What happened
On Monday, shares of Ventyx Biosciences (VTYX -5.73%) closed 22.87% higher than they did last week. The clinical-stage biotech hit more than $40 a share for the first time since March 10.
So what
Ventyx focuses on therapies to treat inflammatory diseases and autoimmune disorders. The company has four programs in its pipeline, including two in phase 2 trials:
- VTX958, an allosteric TYK2 inhibitor to treat plaque psoriasis, Crohn's disease, psoriatic arthritis, and other autoimmune diseases, and
- VTX002, a S1P1 receptor modulator for the treatment of ulcerative colitis.
Investors looking for clues about how the programs are going got excited Monday even though the company reported through its Securities and Exchange Commission filings that several insiders were unloading company stock.
Normally, that's seen as a negative sign, but insiders sell for a variety of reasons, and other factors are at work to drive up the stock. Clinical-stage biotechs with autoimmune therapies have been hot tickets lately. Prometheus Biosciences was recently acquired by Merck, with the deal closing on June 16, and Dice Therapeutics was bought by Eli Lilly in an agreement that was announced on June 20.
Now what
With little news to go on, it makes sense for most investors to stay clear of Ventyx for now. While it has some promising therapies, it had only $376.9 million in cash as of the first quarter -- enough, it said, to fund operations into 2025. One thing that bears watching is the top-line readout of VTX958's phase 2 trial, expected later this year.
