SLS Stock Tests $5 Again: Retail Targets ‘No’ Vote On 20M Share Dilution Push Before AML Trial Results

• Investor focus shifted toward a shareholder vote on a proposal to expand the company’s incentive share pool by 20 million shares.
• CEO Angelos Stergiou urged investors to support the expansion, reiterating confidence in the Phase 3 Regal trial.
• The Regal study had recorded 72 overall-survival events as of Dec. 26, nearing the 80-event threshold required to trigger topline analysis.

Shares of Sellas Life Sciences Group, Inc. (SLS) hovered near the $5 level on Thursday as investor attention shifted from upcoming AML trial results to a shareholder vote on a proposal to add 20 million shares to the company’s incentive plan.

SLS stock jumped 6% on Thursday to end at 4.95, climbing close to the $5 threshold last hit more than a month ago. 

Sellas Seeks 20M Share Incentive Expansion

Sellas CEO Angelos Stergiou recently urged shareholders to support a proposal to expand the share reserve under the company’s 2023 Amended and Restated Equity Incentive Plan by 20 million shares, saying his conviction in the Phase 3 Regal study evaluating GPS in acute myeloid leukemia (AML) remains unchanged.

Sellas previously disclosed that 72 overall-survival events had been recorded as of Dec. 26, moving the study closer to the 80-event threshold required for topline analysis. Stergiou also said that a slower accumulation of survival events in oncology trials can sometimes indicate that patients are living longer than initially expected.

The proposed equity plan would replenish the company’s stock-based compensation pool after Sellas said only 7,991 shares remained available for future awards under the existing plan as of mid-April. Approval would also allow a previously approved grant of 1.1 million restricted stock units to Stergiou to take effect.

As of April 15, Sellas reported 2.64 million stock options and 2.26 million restricted stock units outstanding, with total equity overhang representing about 2.6% of shares outstanding.

Retail Flags Dilution Concerns Near $5

Retail investors on Stocktwits voiced concerns about the timing and scale of the proposed equity plan, particularly as the Regal Phase 3 milestone approaches. Sentiment for SLS slipped to ‘neutral’ from ‘bullish’ levels a week ago amid a 32% rise in 24-hour message volumes. 

Some investors argued that the proposal represented about a 20% dilution, questioning whether such a request should be made before the full Phase 3 data are revealed. Meanwhile, another turned bearish at the idea of diluting the stock around the $5 range. 

In a separate investor poll, about 70% of respondents indicated they planned to vote against the proposal, compared with 30% supporting it. Another investor said that they had already voted against the measure and rotated capital into long-term equities. 

AML Pipeline Remains In Focus

Despite the debate regarding share dilution, investors are closely watching the upcoming milestones from the company’s AML programs. The event-driven Phase 3 Regal study is evaluating GPS, which activates immune cells that help destroy leukemia cells in patients whose AML returned but later entered remission after additional therapy.

Stergiou also pointed to 2026 as an important year for the company’s CDK9 inhibitor SLS009, with clinical updates and top-line data expected from ongoing Phase 2 studies.

Preclinical findings presented ahead of a recent cancer summit showed that the therapy triggered the natural self-destruction process in leukemia cells, reduced survival-support proteins, and remained active in AML linked to ASXL1 and TP53 mutations, which are typically associated with poorer outcomes.

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