What happened
Alzamend Neuro (NASDAQ:ALZN) stock popped on Monday, with shares jumping 11.8% as of 3:42 p.m. EDT after rising as much as 41.2% at one point. The stock began rising sharply in the early afternoon with no obvious catalyst.
It's possible, though, that one or more larger investors decided to scoop up Alzamend shares on a pullback, creating upward pressure for a stock with a float of only 37.25 million shares. Alzamend conducted its initial public offering (IPO) on Jun. 17, 2021, and had fallen more than 35% since then prior to today.
Image source: Getty Images.
So what
When a stock has a relatively low float as Alzamend does, big price swings (both up and down) are common. It's more important for investors, though, to focus on the company's underlying business prospects than the volatility of its share price.
Alzamend currently has two programs in pre-clinical testing, AL001 and AL002, that target the treatment of Alzheimer's disease. Both of its pipeline candidates are licensed from the University of South Florida Research Foundation.
Alzheimer's disease has long been viewed as an especially challenging area for drugmakers to tackle. However, Biogen's recent U.S. approval win for Aduhelm has generated significantly more interest among investors in companies such as Alzamend that are developing experimental therapies to target the indication.
Now what
The main thing to watch with Alzamend is the company's progress in filing an Investigational New Drug (IND) application for AL001 to advance the candidate into early-stage clinical testing. Alzamend has indicated in the past that its IND filing could come as soon as the end of this month.
