SLS Stock Jumps Overnight: Retail Sees Big Pharma Buyout Clues In 'M&A Negotiation Lounge' Booth At ASH

• Eli Lilly, Pfizer, Merck, Sanofi, AstraZeneca, GSK, Novartis, AbbVie, Bristol Myers Squibb, Takeda, and other major drugmakers are also on the floor plan
• Sellas’s Regal trial had recorded 78 of the 80 deaths needed to trigger final analysis as of May 11
• SLS009 is in a Phase 2 leukemia study with 28 of 80 patients enrolled as of August.

Shares of Sellas Life Sciences (SLS) jumped over 3% overnight late Sunday as retail investors speculated that its 600-square-foot booth at the American Society of Hematology’s (ASH) annual meeting could attract a Big Pharma buyer.

SLS shares rose more than 3% Friday to close at $11.65, but still fell 1% for the week, marking their steepest weekly decline in a month.

Sellas Shares ASH Floor With Big Pharma

The 68th ASH Annual Meeting and Exposition is scheduled for Dec. 12-Dec. 15 in New Orleans. The meeting brings together blood-disease specialists, researchers and drugmakers to discuss new research and treatments. Sellas is listed at Booth 138, and the exhibit hall is expected to feature more than 275 exhibitors.

The ASH floor plan shows major drugmakers across the exhibition halls, including Eli Lilly, Pfizer, Merck, Sanofi, AstraZeneca, GSK, Novartis, AbbVie, Bristol Myers Squibb, Takeda, Genentech, Amgen, Novo Nordisk, Daiichi Sankyo, Astellas, Gilead and Kite Oncology.

Sellas’ 20-by-30-foot space sits at the far end of Hall G, directly beside the poster area. Major drugmakers, including Eli Lilly, Takeda, Genentech and AstraZeneca, also occupy large booths in Hall G, while Pfizer, Merck, Sanofi, AbbVie and Bristol Myers Squibb are spread across other halls. Johnson & Johnson is in Hall J, well away from Sellas’ booth.

SLS Traders Read Deal Signs In The Booth

On Stocktwits, retail sentiment for SLS has been ‘neutral’ for a week, amid a 20% rise in 24-hour message volume.

One user called the booth an “M&A negotiation lounge with an open bar,” then imagined a buyer being told to “sign the papers or another giant will.” Another user, drawing on experience at software conferences, said, “Never did I lease an oversized booth except to announce new product.”

A separate user thanked “JNJ for the gigantic booth,” while another speculated that Johnson & Johnson could be a potential suitor. 

Meanwhile, one user said the booth was “for the partnership… not a BO [buyout].” Another said that the spending could mean Sellas is “desperate for BP [Big Pharma] to take notice.”

Sellas Awaits 2 Cancer Catalysts

Sellas is advancing two clinical cancer programs. Its lead candidate, galinpepimut-S (GPS), is an immunotherapy that targets WT1, a protein found in several cancers. The Phase 3 Regal trial is testing GPS in people with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) who entered a second remission after salvage treatment.

Regal’s final analysis will begin once 80 participants have died, the trial’s preset threshold. Sellas last reported 78 deaths as of May 11, leaving the study two events short.

A separate Phase 2 study is testing SLS009 in newly diagnosed AML, including patients whose disease becomes resistant early to Azacitidine and Venetoclax, a commonly used drug combination. As of Aug. 28, 80 patients had enrolled. Sellas expects initial results in the fourth quarter.

Sellas is also exploring SLS009 as a potential treatment for pancreatic cancer. In a patient-derived, lab-grown tumor model resistant to Daraxonrasib, SLS009 produced 17.9% apoptosis, or cancer-cell death, compared with 2.8% with Daraxonrasib alone. Combining the drugs raised apoptosis to 36.5% and necrosis to 30.6%.

SLS stock has surged 209% year-to-date.

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