What happened
Shares of Cabaletta Bio (CABA -9.61%) were up more than 12% as of 2:40 p.m. ET Tuesday, after rising as much as 12.7% earlier in the day. The clinical-stage biotech company received an analyst upgrade.
So what
Cabaletta didn't have any major announcements or any Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filings to make the stock rise. However, Guggenheim initiated coverage of the stock, with a price target of $34. The biotech company focuses on engineered T-cell therapies to treat B-cell mediated autoimmune disorders. The company's stock is up 64% over the past three months, partly because its therapy, CABA-201, was granted Fast Track designation by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as a potential lupus treatment on May 16.
Now what
Cabaletta's pipeline has plenty of potential, so even though the company has no revenue yet, investors are buying the stock. Cabaletta's pipeline includes seven programs, including CABA-201, but that candidate is still in early trials, with a phase 1 readout expected in the first half of 2024. The company's other lead candidate is DSG3CAART, a chimeric autoantibody receptor (CAART) which is in a phase 1/2 trial trial to treat mucosal pemphigus vulgaris, an autoimmune disorder that causes blisters to form on the skin and mucous membranes. The company also has a muscle-specific kinase (MuSK) chimeric autoantibody receptor T (MuSK-CAART) therapy in early trials for patients with MuSK-associated myasthenia gravis, a chronic autoimmune neuromuscular disease that causes weakness in the skeletal muscles.
As of the first quarter, the company said it had only $93.8 million in cash, enough to fund operations into 2025. However, since the quarterly report, the company has had several public offerings of stock to raise additional funds.