A “nano cap” company with a noble purpose is seeing a lot of growth premarket today.
Seelos Therapeutics (SEEL) spiked some 17% before the bell, purportedly in investor reactions to a deal with Duke University regarding rights to a CRISPR-based gene therapy to address Parkinson’s disease.
SEEL as a company has a history of fighting central nervous system disorders. The clinical stage biopharmaceutical company focuses on various specific healthcare needs, including some conditions termed” orphan diseases” for their relative rarity, with under 200,000 people affected nationwide.
But the firm also addresses more common maladies like Parkinson’s, in a bright spot in the drug world, giving hope to those who suffer from these degenerative conditions.
In the past,SEEL has focused on conditions like ‘Sanfilippo syndrome,’ a rare recessive genetic disease that leads to various developmental disability.
“(Team Sanfillipo Foundation) is finalizing the protocol for an up to 20 patient open-label phase IIb study in Sanfilippo syndrome that currently presents few therapeutic options for patients,” read a progress report put out March 28. “ Seelos will provide drug for the current 52-week study as well as an extension study and own all data upon the completion of the trial. Initial patient dosing is scheduled to begin in 2Q 2019.”
This morning, analysts note that the terms of the deal with Duke are not made public, but the strong price movement indicates the company is proceeding from a position of strength.
Directly after the bell, prices stayed relatively high, although moving from about $2.50 down to near to $2.33: for context, prices had been as low as $2.20 over the last month and dipped to a low of $1.49 in early March.
