Cellceutix Corp (OTCMKTS:CTIX) shares were up 3.25% on Friday to $1.27 and an additional 0.79% in after-hours trading. Share prices have been trading in a 52-week range of $0.94 to $1.96. The company has a market cap of $151.13 million at 124.61 million shares outstanding.
Cellceutix Corp is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company that develops therapies with oncology, dermatology and antimicrobial applications. It owns the rights to various drug compounds, including anti-cancer compound Kevetrin, Prurisol, and Brilacidin, which is its drug in a class of compounds known as defensin-mimetics. The company’s clinical trials focus on evaluating its drug candidates, including Kevetrin for the treatment of cancers, Prurisol for the treatment of psoriasis, and Brilacidin for treatments of skin infections, prevention of oral mucositis complicating chemoradiation treatment for cancer, and ulcerative proctitis.
A few days ago, Cellceutix Corp shared early stage data from a phase II in one of its lead assets, although share prices barely reacted to the report, likely because the data is limited and the numbers may be tricky to interpret. Only four of the six patient first cohort has completed the study to date and out of the four, two of these patients achieved a full response and the other two achieved a 50% or more reduction at day 42.
With that, the study appeared to be inconclusive with the partial analysis, especially since one patient wouldn’t allow a physician to perform an endoscopy, thus skewing the data. Still, the drug seemed to be well tolerated and could continue to perform well in succeeding clinical trials.
According to Arthur Bertolino, Chief Medical Officer at Cellceutix, these results have been encouraging and that the numbers support early clinical validity of the unique immunomodulatory properties of Brilacidin. In particular, he explained that the anti-inflammatory properties of Brilacidin alone will lead to multiple beneficial applications of the drug.
Meanwhile, Cellceutix Corp CEO Leo Ehrlich said that the company is delighted to see such promising responses to treatment in the first group of patients given the lowest dose of Brilacidin, adding that the open label design of the trial has been helpful in providing a glimpse of the numbers so far.
Moving forward, investors in Cellceutix Corp are looking for some degree of correlation between efficacy and dosing as indicative of potential. The highest dose is four times the dosage that the patients received and the company continues to conduct tests on each cohort, possibly printing more information in the coming months. Positive results could open opportunities for partnerships, which could lend more upside for Cellceutix Corp shares.
On its daily time frame, it can be seen that Cellceutix Corp shares are currently in tight consolidation just above support at $1.25. A significant rally could lead to a break out of the longer-term triangle formation, likely setting the stock up for gains until the $1.75 area. A downside break, on the other hand, could lead to a move down to the support near $1.00. Volume has been notably weaker in the past few months as investors are holding out for more information on these clinical trials.
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