What happened
Shares of Tonix Pharmaceuticals (TNXP 1.91%), a much-discussed title among the meme stock crowd, had the latest in a series of up-and-down trading days on Monday. The biotech's stock flew nearly 7% higher on the back of encouraging patent news.
So what
Tonix announced that last Tuesday, it received a patent for "Trefoil Family Factor Proteins and Uses Thereof." The company described the patent as one that "includes claims directed to an isolated polypeptide comprising a carboxy-terminal (CTP) domain of the beta subunit of the human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) fused to a TFF2 protein (TFF2-CTP)."
Image source: Getty Images.
TNX-1700, a promising Tonix pipeline biologic currently in the pre-clinical stage of development, is aimed at treating gastric and pancreatic cancers. It is a form of Trefoil Family Factor 2 (rTFF2). The TFF2 protein, which protects and repairs mucous membranes in the gastrointestinal tract, is thought to be a promising basis for cancer treatment.
Now what
The patent is a very welcome piece of good news for Tonix, which has not been a popular stock lately. In July, the company announced that it would stop enrolling fibromyalgia patients in a phase 3 trial for its once-promising lead pipeline drug, TNX-102 SL.
That came shortly after Tonix released preliminary data indicating that the treatment was efficacious at alleviating the considerable pain that arises from the disease.
Also, like numerous other peers, the biotech is developing a coronavirus vaccine, TNX-1800. However, other jabs have been either approved or authorized for emergency use around the world. With every day that passes without TNX-1800 getting to that stage, Tonix is that much more of a laggard in the great COVID vaccine race.
