SLS Stock Slips 3% As Pancreatic Cancer Lab Data Leave REGAL Wait Unanswered

• The company’s presentation on Friday described SLS009’s work in a single patient-derived organoid — a mini-tumor grown in a dish.
• SELLAS said the results support more study in pancreatic cancer, including pairing SLS009 with other drugs.
• It did not announce a start date for a human trial in pancreatic cancer.

SELLAS Life Sciences (SLS) shares fell about 3% on Friday after lab tests of its experimental drug SLS009 in dish-grown pancreatic tumors showed strong cell-killing but answered neither question the stock is priced on.

The stock is still down more than 10% this month and well below its June high near $16, after a multi-fold rally this year.

Why SLS Shares Gave Back Ground

SLS investors have been waiting for two things: the late-stage REGAL study data of the company’s cancer vaccine GPS in acute myeloid leukemia, and a decision on whether SLS009 will move into human pancreatic cancer trials. Friday’s presentation answered neither.

It described work in a single patient-derived organoid — a mini-tumor grown in a dish. The data does not change near-term revenue, cash needs, or the binary risk around REGAL.

REGAL remains blinded and event-driven; the last public count was 78 of the 80 deaths needed to trigger the final analysis, and the company has not announced the 80th event. SLS009’s near-term clinical path is still first-line AML, where mid-stage topline data are expected in the fourth quarter.

What The Laboratory Tests Showed

SLS009, also called tambiciclib, is a CDK9 inhibitor that aims to shut down a switch cancer cells use to keep growth genes, including MYC, turned on.

In a MYC-amplified patient-derived pancreatic organoid that did not respond to daraxonrasib in that dish model — Revolution Medicines’ Rasonque, approved in August for previously treated metastatic pancreatic adenocarcinoma — SLS009 triggered far more cancer-cell death than daraxonrasib alone: 17.9% apoptosis and 14.5% necrosis versus 2.8% and 2.7%. Used together, the two drugs pushed apoptosis to 36.5% and necrosis to 30.6%. A separate combination with the BET inhibitor ZEN3694, developed by Zenith Epigenetics, also looked synergistic and kept MYC signals suppressed. The work was done with the University of Wisconsin–Madison and presented at an AACR pancreatic cancer meeting in San Diego.

SELLAS said the results support more study in pancreatic cancer, including pairing SLS009 with other drugs. It did not announce a start date for a human trial in that disease.

How Did SLS Retail Traders React?

On Stocktwits, retail sentiment around SLS stock rose from ‘bearish’ to ‘neutral’ over the past 24 hours, while message volume stayed ‘low.’

A Stocktwits user dismissed the wait until the REGAL trial readout, noting that the trial is still ongoing.

Another user voiced optimism for a buyout.

SLS stock has added nearly 207% year-to-date. 

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