Biotech Alert: Searches spiking for these stocks today

These names in the biotech sector are seeing a substantial increase in search activity today, as determined by InvestingChannel. They include:

• iBio (IBIO), 1,833% surge in interest
• Neuphoria Therapeutics (NEUP), 1,486% surge in interest
• Summit Therapeutics (SMMT), 163% surge in interest

Pipeline and key clinical candidates for these companies:

iBio is a biotech company leveraging AI and advanced computational biology to develop next-generation biopharmaceuticals for cardiometabolic diseases, obesity, cancer and other hard-to-treat diseases. By combining proprietary 3D modeling with innovative drug discovery platforms, iBio is creating a pipeline of breakthrough antibody treatments to address significant unmet medical needs. Its mission is to transform drug discovery, accelerate development timelines, and unlock new possibilities in precision medicine.

Neuphoria is a clinical-stage biotechnology company dedicated to developing therapies that address the complex needs of individuals affected by neuropsychiatric disorders. Neuphoria’s lead drug candidate is BNC210, a first-of-its-kind, well-tolerated, broad spectrum anti-anxiety experimental therapeutic, designed to restore neurotransmitter balance in relevant brain areas, potentially providing rapid relief from stress and anxiety symptoms without the common pitfalls of sedation, cognitive impairment, or addiction.

Summit Therapeutics is a biopharmaceutical oncology company focused on the discovery, development, and commercialization of patient-, physician-, caregiver- and societal-friendly medicinal therapies intended to improve quality of life, increase potential duration of life, and resolve serious unmet medical needs.

Recent news on these stocks:

October 22

Summit Therapeutics announced that the company has accepted offers from multiple biotech institutional and individual investors to purchase an aggregate of approximately 26.68M shares of the company’s common stock at $18.74 per share, the closing price on Tuesday, October 21, for aggregate gross and net proceeds to the company of approximately $500M. Robert Duggan, the company’s co-CEO, executive chairman of the board of directors and majority stockholder, Mahkam Zanganeh, co-CEO, president and member of the board, Manmeet Soni, COO, CFO and member of the board, Bhaskar Anand, CAO and certain non-executive employees each participated as Investors in the private placement, investing an aggregate of $272M. Additionally, Akeso participated as an investor in the private placement, investing $10M. Yu Xia, a member of the board, is the CEO and chairwoman of Akeso. Summit’s insiders including Akeso invested a total of $282M. The remaining funds of $218M were raised with multiple leading biopharma institutional investors and other individual investors. Summit intends to use the net proceeds to advance, in part, the clinical development of ivonescimab, in addition to working capital needs and general corporate purposes.

October 21

Lucid Capital analyst Elemer Piros downgraded Neuphoria Therapeutics to Neutral from Buy with a price target of $2.30, down from $81, after the Phase 3 AFFIRM-1 trial of BNC210 for the acute treatment of social anxiety disorder failed to meet its primary endpoint. The study also did not show statistically significant results across secondary endpoints, the analyst tells investors in a research note.

October 20

Oppenheimer initiated coverage of iBio with an Outperform rating and $5 price target, citing “optimism” for lead asset IBIO-610 to address key challenges in treating the growing obesity market. Preclinical data validate the potential of ‘610 to drive both fat loss and lean mass preservation, supporting “a highly differentiated and complementary profile,” says the analyst, who views the drug as “an under-the-radar” next-generations approach that “could command strategic interest.”

Neuphoria Therapeutics announced that the AFFIRM-1 Phase 3 trial of BNC210 for the acute treatment of social anxiety disorder did not meet its primary endpoint of change from baseline to the average of the performance phase of the public speaking challenge in Subjective Units of Distress Scale scores. In addition, analyses of secondary endpoints did not demonstrate statistically significant differences. The safety and tolerability profile of BNC210 continued to be favorable and was consistent with previously reported studies. Based on the results from the AFFIRM-1 trial, Neuphoria will discontinue further development of its SAD program. Given previous positive data with chronic daily dosing, Neuphoria also plans to evaluate next steps for further development of BNC210 in post-traumatic stress disorder. The company plans to conduct a full strategic review of its operations and portfolio and to provide an update by year-end. The company has an ongoing partnership with Merck (MRK). MK-1167, one of two positive allosteric modulator candidates being advanced in the strategic partnership with Merck, is currently being evaluated in a Merck-led Phase 2 trial in Alzheimer’s disease. Merck is responsible for all costs of this program, and through the partnership, Neuphoria is eligible to receive up to $450M in additional milestone payments for certain development and commercial milestones plus royalties on net sales of any licensed medicines. As of June 30, Neuphoria’s cash and cash equivalents were $14.2M. The company expects its current cash position to be sufficient to fund operations through the second fiscal quarter of 2027.

October 19

Summit Therapeutics announced results from the Phase III HARMONi-6 trial, conducted in China and sponsored by its partner, Akeso (AKESF), featuring the investigational bispecific antibody, ivonescimab. The data was presented as part of the Presidential Symposium at the European Society for Medical Oncology 2025 Congress, ESMO 2025, in Berlin, Germany. In the HARMONi-6 planned interim analysis of progression-free survival, PFS, ivonescimab in combination with chemotherapy demonstrated a statistically significant improvement in the primary endpoint, PFS, by Independent Radiologic Review Committee, IRRC, when compared to tislelizumab in combination with chemotherapy, achieving a hazard ratio of 0.60. A clinically meaningful benefit was demonstrated across clinical subgroups, including those with either PD-L1 negative or positive expression. Both the overall response rate, ORR, measured according to RECIST v1.1 criteria, as well as the duration of response, DoR, were higher in patients treated with ivonescimab plus chemotherapy compared to those treated with tislelizumab plus chemotherapy.

October 17

Leerink analyst Roanna Ruiz initiated coverage of iBio with an Outperform rating and $2 price target. The firm argues that lead obesity asset IBIO-610 represents a preclinically validated, first-in-class antibody opportunity that could address the safety and durability limitations of RNA-based competitors. Following the recent $50M public offering, iBio should maintain liquidity through all pre-IND and IND catalysts, with Series G and H warrants providing up to an additional $50M in contingent capital tied to IND milestones, Leerink adds. This structure should support a self-funding runway through the second half of 2026, aligning with the expected IND filings for IBIO-610 and IBIO-600 by year-end 2026. Further, the firm believes iBio’s proprietary AI/ML-driven antibody discovery and engineering platform should provide enhanced scalability and speed to identify and optimize novel biologics.

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About “Biotech Alert”

The Fly will report on a selection of biotech stocks seeing a surge in interest from retail and financial professional investors, based on data from InvestingChannel.

This Fly exclusive recap reveals the biotech stocks that are seeing a spike in searches among the 20-plus million retail and financial professional investors through InvestingChannel’s online financial news media ecosystem.

This increased attention from the investors may be in response to, or advance of, outsized moves for stocks in the biotech sector, which tend to be volatile and prone to sharp swings in share price around binary events such as clinical study results and FDA approvals.