The Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC 1.59%) tried to bounce back on Wednesday morning, seeking to recover losses from the first trading day of 2023. As of shortly after the opening bell, the Nasdaq had moved up by more than half a percent.
Individual stocks within the Nasdaq have seen huge swings, and even the largest companies haven't been immune from big ups and downs. In many cases, smaller companies have seen even more volatility. That was definitely the case on Wednesday, with Nasdaq biotechnology stocks Geron (GERN +8.80%) and Vera Therapeutics (VERA +0.48%) moving in opposite directions.
Geron gets a cancer win
Shares of Geron moved higher by 45% just after trading began on Wednesday morning. The biopharmaceutical company reported study results that showed promising performance from a candidate cancer treatment.
Geron announced positive top-line results from its phase 3 clinical trial of its imetelstat candidate treatment in patients with the blood cancer disease myelodysplastic syndrome. In particular, imetelstat met the primary endpoint of showing statistically significant increases in transfusion independence among patients after eight weeks, with further benefits when measured at 24 weeks. Safety profiles were consistent with earlier-stage studies involving the candidate treatment.
NASDAQ: GERN
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Geron was optimistic about imetelstat's future. CEO John Scarlett said the company is planning regulatory submissions this year with both U.S. and European Union agencies, with the expectation of a potential commercial launch in the U.S. in 2023. Geron is also moving forward with another phase 3 trial evaluating imetelstat in treating myelofibrosis.
Geron has had plenty of ups and downs over the years, and its success or failure depends primarily on whether imetelstat will get approved. The moment of truth for investors appears to be coming this year, and today's gains have the stock at multiyear highs, showing just how enthusiastic dedicated shareholders are about seeing things through to the end.
Vera takes a hit on kidney disease trial data
Moving the other way was Vera Therapeutics, as its stock plunged 60% early Wednesday. The immunological disease specialist reported study results for a potential kidney disease treatment that didn't live up to the expectations of shareholders.
Vera heralded the results from its phase 2b clinical trial of its IgA nephropathy treatment atacicept as positive. The candidate treatment met the study's primary endpoint of showing statistically significant reductions in proteinuria at 24 weeks when pooling together the groups of patients receiving either 75 mg or 150 mg doses, as well as in the individual 150 mg dose group. Further trends toward reduction also showed up in the data from 36 weeks.
NASDAQ: VERA
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However, some shareholders seemed unhappy that atacicept didn't show statistically significant reductions in smaller doses of 25 mg. With the stock having held up reasonably well in a tough market environment in 2022, Vera investors wanted more definitive evidence of efficacy in all dose groups.
Regardless, Vera intends to move forward with plans to advance atacicept into phase 3 clinical trials during the first half of 2023. However, the company anticipates speaking with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration first in order to make sure that Vera and regulators are on the same page with regard to the candidate treatment's prospects. At this stage, Vera will need to see stronger evidence in its later-stage trials before shareholders will be completely confident about atacicept's longer-term impact on the company.
