NEW YORK, May 20, 2026, 07:17 (EDT)
- Silexion said SIL204 is still set to begin Phase 2/3 in the second quarter. The company got trial clearance in Israel and filed in Germany.
- The company posted a bigger loss for the first quarter and had $2.4 million in cash as of March 31.
- Nasdaq’s regular session was set to go ahead Wednesday. The exchange’s 2026 schedule lists its next planned U.S. market holiday as May 25, Memorial Day.
Silexion Therapeutics Corp is pushing its top pancreatic cancer drug toward a mid-to-late-stage trial in people, getting nearer to a key clinical test as its cash runway gets tighter. The small biotech is listed on Nasdaq.
SIL204 has moved past being just a preclinical story. This week, Silexion said it got Israeli approval to start a Phase 2/3 trial and has put in a Clinical Trial Application in Germany through the EU’s trial system. The company added the study is still expected to start in the second quarter.
SIL204 is an siRNA drug, made of short RNA strands that target and silence specific genes. Silexion is aiming it at KRAS mutations, which the company says are found in around 90% of pancreatic cancers.
Silexion plans to run a trial of SIL204 and standard chemo in locally advanced pancreatic cancer. The company said the trial begins with a safety run-in for around 18 patients, then moves to a randomized phase with about 166 patients.
Chief Executive Ilan Hadar called it a “defining moment,” saying Silexion “advanced SIL204 from a preclinical asset into clinical-stage development.” Chief Financial Officer Mirit Horenshtein Hadar said the company is still “evaluating financing alternatives.”
Silexion’s financials leave some questions. The May 15 10-Q put the first-quarter net loss at $2.7 million, wider than the $1.7 million loss last year, after research and development costs more than doubled to $1.37 million. Cash and cash equivalents dropped to $2.4 million, down from $6.0 million at the end of 2025.
Silexion moved to fill the funding gap through equity-linked financing. The company said May 15 it had deals for warrant exercises on almost 2 million ordinary shares at a cheaper exercise price of 50 cents. Silexion expects gross proceeds of about $1 million, before fees and expenses.
Shares ended Tuesday at 26.9 cents, slipping 1.65%. Last week saw a sharper slide, with the stock losing 42% on May 15, according to market data. The stock is still thinly traded and low-priced, making for swings in trading and tougher, costlier financing.
Silexion flagged big risks in its 10-Q, saying management found “substantial doubt” about staying in business without new funding. The filing reported Silexion only has enough cash for a few more months. Silexion said it also needs to keep following Nasdaq listing requirements tied to shareholder equity and minimum share price. SEC
Rivals are making progress too. Revolution Medicines said in April its RAS-targeting drug daraxonrasib hit main targets in a Phase 3 trial for previously treated metastatic pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma—a different setting, but still in the KRAS/RAS field. That puts more pressure on small developers to prove their approach stands out.
Silexion faces another hurdle now: execution. The company needs to get site clearances, recruit patients, secure drug supply and raise new funds, all at once. That’s a heavy lift for a microcap biotech, even with a smoother clinical timeline than earlier this year.
