adult patients with moderate to severe PPR was achieved in the trials; one trial enrolled patients in the United States, and the other enrolled patients in both the United States and Europe. The MVOR-1 and MVOR-2 clinical trials are randomized in a 3:3:2 ratio to DFD-29, Oracea or placebo once daily for 16 weeks. The primary objective is to evaluate the safety, efficacy and tolerability of DFD-29 compared to placebo for the treatment of PPR. The secondary objective is to evaluate the safety, efficacy and tolerability of DFD-29 compared to Oracea.

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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.