What happened
Shares of Celldex Therapeutics, Inc. (CLDX 1.93%), a clinical-stage biotech developing novel cancer therapies, fell 21.4% during midday trading on Monday despite a complete lack of news. As of 2:57 p.m. EDT, the stock was down 11.9%, possibly because investors were concerned the company had nothing worth mentioning to present this month's biggest oncology conference.
So what
Although it's hardly significant, investors can't be pleased with Celldex Therapeutics occupying a booth at the European Society of Medical Oncology's annual meeting over the weekend without sharing any new data. Although the company's former lead program cratered earlier this year, the company still has four candidates in clinical-stage trials.
Image source: Getty Images.
When Celldex last provided an update, in August, investigators were still enrolling patients in a phase 2 trial with CDX-3379 and Erbitux to see if the combination could defeat head and neck tumors. The company's also enrolling patients with a variety of solid tumors into a phase 1 study with its CD40 targeted candidate, CDX-1140.
Now what
Running clinical trials is expensive, and moving CDX-3379 and CDX-1140 forward could lead to increased expenses in the quarters ahead. The company finished June with just $114 million in cash after operations lost $20 million during the three months ended June.
Celldex believes the cash it had on hand at the end of June, plus sales of its own shares can see it through 2020. With a bit of luck, ongoing studies will give investors a reason to boost the stock again before it needs to issue too many new shares.
