Today, investors in Brooklyn ImmunoTherapeutics (NYSEMKT:BTX) and BTX stock are seeing absolutely explosive gains. The stock is up approximately 50% at the time of writing on very heavy volume. Currently, 41 million shares have traded hands, versus an average daily volume of around 3.7 million shares.
As one of the more speculative names on Wall Street, BTX stock has seen a lot of retail investor attention of late. Indeed, the r/WallStreetBets crowd has picked up on the low float and high short interest present. And these investors have run with the ball.
In early April, an intriguing piece from Bloomberg highlighted the case for why Brooklyn ImmunoTherapeutics could be the new meme stock that “twitchy” retail investors move to. At the time that report was published, BTX stock was trading around the $5 level. Today, shares of BTX have soared 10-fold. Investors now have to pay more than $50 per share of BTX to get a slice of the action.
However, speculation isn’t the only reason this stock is soaring of late. Yesterday, the company announced some pretty bullish news.
So, let’s dive into what was announced, and why this stock is getting bid up today.
Big Announcement Driving BTX Stock Higher
Yesterday, Brooklyn ImmunoTherapeutics announced it acquired an exclusive license agreement with Factor Bioscience and Novellus Therapeutics. This agreement allows Brooklyn ImmunoTherapeutics the right to an exclusive license the company intends to use for the development of mRNA gene-editing compounds and cell therapies.
Accordingly, investors in BTX certainly like this news. Indeed, the company’s announcement that preliminary data suggest a high degree of efficacy with these non-immunogenic and non-mutagenic gene editing compounds is highly bullish for the story underpinning BTX stock.
Gene editing is a high-growth segment that has come into focus more than ever today. The comments from Brooklyn ImmunoTherapeutics President and CEO Howard Federoff suggest this move could be game-changing:
“As a result of the license acquisition, Brooklyn is now poised to become a key player among companies exploring gene editing for cell therapies. This mRNA gene editing technology has the potential to be disruptive given its high efficiency and relatively low manufacturing costs. We look forward to continuing the work begun by Factor Bioscience and Novellus with this platform and to reporting our progress as our products advance towards the clinic.”
Indeed, BTX stock is one with a ton of momentum today. Accordingly, any news is viewed as good news. However, this is a stock that’s run pretty far, pretty fast. Accordingly, investors should approach this stock with a sense of caution today.
On the date of publication, Chris MacDonald did not have (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article.
