What happened
Shares of Biomea Fusion (BMEA 3.09%) were up 24.1% for the week as of Friday morning, according to data provided by S&P Global Market Intelligence. The biotech company's stock closed at $7.44 on Friday and rose as high as $9.94 on Wednesday. The stock has a 52-week low of $2.84 and a 52-week high of $14.20. The news that sparked the rise came Tuesday morning when the company said it had begun dosing its first patient in its COVALENT-102, phase 1/2 study of BMF-219 to treat KRAS mutant solid tumors.
So what
Biomea is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company that focuses on covalent small molecule therapies to treat genetically defined cancers and metabolic diseases. BMF-219 is its lead candidate in its pipeline and the study is designed to see its effectiveness as a monotherapy against three of the most common tumor types: non-small cell lung cancer, colorectal cancer, and pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma. The therapy is designed to work by targeting the protein menin, which can act as a tumor suppressor.
It's the second trial the company initiated this month for BMF-219. The company is also enrolling diabetic patients in its COVALENT-111 phase 2 trial to determine if the therapy can reactivate healthy cells capable of producing insulin.
The back-to-back trial starts showed significant progress for the company, which went public in 2021.
Now what
As a clinical-stage biotech, Biomea doesn't have any marketed products or revenue. As of the third quarter, it had $133.8 million in cash. As it lost $22.9 million in the quarter, its current burn rate would necessitate a cash infusion sometime in 2024 to continue operations. Its progress makes it worth looking at as a long-term investment, but it carries the risk associated with any clinical-stage biotech.
