NEW YORK, January 2, 2026, 05:03 ET — Premarket
- SELLAS Life Sciences shares rose about 10% in premarket trading ahead of the first U.S. session of 2026.
- Traders stayed focused on timing for the company’s late-stage REGAL study in acute myeloid leukemia.
- Investors are watching for the final analysis trigger and the unblinding of results.
SELLAS Life Sciences Group (SLS) shares rose about 10% in U.S. premarket trading on Friday to $4.14, after gaining 13.9% in the prior regular session. Early trading ranged between $4.13 and $4.32.
The move matters because SELLAS’ valuation hinges on a single late-stage cancer study, and timing signals can drive sharp swings in small-cap biotech stocks.
Investors have been trading around when the company will reach its next, predefined trial milestone — a threshold that determines when researchers can run the final analysis.
On Dec. 29, SELLAS said its contract research organization reported 72 “events” — deaths used to measure an overall survival endpoint — in the Phase 3 REGAL trial as of Dec. 26, short of the trigger needed to start the final analysis. Chief Executive Angelos Stergiou said survival times in the study “appear longer than expected,” while the company said it remains blinded to trial outcomes and will announce when the trigger is reached. Sellas Life Sciences
In an event-driven survival trial, researchers typically wait to analyze results until a set number of deaths occurs, rather than a fixed calendar date. That can push readout timing forward or back, depending on how patients do.
The REGAL study (NCT04229979) compares galinpepimut-S to an investigator’s choice of best available treatment as maintenance therapy for acute myeloid leukemia patients in a second remission, according to the trial registry.
Maintenance therapy is designed to keep cancer from returning after remission. In AML, where relapse risk remains high, any treatment that improves survival can reshape patient care — and investor expectations.
For traders, the next watchpoint is straightforward: the company’s update that the final-analysis trigger has been hit, followed by the unblinding and analysis of outcomes.
Until then, premarket momentum can be fickle. Thin volumes before the open often magnify early moves, and biotechs tied to binary clinical catalysts can reverse quickly once full liquidity arrives at 9:30 a.m. ET.
