Shares of Senseonics (NYSEMKT:SENS) are on the march in Friday’s pre-market action stock after the medtech firm reported positive test results for its glucose-monitoring system. SENS stock was up more than 30% at 8:30 a.m. Eastern.
SENS stock closed Thursday at $2.05 a share after surging over the past six month. The shares used to trade deep in penny stock territory, below 50 cents through most of 2020.
Senseonics is focused on developing and commercializing long-term implantable continuous glucose monitoring systems, or CGMs, for patients with diabetes. It is novel in that it can be implanted and then provide data for up to six months.
Today’s big move comes after the firm said study results for both a primary and secondary glucose sensor — or an SBA sensor — showed promising preliminary results. The study sought to evaluate Senseonics’ Eversense CGM System in patients with diabetes, testing them over a 180-day period. The study is the basis of the pre-market application submissions to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and to European regulators for a CE mark, the company said.
The value of long-term implantable CGM systems for patients with diabetes, especially those requiring insulin, is unquestioned, said study primary investigator Dr. Satish Garg, according to a Senseonics announcement. “To enable more patients to utilize CGM, there needs to be choice in product features,” such as those offered by Eversense, the investigator said.
SENS Stock Is a Bet on Diabetes Care Demand
Earlier this week, InvestorPlace contributor Ian Bezek took a deep dive into SENS stock, looking past the shares’ move as high as $6 during the huge Reddit short squeeze phenomenon back in January.
He was most impressed with an important partnership the small medical device maker has established with Ascensia Diabetes Care, which he wrote is “rebooting marketing efforts for Eversense in the United States.”
According to the company’s latest conference call, Ascensia has relaunched Eversense in the U.S. recently and hired several dozen marketing employees to get product sales rolling there. The product line is the only FDA-approved long-term CGM product in the U.S. Accordingly, there’s a tremendous opportunity should further commercialization efforts take hold.
A high-profile backer like Ascenia, a large Swiss-based diabetes-focused CGM player, provides significant validation to investors. With the latest data from its study, investors can start to see a path forward to long-term growth and eventual profitability, if this collaboration yields fruit.
On the date of publication, Robert Lakin did not have (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer, subject to the InvestorPlace.com Publishing Guidelines.
InvestorPlace contributor Robert Lakin is a veteran financial writer and editor, including previous stints with Bloomberg News and as a buyside equity research editor. His Substack newsletter, TLV Strategist, covers the Israel business scene.
