Clinical stage biotech company CytoDyn Inc (OTCMKTS:CYDY) suffered in the markets on Monday as its stock suffered from a selloff and ended the day with a decline of as much as 10%. If a stock falls as sharply, it may be a good move for investors to work out if the decline in the stock is going to continue or if it might make a rebound any time soon. In order to figure it out, it may be necessary to first take a look at the nature of the company and its business.
Trading Data
On Monday, CYDY stock fell 10% to $0.4201 with more than 1.14 million shares, compared to a volume of 1.82 million shares. The stock moved within a range of $0.4100 – 0.4700 after opening trade at $0.4590.
About CytoDyn Inc
The company is currently involved primarily in the development investigational humanized monoclonal antibody named leronlimab. At this point in time, CytoDyn is engaged in studying the potential of using leronlimab for multiple conditions and including cancer, infectious diseases, and autoimmune conditions.
CytoDyn Highlights NIH Grant for HIV Functional Cure Preclinical Study of Gene Therapy Based on Leronlimab
As a matter of fact, the company was in the news on Monday, and in light of the strong selloff, it may be a good move to take a closer look into it. The company announced yesterday that it had started a new preclinical study in non-human primates in which it will look to look into the possible use of gene therapy based on leronlimab for the treatment of HIV.
It was a major new announcement from the company but it was clear that it did not inspire much enthusiasm among investors as the stock tanked sharply. It is going to be interesting to see if the CytoDyn stock can manage to claw back some of the losses over the coming days or not.
The research work with regards to this study is going to be led by Jonah Sacha, who is a researcher at the Oregon Health & Science University and is also a scientific advisor at CytoDyn. The Oregon Health & Science University has been awarded a grant to the tune of a maximum of $5 million spread across five years by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases of the National Institutes of Health. This research is going to help in the development as well as preclinical research related to a single injection gene therapy.
Jacob Lalezari, who is a scientific advisor at CytoDyn, spoke about the potential of the therapy as well. He noted that the possibility of a one-time gene therapy with a protein like leronlimab is something that offers significant hope to the treatment of HIV in the future.
Key Quote
Jacob Lalezari, M.D., Scientific Advisor to CytoDyn, stated, “The potential for a one-time gene therapy encoding a protein such as leronlimab represents a great hope for the future of HIV therapy and functional cure. Currently, cells deficient in CCR5 have demonstrated a potential path to HIV cure, and bone marrow transplant is not an option for most patients because it is risky and highly invasive. We look forward to exploring this critical area with the assistance of the NIH and advancing research with hopes of finding a functional cure and helping to end the HIV pandemic.”
Last month on June 22 CytoDyn had actually come into focus among investors that some of the top executives at the company were going to be part of a webcast that is going to be aimed at the investment community.
At the webcast, the company was going to provide a corporate update for the quarter. The webcast in question had been held back on June 30, 2022. The executives also answered questions at the webcast that had been submitted previously. It was an important event for the company as well as for its investors.
Technical Data
CYDY stock is trading above the 20-Day and 50-Day Moving averages of $0.41 and $0.37 respectively. However, the stock is trading below the 200-Day moving average of $0.76. The company has a total market capitalization of $301.63 million The stock is down 25% over the past 6 months.
