Here's How Our Readers Bagged 30% On Stemline Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:STML)

Back during the middle of August, we published this piece on Stemline Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:STML).The company had caught our attention as a potential catalyst play in the biotechnology space and we set it up as being a potential near-term runner if the catalyst we were looking at played out as favorable for the stock as and when it hit press.Fast forward a couple of months and we just got the catalyst.And it came in as exactly what we were hoping to see.Stemline is a biotechnology stock that is working to develop a portfolio of treatments in the oncology space. Its lead program is rooted in a drug called SL-401, which is under investigation as a potential treatment for a condition called blastic plasmacytoid dendritic cell neoplasm (BPDCN).As we outlined last time, BPDCN is a type of lymphoma that used to be known as natural killer cell lymphoma. It’s an aggressive hematological malignancy that usually manifests as cutaneous lesions with or without bone marrow involvement.It’s very difficult to treat and there’s basically nothing a physician can do for their patient unless it’s caught very early. Even if caught early, however, prognosis is generally very poor. STML Daily ChartSL-401 is designed to target what's called the interleukin-3 receptor (CD123), which is a receptor that's expressed by a number of cancer cells, including those of BPDCN. By targeting these receptors, the drug can help stop the process that leads to the rapid proliferation of cancerous cells in these patients and – at the same time – can induce what's called apoptosis, which is a sort of programmed cell suicide that happens in healthy cells when they become old and no longer useful but that doesn’t happen in cancer cells.So, the latest news relates to a phase III study that was set up to investigate the asset in this indication.Specifically, the study took 13 patients that were suffering from BPDCN and dosed all 13 with the standard administration regimen of SL-401. The primary endpoint of the study was defined as a complete response, and the trial met its endpoint with 54% of all patients dosed (7 out of the 13) achieving CR. Further, 86% (so, 6 out of the 7) of the complete responders have remained relapse-free for more than eight months. In addition to this CR metric, overall response rate (ORR) came in at 77%, of which 46% were bridged to stem cell transplant following remission on SL-401.It's tough to understate the importance and the strength of these data. As mentioned above, this is an incredibly tough condition to treat and the ability of this drug to induce CR and OR at the rates outlined is a real string to the asset's bow.So what's next?Well, the company wants to present data at the 2017 American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting and Exposition, to be held December 9-12, 2017 in Atlanta, GA, which should serve to draw in a considerable amount of speculative attention to the program.This in and of itself should serve to drive a bit of upside momentum for the stock.Outside of that, and as a major upside catalyst, we're looking at regulatory submission and subsequent approval. Sure, this is a small trial and sure, there are some minor safety concerns, but this is a target indication with no options right now and the agency will almost certainly take this into consideration as and when it has its final say on the drug.Capital is a bit low so we may see a raise heading into early next year. With that said, the strong data should allow the company to initiate any raise on solid terms and – in doing so – minimize dilution it's asking the current shareholders to take on.Check out our previous coverage of this one here. We will be updating our subscribers as soon as we know more. For the latest updates on STML, sign up below!Image courtesy of Ed Uthman via FlickrDisclosure: We have no position in STML and have not been compensated for this article.