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: 

• Verrica Pharmaceuticals (VRCA), 618% surge in interest
• Verona Pharma (VRNA), 439% surge in interest
• Journey Medical (DERM), 356% surge in interest
• Nektar Therapeutics (NKTR), 281% surge in interest
• Viking Therapeutics (VKTX), 276% surge in interest
• Apellis Pharmaceuticals (APLS), 206% surge in interest
• Corbus Pharma (CRBP), 185% surge in interest
• Elevai Labs (ELAB), 185% surge in interest
• Royalty Pharma (RPRX), 169% surge in interest
• Alkermes (ALKS), 167% surge in interest

Pipeline and key clinical candidates for these companies:

Verrica is a dermatology therapeutics company developing medications for skin diseases requiring medical interventions. 

Verona Pharma is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing and commercializing therapies for the treatment of chronic respiratory diseases with significant unmet medical needs. If successfully developed and approved, Verona’s product candidate, ensifentrine, has the potential to become the first non-steroidal therapy for the treatment of respiratory diseases that combines bronchodilator and anti-inflammatory activities in one molecule, the company said.

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.

Nektar Therapeutics is a biopharmaceutical company that describes itself as having “a robust, wholly owned R&D pipeline of investigational medicines in immunology and oncology as well as a portfolio of approved partnered medicines.”

Viking Therapeutics is focused on the development of novel first-in-class or best-in-class therapies for the treatment of metabolic and endocrine disorders. The company’s clinical programs include VK2809, a novel, orally available, small molecule selective thyroid hormone receptor beta agonist for the treatment of lipid and metabolic disorders, which is currently being evaluated in a Phase 2b study for the treatment of biopsy-confirmed non-alcoholic steatohepatitis, or NASH, and fibrosis.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals says the company “ushered in the first new class of complement medicine in 15 years” with the approval of the first and only targeted C3 therapy. Apellis is advancing this science to “continually develop transformative medicines for people living with rare, retinal, and neurological diseases,” it stated.

Corbus Pharmaceuticals 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 TGF-beta and small molecules that activate or inhibit the endocannabinoid system.

Elevai Labs specializes in medical aesthetics and biopharmaceutical drug development, focusing on innovations for skin aesthetics and treatments tied to obesity and metabolic health. Driven by a commitment to scientific research, Elevai aims to transform personal health and beauty, the company states.

Royalty Pharma identifies itself as “the largest buyer of biopharmaceutical royalties and a leading funder of innovation across the biopharmaceutical industry, collaborating with innovators from academic institutions, research hospitals and non-profits through small and mid-cap biotechnology companies to leading global pharmaceutical companies.” Royalty Pharma’s current portfolio includes royalties on more than 35 commercial products and 15 development-stage product candidates, the company has noted.

Alkermes is a fully-integrated, global biopharmaceutical company developing innovative medicines in the fields of neuroscience and oncology. The company has a portfolio of proprietary commercial products focused on alcohol dependence, opioid dependence, schizophrenia and bipolar I disorder, and a pipeline of product candidates in development for neurological disorders and cancer.

Recent news on these stocks:

November 7

Nektar Therapeutics and collaborators at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center presented late-breaking results from a Phase 2 study evaluating NKTR-255 for the treatment of radiation induced lymphopenia after concurrent chemoradiation in locally advanced non-small cell lung cancer, or NSCLC, patients at the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer, or SITC, Annual Meeting. The results from the preplanned interim analysis from the REStoring lymphoCytes Using NKTR-255 after chemoradiothErapy in solid tumors, or RESCUE, trial suggest that NKTR-255 effectively reversed radiation induced lymphopenia in patients with locally advanced NSCLC receiving consolidation therapy with durvalumab. Interim pharmacodynamic data demonstrated statistically significant superiority of the eight-week absolute lymphocyte count with NKTR-255 post chemoradiation and in combination with durvalumab versus non-contemporaneous control groups who received either chemoradiation alone or chemoradiation in combination with durvalumab. “These results, combined with the body of evidence previously reported with NKTR-255 in combination with cell therapy, highlight NKTR-255’s potential to enhance clinical benefit in both hematologic malignancies and solid tumors” said Mary Tagliaferri, MD, Senior Vice President and Chief Medical Officer at Nektar.

Scotiabank lowered the firm’s price target on Apellis to $30 from $35 and kept a Sector Perform rating on the shares. The company missed on both the topline and bottom line, the analyst tells investors. Additionally, Syfovre and Empaveli came short of expectations, with Syfovre’s launch facing headwinds due to anticipated unfavorable gross-to-net adjustments, the firm adds. While the firm sees a path for continued revenue growth as Syfovre gains preferred status from payers, this growth will likely be more muted than what has been seen previously.

Piper Sandler lowered the firm’s price target on Apellis to $32 from $40 and kept a Neutral rating on the shares. The firm notes Apellis reported Q3 earnings where Syfovre sales came in below expectations, with the miss driven by higher GTN. Management guided towards flat to modest Syfovre sales for Q4 and a GTN in the low-to-mid 20% range going forward.

Corbus Pharmaceuticals reported Q3 EPS of ($1.15) against a consensus of (95c). “We continue to make steady and significant progress across our pipeline,” said Yuval Cohen, Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer of Corbus. “We expect to report the first data from the CRB-701 U.S. bridging study in Q1 2025. This significant dataset will build on the encouraging clinical data presented at ASCO 2024 by CSPC, our development partner. The emerging efficacy and safety data presented at ASCO 2024 was promising and demonstrated the drug is clinically active with a differentiated safety profile. We are also pleased with the continued development of CRB-913, our highly peripherally restricted CB1 inverse agonist for the treatment of obesity. We presented updated pre-clinical data at Obesity Week 2024 and expect to dose the first study participant in Q1 2025,” concluded Dr. Cohen.

November 6

Royalty Pharma reported Q3 revenue of $565M against a consensus of $696.1M. “We delivered strong growth of approximately 15% in Portfolio Receipts in the third quarter of 2024 and are delighted to raise our full year guidance” said Pablo Legorreta, Royalty Pharma’s CEO. “We also strengthened our portfolio by adding royalties on three innovative therapies over the last three months, increasing our Capital Deployment to approximately $1.2 billion in the third quarter and $2.6 billion year-to-date. Notably, two of these transactions were for synthetic royalties for $500 million in total, continuing the strong demand we are seeing for this attractive, flexible type of capital. Lastly, we are pleased with the progress of our portfolio as Voranigo and Cobenfy were recently approved by the FDA. Based on our robust deal pipeline, our leading position as the partner of choice in the royalty market and our efficient business model, I am confident that Royalty Pharma is well positioned to deliver attractive, compounding growth over the long term.”

November 5

RBC Capital analyst Gregory Renza downgraded Verrica Pharmaceuticals to Sector Perform from Outperform with a price target of $2, down from $11. The firm said the company’s “challenging” Q3 of negative net revenues is compounded by a quick CEO transition and strategic review to save Ycanth, manage costs, and restore the balance sheet. RBC sees “an uncertain path” for Verrica and cut its Ycanth forecasts.

November 4

Verona Pharma reported Q3 EPS of (7c) against a consensus of (50c), and reported Q3 revenue of $5.6M against a consensus of $2.0M. “We are pleased to report an exceptionally strong start to the US launch of Ohtuvayre (ensifentrine) with healthcare professionals prescribing treatment across a broad range of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (“COPD”) patients including background single, dual and nearly 50% on triple therapy,” said David Zaccardelli, CEO. “While it is still very early in the launch, we are extremely encouraged from the initial patient and HCP reports about Ohtuvayre’s potential to improve COPD symptoms regardless of COPD severity. This broad utilization across all patient types is consistent with market research and supports our belief that Ohtuvayre’s bronchodilator and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory activity is a significant advancement for COPD patients and can re-define the treatment paradigm. In the third quarter, through the first seven weeks of launch, we recorded $5.6 million of net sales. We are excited by the continued acceleration as net sales for October exceeded the third quarter. More than 5,000 Ohtuvayre prescriptions were filled and more than 2,200 unique HCPs prescribed Ohtuvayre in just 12 weeks. Alongside our successful Ohtuvayre launch, in the third quarter we initiated two Phase 2 clinical trials: a dose-ranging trial with glycopyrrolate, a long-acting muscarinic antagonist, supporting a nebulized fixed-dose combination program with ensifentrine for the maintenance treatment of COPD, and a trial assessing the efficacy and safety of nebulized ensifentrine in patients with non-cystic fibrosis bronchiectasis.”

Journey Medical announced that the FDA has approved Emrosi, formerly referred to as DFD-29, for the treatment of inflammatory lesions of rosacea in adults. Emrosi was developed in collaboration with Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories (RDY). The approval of Emrosi is supported by positive data from Journey Medical’s two Phase 3 clinical trials for the treatment of rosacea. The Phase 3 clinical trials met all co-primary and secondary endpoints, and subjects completed the 16-week treatment with no significant safety issues. Emrosi demonstrated statistically significant superiority over both the current standard-of-care treatment, Oracea(R) 40 mg capsules, and placebo for Investigator’s Global Assessment treatment success as well as the reduction in total inflammatory lesion count in both studies.

Viking Therapeutics presented at the ObesityWeek meeting on Sunday, noting “promising” early results for its experimental obesity pill, with increased weight loss at higher doses, IBD’s Ed Carson reports. Patients taking 100-miligram doses of Viking’s VK2735 lost 8.2% of their body weight after 28 days, or 6.8% more than those taking a placebo, and no patients taking the highest dose stopped taking it, according to the report.

Nektar Therapeutics announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to sell its Huntsville, Alabama manufacturing facility and reagent supply business to Ampersand Capital Partners, a Boston-based private equity firm. Ampersand has agreed to acquire Nektar’s commercial-scale manufacturing facility and PEGylation reagent supply business for a total consideration of $90M, comprised of $70M in cash proceeds and $20M in a retained equity position for Nektar in a newly-created Ampersand portfolio company. Ampersand has also committed to invest additional growth equity capital into the new portfolio company. Following the closing of the transaction, Nektar will be entitled to appoint a representative to the board of the new Ampersand portfolio company. The Huntsville site is a 124,000 square foot, commercial-scale specialized manufacturing facility with a strong history of supporting commercial supply chains for PEGylated therapeutics across global markets. The facility has several commercial-scale supply chain contracts with leading pharmaceutical companies. All of Nektar’s employees at the Huntsville facility will be offered employment at the new portfolio company, ensuring continuity in the high-quality manufacturing and PEGylation expertise that longstanding customers trust and rely on. The sale is not subject to financing contingencies. The transaction will be subject to customary closing conditions and costs and is expected to close by December 2. Following the closing, Nektar will retain all rights to current and future royalty streams and milestones related to existing PEGylated product license agreements.

Stifel upgraded Alkermes to Buy from Hold with a price target of $36, up from $25. After a deep dive on the orexin space, the firm says it has become “very confident” that ALKS2680 should succeed and be differentiated from Takeda’s (TAK) TAK-861 in NT1 and “more optimistic” that ALKS2680 can succeed in NT2 and possibly IH, where TAK-861 failed, the analyst tells investors. The firm is also “more comfortable, even if still a little worried,” around safety and “visual disturbances” and confident that the market opportunity for orexins is very large and that there’s room for multiple players, the analyst added.

Hear more from InvestingChannel by signing up for The Spill.

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.