Galmed stock soars after promising cancer treatment research results

Investing.com -- Galmed Pharmaceuticals Ltd (NASDAQ:GLMD) stock soared 38.6% in premarket trading Monday following the company’s announcement of promising research results showing its drug Aramchol may help overcome resistance in gastrointestinal cancer treatments.

The clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company revealed findings from its joint research with Virginia Commonwealth University that demonstrated Aramchol’s potential to enhance the effectiveness of Bayer’s cancer drug Stivarga (regorafenib) when used in combination with metformin, suggesting a synergistic effect for treating gastrointestinal cancers.

This research builds on previous findings from May 2025, when Galmed reported that Aramchol significantly enhanced regorafenib’s ability to kill gastrointestinal tumor cells in various cancer models. The latest results further clarify Aramchol’s anti-tumor mechanism of action.

Galmed plans to initiate a Phase 1b study at VCU Massey Comprehensive Cancer Center in early 2026, which will serve as a proof-of-concept for Aramchol’s efficacy in oncology. The company believes positive findings could accelerate clinical development in three key gastrointestinal cancers.

Allen Baharaff, President and CEO of Galmed, highlighted the potential commercial implications, noting that Stivarga is Bayer’s top-selling cancer drug, generating approximately $500 million in the first nine months of 2022. With Stivarga’s patent protection expiring in 2028 in Europe and 2032 in the U.S., Baharaff suggested a fixed-dose combination with Aramchol could potentially become a life-cycle intellectual property strategy for regorafenib.

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