Biotech Stock Gainers: BJDX, FIXX, LRMR, GRCL, MRSN

There are certain sectors that are almost always in focus among investors as they try to discover the next big thing. The sector has created considerable wealth for investors over the past decades. This feature would provide you with a closer look into five biotech stocks that have recorded gains recently.

Bluejay Diagnostics Inc (NASDAQ:BJDX) – The medical technology company is involved in developing rapid diagnostics on its Symphony platform so as to improve outcomes for patients in critical care. On July 21 the company announced that its board of directors had approved a reverse stock split on its common stock at 1 for 20 ratio.

Additionally, there would also be a reduction in the authorized number of outstanding shares of the common stock to 7,500,000 from 100000000. It was announced that the reverse stock split would go into effect on July 24, 2023, and on the same day, the shares of the Bluejay Diagnostics Inc stock would start trading on a split-adjusted basis under the usual ticker symbol of the company BJDX.

The company decided to go for the move in order to raise the trading price per share of the Bluejay Diagnostics stock. With this move, it would be possible for the company to be in compliance with the $1 minimum bid price requirement rules of NASDAQ.

Homology Medicines Inc(NASDAQ: FIXX) – The genetics medicine company was in focus on July 27 after it announced that it had completed a review of its business. Homology Medicines Inc announced that following the review, the board of directors had approved a plan for the evaluation of alternatives for maximizing value for shareholders.

On the same day, the company also released positive initial data from the first dose level in the dose escalation Phase 1 trial for the evaluation of HMI 103, its gene editing candidate for treating adults suffering from classical phenylketonuria (PKU). The company revealed that the product was well tolerated in general by the three participants of the trial.

Additionally, there was a significant reduction in plasma phenylalanine in two of the three participants by July 26, which was the cut-off date. The company announced that it would not continue to develop its programs and would also work on a reduction of its workforce. In the meantime, the company would explore opportunities for its assets.

Larimar Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ: LRMR) – The clinical-stage biotech firm is focussed on products for the treatment of rare diseases. On July 25, Larimar Therapeutics Inc announced that the United States Food and Drug Administration had provided the clearance to its placebo-controlled, Phase 2 dose exploration trial for four weeks of the product CTI 1601 in patients suffering from Friedreich’s ataxia (FA) to be upgraded to a 50 mg cohort.

In the aforementioned trial, participants would be administered doses every day for the first two weeks, and every other day up until day 28 of the trial. It was also announced at the time that the company’s open-label extension (OLE) trial had also been cleared by the FDA. Those who would participate in the OLE would be provided with 25 mg doses of CITI 1601 on a daily basis. The product is a unique protein replacement therapy that is meant for delivering frataxin to the patient’s mitochondria. Patients suffering from FA suffer from low frataxin levels.

Gracell Biotechnologies Inc (NASDAQ: GRCL) – The worldwide clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company is focussed on the development of innovative and effective cell therapies for treating autoimmune and cancer diseases. On June 10 Gracell Biotechnologies Inc presented long-term follow-up data from its first human study which evaluated the product GCO12F. The product in question is a B-Cell maturation antigen and CD 19, which dually targets the analogous CAR-T in patients who may be suffering from elapsed/refractory B-cell non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma.

The company made an oral presentation at the European Hematology Association (EHA23) Congress. The company revealed that the product also continued to display a good safety profile. The Chief Medical Officer of the company Dr. Wendy Li noted that the company was product to be back at the EHA a year after it had reported its initial data with regards to the product.

Mersana Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ: MRSN) – The clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company is involved in the development and discovery of a pipeline of antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) that target cancers with unmet medical needs. Mersana Therapeutics Inc announced on July 27 that the IPLIFT clinical trial pertaining to its upifitamabrilsodotin (UpRi)  had failed to hit the primary end point. 

UpRi is an ADC that is meant for targeting NaPi2b, a sodium-dependent phosphate transport protein. It had been developed with the deployment of the Dolaflexin platform that belonged to the company. UPLIFT had been a single-arm critical trial that had enrolled platinum-resistant ovarian cancer patients.