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: 

• Phio Pharmaceuticals (PHIO), 39,675% surge in interest
• Eterna Therapeutics (ERNA), 11,117% surge in interest
• Salarius Pharmaceuticals (SLRX), 10,853% surge in interest
• Kairos Pharma (KAPA), 2,805% surge in interest
• Soligenix (SNGX), 1,913% surge in interest
• Silexion Therapeutics (SLXN), 1,717% surge in interest
• Azitra (AZTR), 1,645% surge in interest
• Black Diamond Therapeutics (BDTX), 1,315% surge in interest
• iBio (IBIO), 935% surge in interest
• GT Biopharma (GTBP), 900% surge in interest

Pipeline and key clinical candidates for these companies:

Phio Pharmaceuticals is a clinical stage biotechnology company whose proprietary Intasyl RNAi technology is designed to make immune cells more effective in killing tumor cells. “Intasyl is the only self-delivering RNAi technology focused on immuno-oncology therapeutics. INTASYL drugs precisely target specific proteins that reduce the body’s ability to fight cancer, without the need for specialized formulations or drug delivery systems,” the company has stated.

Eterna Therapeutics is a publicly traded, preclinical-stage company focused on developing highly innovative, effective, safe off-the-shelf synthetic iMSC therapies. Eterna’s lead product ERNA-101 is an allogeneic pro-inflammatory cytokine-secreting iMSC. ERNA-101 capitalizes on the intrinsic tumor-homing and infiltration ability of MSCs to slip through the tumor’s defenses and to deliver potent pro-inflammatory factors directly to the tumor microenvironment, limiting systemic exposure and potential toxicity while unleashing potent anti-cancer immune responses including enhancement of T-cell anti-tumor activity. The company’s initial focus is to develop ERNA-101 in platinum-resistant ovarian cancer. The company is also investigating ERNA-102, anti-inflammatory cytokine-secreting iMSCs in inflammatory/auto-immune disorders like rheumatoid arthritis.

Salarius Pharmaceuticals is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing therapies for patients with cancer in need of new treatment options. Salarius’ product portfolio includes seclidemstat, its lead candidate, which is being studied as a potential treatment for pediatric cancers, sarcomas and other cancers with limited treatment options, and SP-3164, an oral small molecule protein degrader being developed for the treatment of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. Salarius has received financial support from the National Pediatric Cancer Foundation to advance the Ewing sarcoma program.

Kairos Pharma says it is “at the forefront of oncology therapeutics, utilizing structural biology to overcome drug resistance and immune suppression in cancer.” lead candidate ENV105 is an antibody that targets CD105-a protein identified as a key driver of resistance to various cancer treatments. Currently, ENV105 is in a Phase 2 clinical trial for castrate-resistant prostate cancer and a Phase 1 trial for lung cancer.

Soligenix is a late-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing and commercializing products to treat rare diseases. Their Specialized BioTherapeutics business segment is developing and moving toward potential commercialization of HyBryte as a novel photodynamic therapy utilizing safe visible light for the treatment of cutaneous T-cell lymphoma. Development programs in this business segment also include expansion of synthetic hypericin into psoriasis, their first-in-class innate defense regulator technology, dusquetide for the treatment of inflammatory diseases, including oral mucositis in head and neck cancer, and proprietary formulations of oral beclomethasone 17,21-dipropionate for the prevention/treatment of gastrointestinal disorders characterized by severe inflammation including pediatric Crohn’s disease.

Silexion Therapeutics is a clinical-stage, oncology-focused biotechnology company developing RNA interference therapies to treat solid tumors driven by KRAS mutations, the most common oncogenic driver in human cancers. The company’s first-generation product, LODER, has shown promising results in a Phase 2 trial for non-resectable pancreatic cancer, Silexion says.

Azitra is a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing innovative therapies for precision dermatology. The company’s lead product, ATR-12, is an engineered strain of S. epidermidis designed to treat Netherton syndrome, a rare, chronic skin disease with no approved treatment options. Netherton syndrome is often fatal in infancy with those living beyond a year having profound lifelong challenges. ATR-12 is being evaluated in a Phase 1b clinical trial in adult Netherton syndrome patients. ATR-04, Azitra’s next most advanced product, is being developed for the treatment of EGFR inhibitor associated rash. Azitra has received Fast Track designation from the FDA for EGFRi associated rash.

Black Diamond Therapeutics is a clinical-stage oncology company developing MasterKey therapies that target families of oncogenic mutations in patients with cancer. The company’s MasterKey therapies are designed to address a broad spectrum of genetically defined tumors, overcome resistance, minimize wild-type mediated toxicities, and be brain penetrant to treat central nervous system disease. The company is advancing a Phase 2 NSCLC trial of BDTX-1535, a brain-penetrant fourth-generation EGFR MasterKey inhibitor targeting EGFR-mutant NSCLC and GBM.

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,” the company stated.

GT Biopharma is a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the development and commercialization of immuno-oncology therapeutic products based on our proprietary TriKE NK cell engager platform. Our TriKE platform is designed to harness and enhance the cancer killing abilities of a patient’s immune system’s natural killer cells. GT Biopharma has an exclusive worldwide license agreement with the University of Minnesota to further develop and commercialize therapies using TriKE technology.

Recent news on these stocks:

January 15

Silexion Therapeutics announced new preclinical results demonstrating the synergistic efficacy of its proprietary second-generation siRNA candidate, SIL-204, in combination with components of first-line chemotherapy for pancreatic cancer. The additional preclinical data show that SIL-204 exhibits significant synergistic activity with 5-fluorouracil and irinotecan-two main components commonly used in pancreatic cancer treatments-when tested in human pancreatic tumor cell lines harboring KRAS G12D mutations, the most common mutation in pancreatic cancer. Moreover, synergistic activity was also observed with the chemotherapeutic agent gemcitabine. This synergistic activity was observed after the confluence of these tumor cell lines, reflecting how SIL-204 may enhance the effects of 5-fluorouracil and irinotecan when used together, as well as that of gemcitabine. For example, in preclinical models, the combination of 5-fluorouracil and irinotecan with SIL-204 led to a significant reduction in cancer cell confluence after about three days compared to treatment with the chemotherapy agents alone, further supporting the synergistic potential of SIL-204 in enhancing standard chemotherapy treatments. This comes on top of previous recent announcements from Silexion regarding pre-clinical findings from the ongoing development of SIL-204, in line with earlier successes with the company’s first-generation product, Loder, which showed a significant improvement in overall survival in the siRNA plus chemotherapy arm compared to chemotherapy alone in Phase 2 trials. As previously reported, Silexion is gearing up for the clinical development of SIL-204, Planning to initiate toxicology studies with SIL-204 within the upcoming months and to advance SIL-204 into Phase 2/3 clinical trials in the first half of 2026, focusing initially on locally advanced pancreatic cancer which has a notoriously high mortality rate. In parallel, the company plans to initiate preclinical studies for SIL-204, in colorectal cancer models.

January 14

Phio disclosed in a filing that it was offering 1.06M shares of common stock to several institutional investors. In a concurrent private placement to the same institutional investors, Phio was also issuing unregistered short-term warrants to purchase up to 2.13M shares of common stock. For each share of common stock issued in this registered offering, two accompanying private warrants will be issued to the purchaser thereof. Each warrant will be exercisable for one share of common stock at an exercise price of $3.00 per share, will be immediately exercisable upon issuance and will expire twenty-four months from the date of issuance.

Eterna Therapeutics announced positive results from a preclinical study on the company’s lead cell therapy product, ERNA-101, which is designed to activate and regulate the immune system’s response to recognize and attack ovarian cancer cells. This successful proof-of-concept study demonstrated massive T cell infiltration after only one dose of ERNA-101, reduced tumor burden, and extended survival in mice with ovarian cancer.

Soligenix announced an interim update on the open-label, investigator-initiated study evaluating extended HyBryte – synthetic hypericin – treatment for up to 12 months in patients with early-stage cutaneous T-cell lymphoma, or CTCL. To date, nine patients have been enrolled and treated with HyBryte over a time period of up to 54 weeks. Patients have responded positively to HyBryte therapy, with over 70% already achieving “Treatment Success”, predefined as a greater than or equal to 50% improvement in the cumulative mCAILS score compared to Baseline. Of the five Treatment Successes, three were achieved within the first 12 weeks of treatment, with two patients achieving a “complete response” by 18 weeks. In addition, HyBryte appears to be safe and well tolerated in all patients. Dr. Kim, Lead Investigator of the FLASH2 study, stated, “In the first Phase 3 FLASH study, HyBryte was shown to be efficacious with a benign safety profile compared to the current therapies of steroids, chemotherapeutics and ultraviolet light in this chronic orphan disease…In our FDA-funded study, initial results evaluating the expanded use of HyBryte in a “real world” treatment setting remain very promising, further supporting and extending results from the previous positive Phase 2 and 3 clinical trials. We look forward to continuing to work with the FDA to complete this study while we participate in the confirmatory Phase 3 placebo-controlled FLASH2 study.”

Azitra announced that it has commenced a public offering of shares of its common stock. All of the shares of common stock to be sold in the proposed offering will be sold by Azitra. Azitra intends to use the net proceeds of this offering for working capital and general corporate purposes. Maxim Group is acting as the sole placement agent for the proposed offering.

January 13

Salarius Pharmaceuticals and Decoy Therapeutics announce the signing of a definitive agreement under which Decoy Therapeutics will merge with a wholly-owned subsidiary of Salarius Pharmaceuticals, subject to the closing conditions set forth in the definitive agreement. The newly formed company will be named Decoy Therapeutics/ This proposed transaction is expected to facilitate multiple value-creating inflection points with Decoy’s pipeline of peptide conjugate therapeutics engineered by its IMP3ACT platform, which allows for the rapid computational design and manufacturing of innovative peptide conjugate therapeutics including rapid response to novel viral pathogens such as avian H5N1 flu. Decoy’s product pipeline targets unmet needs in respiratory infectious diseases and gastroenterology oncology indications. In addition, the combined company intends to incorporate Salarius’ oral small molecule protein degrader SP-3164 into a highly targeted peptide-based proteolysis targeting chimeras drug candidate. The ongoing development of Salarius’ seclidemstat for hematologic cancers in an investigator-initiated Phase 1/2 clinical trial at MD Anderson Cancer Center will be supported while the company evaluates strategic alternatives for seclidemstat. The combined company will be led by Decoy’s Co-founders, CEO Frederick “Rick” Pierce and Chief Scientific Officer Barbara Hibner, by Decoy’s Chief Business Officer Peter Marschel, Chief Technology Officer Mike Lipp and acting Chief Medical Officer and Scientific Advisory Board Chair Shahin Gharakhanian, M.D., and by Salarius’ CFO Mark Rosenblum. The two companies have further agreed that upon closing of the merger and a post-closing shareholder vote approving the conversion of the preferred stock issued at closing, the newly merged company’s board will be comprised of Rick Pierce and Barbara Hibner, and three independent directors, two appointed by Decoy’s board and one by Salarius’ board. Definitive agreements were executed with unanimous approvals by the boards of directors of Salarius Pharmaceuticals and Decoy Therapeutics. The closing consideration will consist primarily of nonvoting preferred stock of Salarius, and it is expected that following closing and a post-closing stockholder vote to approve the conversion of the preferred shares into common stock, Decoy investors would own approximately 86% of the outstanding shares of the merged company and Salarius stockholders would own approximately 14% of the outstanding shares, subject to adjustment, in each case exclusive of any shares issued in any subsequent financing.

In a regulatory filing, iBio disclosed that its director Antonio Parada bought 183.8K shares of common stock on January 10th in a total transaction size of $500K.

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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.