What happened

Shares of clinical-stage biotech company Apollomics (APLM -3.29%) rose 130.9% in March, according to data provided by S&P Global Market Intelligence. The healthcare stock closed February at $10.48 a share then rose to as high as $49 on March 30, the first day that it listed on the Nasdaq. The company focuses on immune system-derived therapies to treat a multitude of cancers, particularly lung cancer, brain cancer, acute myeloid leukemia (AML), and other solid-tumor cancers. 

So what

The stock's surge is misleading as it just went public via a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) merger with Maxpro Capital Acquisition Corp. on March 30. So, the rise is compared to Maxpro's stock price. However, Apollomics did jump 172% on its first day on the NASDAQ. As of April 6, though, it had fallen back down to $13.22 a share. 

SPAC stocks have not done well in 2023, with the Federal Reserve's rate hikes cited as a contributing factor in declining shares for growth companies.

Now what

The company hasn't released financials yet. However, it does have a pipeline with nine oncology candidates, six of which are already in clinical trials. Its lead therapies are APL-101 and APL-106. APL-101, a c-Met inhibitor, is seen has having potential against several cancers and is in a phase 2 trial to treat non-small cell lung cancer, with top-line results expected later this year. 

APL-106 is a specific E-selectin antagonist and is useful in making chemotherapy more effective, particularly against certain blood cancers. It is in a phase 3 trial, along with chemotherapy, to treat relapsed or refractory acute myeloid leukemia patients. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) gave the drug a Breakthrough Therapy Designation through GlycoMimetics, the company's collaboration partner in the U.S. The China Medical Products Administration also granted the drug Breakthrough Therapy Designation. The company said it expects the therapy's phase 1 and phase 3 trials to finish patient recruitment some time this year.

Some of the other promising therapies are monoclonal antibodies APL-501 and APL-502. The first is being tested against solid tumors, and APL-502 is in trials against a variety of tumors.

Any clinical-stage biotech poses a risk for investors because, without any marketed therapies yet, it has no revenue, so it can quickly burn through its cash, requiring the company to raise capital through other means.