SLS Stock Heads For Weekly Win: Deutsche Bank’s Stake Boost Draws Attention Ahead Of Q1 Earnings

• Deutsche Bank raised its holdings to 137,646 shares valued at $582,000 in the March quarter.
• Sellas’ largest shareholders include Vanguard Group, BlackRock, and State Street, among others.
• The company recently took part in discussions on the EU Biotech Act related to drug approvals, biotech competitiveness, and patient access.

Shares of Sellas Life Sciences, Inc. (SLS) are poised to end the week in the green as investors increased their bets on the cancer-drug developer and tracked big money ahead of earnings and a potential acute myeloid leukemia (AML) trial catalyst.

SLS stock ended Thursday over 4% lower at 4.93, but shares are tracking their best week in nearly a month after gaining about 11% so far this week.

Deutsche Bank Boosts SLS Stake By 50%

Fresh filings showed that Deutsche Bank increased its stake in SLS by 50% during the March quarter. The bank added 45,958 shares, bringing its total holdings to 137,646 shares valued at $582,000, according to data from Quiver Quantitative.

The filing came alongside several smaller institutional stakes, including a more than 500% increase from Rothschild Investment, though the stake remains comparatively small at 127 shares.

The company’s top shareholders include Vanguard Group, the largest investor, with 8.47 million shares valued at $31.9 million, followed by BlackRock with 7.54 million shares valued at $28.4 million. Geode Capital Management holds shares valued at about $6.4 million, while State Street owns a stake worth $6 million. 

SLS Q1 Preview

Wall Street expects another loss-making quarter as Sellas continues investing heavily in clinical development and pipeline expansion. According to Koyfin estimates, analysts expect a loss per share (EPS) of $0.06 for the quarter, compared with a loss of $0.05 in the prior quarter. Earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) is projected to widen to $9 million from about $8.3 million previously. 

According to Koyfin data, Sellas carries a 12-month average analyst price target of $10, implying an upside of 103% from current levels. Among the two analysts covering the stock, one rates it “Strong Buy” while the other maintains a “Buy” rating.

Shareholders are also weighing Sellas’ proposal to add 20 million shares to its stock-based compensation plan, as the company’s remaining share reserve for future awards fell to 7,991 shares by mid-April. An approval would activate a previously approved grant of 1.1 million restricted stock units to Stergiou. As of April 15, the company reported 2.64 million stock options and 2.26 million restricted stock units outstanding, with total equity overhang representing 2.6% of total float. 

AML Trial Catalyst Remains Key Focus

Investors are focused on Sellas’ Phase 3 Regal study evaluating Galinpepimut-S, or GPS, as a maintenance therapy for AML patients whose disease returned but later went back into remission. The event-driven study is approaching the 80 overall-survival-event threshold required to trigger topline analysis. Sellas previously disclosed that 72 survival events had been recorded as of Dec. 26. Once the threshold is reached, the company plans to proceed with database lock, statistical analysis and unblinding.

Earlier this week, Stergiou also said that Sellas participated in discussions with European lawmakers and healthcare experts related to the proposed EU Biotech Act. According to Stergiou, the company shared perspectives on biotech competitiveness, drug approvals, market access and health economics while highlighting how policy decisions could affect the speed at which therapies reach patients.

The company’s SLS009 CDK9 inhibitor program is also being evaluated in AML and other blood cancers. Preclinical findings previously showed the treatment triggered programmed cell death in leukemia cells and remained active in AML linked to ASXL1 and TP53 mutations.

How Do Retail Traders Feel About SLS?

On Stocktwits, retail sentiment for SLS was ‘bearish’ amid ‘low’ message volume.

One user said, “Big Pharma won't just pay they will fight each other to overpay. The patent cliff turns SELLAS from a luxury into a necessity.”

Another user said, “Angelos was keeping all the cards close to his chest until he showed it to the European Parliament. Nobody will be able to contain this now. Every Big Pharmaceutical in the world is going to come after the gps cure now !”

SLS stock has surged 188% over the past year. 

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