What happened
Shares of Conduit Pharmaceuticals (CDT 2.26%) were up more than 17% on Wednesday as of 11:30 a.m., after jumping up as much as 81% in the first hour of trading, leading to a brief halt in trading. The healthcare stock was rebounding after falling as much as 26% the day before.
So what
Conduit calls itself a "disease agnostic life science company." With no major news announced, Wednesday's brief meteoric rise was nearly as surprising as the big fall a day before. The rise can be chalked up to investors taking a flyer at a bargain, albeit one that is quite volatile. It's important to note that Conduit just began trading on the Nasdaq on Sept. 25, after a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) merger with Murphy Canyon Acquisition. It will take a while for the stock to find its natural level, so some wild price swings and manipulation are to be expected.
Now what
The company doesn't have any revenue yet, and with so little known about it, it remains risky for investors. It has an interesting business model. It has a partnership with St. George Street Capital, which gives it the option to fund assets that are licensed by St. George Street from AstraZeneca. Conduit also looks to salvage other companies' assets that have been deprioritized. It then works with outside contract research organizations to run clinical trials that are funded and overseen by Conduit.
The company has a pipeline that includes two former AstraZeneca pipeline candidates. AZD1656 is in early trials to treat the autoimmune diseases Hashimoto's thyroiditis and Graves' disease, as well as trials to prevent kidney transplant rejection, uvetis, and an autoimmune eye disease, and to treat preterm labor. The company's other pipeline asset is AZD5904, a treatment for idiopathic male infertility.