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Gracell Biotechnologies (GRCL) Surges 62% in a Week: Here's Why

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Shares of Gracell Biotechnologies have surged 62.3% in the one-week period compared with the industry’s breakeven growth.

Zacks Investment Research
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The upside can be attributed to the recent positive results from two investigator-initiated clinical studies, evaluating Gracell’s investigational cell therapy GC012F in patients with relapsed/refractory (“r/r”) multiple myeloma (“MM”) and r/r B-cell non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma (“r/r B-NHL”). GC012F is an CD19/BCMA dual-targeted autologous CAR-T therapeutic candidate, which is being developed across multiple hematological cancers and autoimmune diseases.

Earlier this month, Gracell announced long-term follow-up data from an investigator-initiated multicenter study evaluating GC012F in patients with r/r MM. As of the Apr 12, 2023 cutoff date and with a median follow-up of 30.7 months, treatment with GC012F achieved 93.1% overall response rate (“ORR”). In fact, while all patients achieved minimal residual disease (“MRD”) negativity, 82.8% of the patients achieved MRD negative stringent complete response (sCR).

Last week, the company reported long-term follow-up data from another investigator-initiated study, evaluating GC012F in patients with r/r B-NHL. As of Apr 12, 2023, cutoff date and with a median follow-up of 293 days, treatment with GC012F achieved 100% ORR among all nine patients with r/r B-NHL. The six-month complete response (“CR”) rate was 66.7% among treated patients. Management reported that the GC012F CAR T cells were detectable in tumor biopsies from all tested patients, indicating the infiltration of CAR-T cells into the tumor lesions.

The results above demonstrate the encouraging deep and durable responses of GC012F in MM and B-NHL patients. Apart from the above indications, GC012F is being evaluated in an investigator-initiated study in treating systemic lupus erythematosus (“SLE”).

Gracell does not have a single marketed drug in its portfolio. A successful development of its CAR T cell candidates will help boost the company’s growth prospects. Other than GRC012F, Gracell is evaluating an allogenic CD19-targeted CAR-T cell therapy GC007g in a phase I/II study for the treating patients with r/r B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (“B-ALL”).

 

Zacks Rank & Stocks to Consider

Gracell currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). Some better-ranked stocks in the overall healthcare sector include Akero Therapeutics (AKRO - Free Report) , Adaptimmune Therapeutics and Ligand Pharmaceuticals . While Ligand Pharmaceuticals sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), Akero Therapeutics and Adaptimmune Therapeutics carry a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

In the past 30 days, the estimate for Ligand’s 2023 earnings per share has increased from $4.79 to $5.25. During the same period, the earnings estimate per share for 2024 has increased from $4.58 to $4.69. In the year so far, the shares of Ligand have risen 15.1%.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals beat earnings estimates in two of the last four quarters and missing the mark on the other two occasions. On average, the company’s earnings witnessed an earnings surprise of 21.50%.

Estimates for Adaptive Biotechnologies’ 2023 loss per share have narrowed from 63 cents to 46 cents in the past 30 days. Shares of Adaptive Biotechnologies have declined 30.8% year-to-date.

Earnings of Adaptive Biotechnologies beat estimates in three of the last four quarters and met the mark on one occasion. On average, the company’s earnings witnessed an earnings surprise of36.89%.

Estimates for Akero Therapeutics’ 2023 loss per share have narrowed from $2.97 to $2.80 in the past 30 days. During the same period, the loss estimate per share for 2024 improved from $3.40 to $3.32. Shares of Akero Therapeutics have risen 3.8% year to date.

Earnings of Akero Therapeutics beat estimates in three of the last four quarters and missed the mark on one occasion. On average, the company’s earnings witnessed an earnings surprise of 7.96%.


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