Taysha Gene Therapies (NASDAQ: TSHA) stock is up 40% today. TSHA stock is also up 400% on the month. The background argument here is that the company is getting itself sorted out. A company getting itself sorted out does tend to impact upon the stock price - even if not quite this wondrously all the time. Taysha was in breach of the NASDAQ listing rules, that’s now solved. They were also running out of money, that’s now solved. Finally, their lead candidate is doing well - so far at least - in trials. So, really, the point is why wouldn’t the stock price be rising?
We looked before at Taysha Gene: “Taysha Gene Therapy (NASDAQ: TSHA) stock is up 200% and change. TSHA stock rose on encouraging results from a trial, but very much more importantly on a stock placing to raise $150 million. That second is obviously dilutive - the market capitalisation before it was under $50 million - but it removes the financing worry very nicely indeed. There is still a runway for the firm that is. Given that the stock issue was above market price (90 cents, as opposed to around 70 cents) it’s also a significant vote of confidence by the investors, led by RA Capital Management. There’s definitely an air of, well, if they value it higher than everyone else then perhaps we all should too?”
The background to that fundraise was this: “early data from its lead program REVEAL Phase 1/2 trial for gene therapy, TSHA-102, for the rare neurodevelopmental disorder Rett syndrome. Citing results from REVEAL’s low-dose cohort, Taysha (TSHA) said that the first adult patient to receive TSHA-102 tolerated the investigational therapy well, indicating no treatment-emergent serious adverse events over six weeks. Additionally, four weeks after the treatment, the patient demonstrated improvements across key efficacy measures, including the Rett Syndrome Behavior Questionnaire (RSBQ).” That’s still very early days in the testing path. But it is, we assume, that good news which led to investors being willing to subscribe for new stock at above the then prevailing market price. Which is, as we’ve said, a vote of confidence.
Taysha Gene Therapies stock price from Google Finance
The nett effect of both the capital raise and the stock price rise is that Taysha is now meeting the NASDAQ listing requirements. That Rett Syndrome treatment has also been granted FDA fast track status. We tend to think it’s the second issue there which is providing the latest boost. NASDAQ compliance was obvious, the FDA ruling was not.
