| Icosavax [ICVX] - Last Close: $10.49 The tiny biotech has agreed to be acquired by British Big Pharma firm AstraZeneca [AZN] via a tender offer that includes cash and CVRs. Icosavax owners will receive $15 per share under the terms of the deal, plus a non-tradable contingent value right for a $5 cash regulatory milestone payment. The deal will build on AstraZeneca’s RSV therapeutics portfolio by strengthening its late-stage pipeline with Icosavax’s lead vaccine candidate, IVX-A12. The deal is expected to close in the first quarter of 2024, pending a successful tender offer and customary closing conditions. ICVX is one of this morning’s top movers with a 46.2% gain on 626K shares traded. My Take: ICVX is already trading for higher than the proposed acquisition price, so I don’t think there’s a lot of upside left on the table here.
C4 Therapeutics [CCCC] - Last Close: $1.18
A newly announced research collaboration with Pharma Giant Merck [MRK] is rallying shares of this micro-cap biotech. C4 Therapeutics announced the license and research collaboration to discover and develop Degrader-Antibody Conjugates (DACs) this morning. Under the terms of the deal, C4 will receive $10 million cash upfront, plus $600 million in potential milestone payments. Merck also has the option to expand the agreement, which could make C4 eligible for another $2.5 billion in milestone payments. CCCC is up 58.4% on the news, with over 16 million shares traded in the premarket. My Take: This is a promising collaboration for CCCC. The stock has struggled as of late, but this headline could provide the catalyst it needs to pivot.
IN8bio [INAB] - Last Close: $1.28
After Monday’s close, the tiny biotech shared noteworthy new clinical data from a Phase 1 trail of INB-100 in Leukemia patients. INB-100 demonstrated a continued durable complete remission in 100% of evaluable patients in the ongoing clinical trial. All trial participants are alive and have been relapse free as of the last assessment, and six have been relapse free for over a year. IN8bio is hosting a call at 8:30 a.m. ET to discuss the press release in more detail, so expect to see some volatility around that time. INAB is one of this morning’s most active stocks. Shares are up 28.9% on more than 4.7 million shares traded. My Take: INAB has been running hot the past couple of days, but we’ll see how much farther this news can carry it. I expect a pullback at some point, but shares might find new support at the $1 mark.
Bruush Oral Care [BRSH] - Last Close: $0.1629 A Schedule 13D regulatory filing dated Dec. 11th disclosed Yaletown Bros. Ventures has built a 23.1% ownership position in the company. The Smart Money investment could be a promising sign for the struggling stock, and the company is also making progress on its compliance issue with Nasdaq. According to a Form 6-K filing also dated yesterday, the company believes it has regained compliance with Nasdaq’s minimum shareholder equity rule. Whatever the reason, investors are buying in force this morning. BRSH is up 17.6% and more than 23 million shares have passed hands in the premarket. My Take: BRSH has been pretty erratic as of late, so I recommend you take a defensive posture if you want to chase this one down. GainersAssure Holdings [IONM] >> +56.5%Rail Vision Unit [RVSN] >> +25.6%Wavedancer [WAVD] >> +19.0%DeclinersDawson Geophysical [DWSN] >> (38.3%)Green Giant [GGE] >> (41.0%)Near Intelligence [NIR] >> (25.2%) Inotiv [NOTV] ... PMOil-Dri Corporation of America [ODC] ... PMOracle Corporation [ORCL] ... PMCasey's General Stores [CASY] ... PM None | 