What happened
Shares of Cellectics (CLLS -3.21%), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company that specializes in oncology, rose 22.7% this week, according to data from S&P Global Market Intelligence. The stock closed last Friday at $3.17, then opened Monday at $3.19. It reached its high of $3.97 on Thursday. The stock has a 52-week low of $2.85 and a high of $16.67 and is down more than 53% so far this year.
So what
The company released research data on its new universal CAR (Chimeric Antigen Receptors) T-cell HEAL platform at The American Society of Gene and Cell Therapy's (ASGCT) annual meeting on Monday. In the report, the company said its novel immune-evasive CAR T-cell (ΔTRACCARΔB2MHLAE) showed preclinical promise in fighting acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL). The therapy was built using the company's TALEN gene-editing process, whereby healthy stem cells are inserted into the body through an adeno-associated virus.
In the data, the company said that therapy showed efficient anti-tumor activity while evading natural kill cell attacks and the body's natural alloresponsive T-cell attacks that otherwise might dilute its tumor-killing ability.
Image source: Getty Images.
The science is complicated, but the company's platform would have other bloodborne cancer applications beyond AML and ALL, including B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (B-ALL) and multiple myeloma (MM).
That's why, while most companies saw losses last week, Cellectis' stock rose, even though it is still a long way from having a marketed product and has only $142 million in cash -- enough to fund its operations, the company said, through early 2024.
In its first-quarter report, released May 12, the company did say it expects to file its investigational new drug application for its first product candidate, UCART20x22, used to treat patients with relapsed or refractory non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL). Cellectis also said it has three therapies in trials and five other therapies in trials sponsored by Cellectis' sponsored partners, which include Allogene and Servier, Iovance Biotherapeutics, and Cytovia.
Now what
The biotech company's progress makes it an excellent buyout candidate, which could easily make the stock soar. The company's TALEN (transcription activator-like effector nuclease) gene-editing technology is a competitor to the CRISPR gene-editing method but has gotten less attention. However, one advantage TALEN may have is it appears to have fewer off-target results and may be more effective in reaching heterochromatin (tightly packed) DNA. The company's technology allows it to develop its own product candidates but also will bring in revenue from other gene-editing biotechs that seek to use that technology.
