Here's Why CymaBay Therapeutics Rose 109% in May

Shares of CymaBay Therapeutics (NASDAQ: CBAY) jumped 109% last month, according to data from S&P Global Market Intelligence. The stock popped when the company reported first-quarter 2020 operating results, which were headlined by an important update on the company's lead drug candidate, seladelpar.

Development of the experimental therapy was halted in late 2019, when researchers found evidence it might have led to liver damage in a clinical trial for primary biliary cholangitis (PBC). CymaBay Therapeutics also decided to halt development of the drug candidate in nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH).

But upon additional review of data from the halted phase 2b study in NASH, an independent panel of researchers found no evidence seladelpar induces liver damage in those patients. CymaBay Therapeutics announced in mid-May it intended to resume development of the drug candidate in NASH, which sent the small-cap stock soaring.

Source Fool.com