SLS Stock Eyes Green Start To August After Nearly $6M In Fresh Institutional Buying: Retail Stays Bearish

• Daiwa Securities boosted its stake by 100,300 shares to 102,500, a 4,559% increase valued at $1.51 million.
• Sellas’ Phase 3 Regal trial has reached 78 of the 80 events needed to trigger final analysis, putting the AML readout close.
• Sellas ended June with an estimated $138.3 million in cash.

Shares of Sellas Life Sciences (SLS) jumped 3% on Monday as fresh filings showed that Opus Capital and Daiwa Securities boosted their stakes in the biotech company.

SLS stock plunged 32% in July, logging its worst month since January 2024. 

Opus And Daiwa Boost Sellas Stakes

Opus Capital Group ended the quarter with 385,604 Sellas shares, valued at about $5.69 million. The firm added 39,152 shares, an increase of 11.3%, while the stake’s value rose by $4.23 million. Daiwa Securities made a much larger percentage move. Its stake climbed by 100,300 shares to 102,500 shares, marking a 4,559% increase. The stake was worth about $1.51 million at quarter-end, with the change in value totaling around $1.5 million, according to data from Fiscal AI. 

Combined, Opus and Daiwa reported approximately $7.2 million in total holdings and nearly $5.7 million in increased position value during the quarter. Meanwhile, other disclosures were smaller. Integrity Alliance reported 14,011 shares, while Cambridge Investment Research Advisors increased its position by 3,728 shares to 16,163. Avion Wealth cut its holding by 407 shares to just 166.

Sellas’ AML Readout Moves Closer

The institutional activity comes as Sellas approaches a potentially decisive point in its Phase 3 Regal trial of Galinpepimut-S (GPS) in acute myeloid leukemia (AML). The study has reached 78 of the 80 events required to trigger its final analysis, leaving it only two events short of the pivotal readout.

Since the trial measures overall survival, CEO Angelos Stergiou has suggested that slower event accumulation may be encouraging. That interpretation remains tentative, however, because the company is blinded and does not know how patients are performing in each arm. Sellas has said Regal would meet its target if GPS extends median survival to 12.6 months, compared with about eight months under standard treatment.

Sellas Builds Cash Runway 

Sellas entered the second half with an estimated $138.3 million in cash and equivalents as of June 30, up from $107.1 million at the end of the first quarter. This included $28.7 million raised through warrant exercises in April and May, giving the company more financial flexibility as it waits for Regal and continues developing its second oncology program, SLS009.

Retail investors have also focused on updated change-of-control protections for Sellas executives. Stergiou’s amended employment agreement shifts certain severance payments to a lump sum, while other senior executives could receive salary, bonuses, benefits and accelerated equity following qualifying terminations tied to a change of control.

How Do Retail Traders Feel About SLS?

On Stocktwits, retail sentiment for SLS slipped to ‘bearish’ from ‘neutral’ levels a day ago amid a modest 2% rise in 24-hour message volumes.

One user questioned the bullish case for SLS, arguing that trading volume and buying interest should be much stronger with the REGAL trial so close to its final trigger. The user also pointed to the stock’s recent slide and suggested the weak price action could signal continued selling pressure ahead of the GPS readout. 

Another user questioned why Sellas has shared few updates from its expanded-access program, arguing that stronger patient demand or results would likely be highlighted if GPS were clearly working. 

SLS stock has surged 530% over the past year. 

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