DISCLAIMER — Not financial advice. Educational content only, not an offer or solicitation to buy or sell any security. Biotech and small/mid-cap stocks are highly speculative and volatile and can result in a partial or total loss of capital. Do your own research and consult a licensed advisor where appropriate. / Contenuti a solo scopo informativo e didattico, non costituiscono consulenza finanziaria né offerta o sollecitazione al pubblico risparmio ai sensi delle normative CONSOB e SEC. Le azioni biotech e le small/mid cap sono strumenti altamente speculativi e volatili e possono comportare la perdita parziale o totale del capitale investito. Si raccomanda di effettuare sempre le proprie ricerche e, se necessario, di rivolgersi a un consulente abilitato.

Merlintrader Trading Pub
Biotech catalyst news and analysis. FDA PDUFA tracker

Merlintrader Trading Pub
Biotech catalyst news and analysis. FDA PDUFA tracker
KOD Kodiak Sciences Feb 08 2026

KOD
Kodiak Sciences Inc.
Late-stage retina biotech riding a multi-hundred-percent run-up into a dense 2026–2027 catalyst cluster (tarcocimab, KSI-501 and KSI-101). Chart from Finviz, always double-check the latest quote and news.
OCUL Ocular Therapeutix run-up Updated Feb 16 2026

Deep dive on Ocular Therapeutix: from DEXTENZA to the late-stage AXPAXLI retina franchise, with SOL-1 topline data in wet AMD coming in late February 2026 and a balance sheet funded into 2028.
Weekly Briefing Feb 9 2026
Week of 9–15 February 2026 – the setup is unusual: the U.S. government shutdown pushed key releases into the same week, so the market gets a jobs + CPI combo while earnings keep dictating leadership.
AGIO Agios Pharmaceuticals Inc

A year ago, Agios was still mostly a “promise stock”: one approved niche drug for pyruvate kinase deficiency and a lot of hope around sickle cell disease. Today the picture is more complex but also more concrete: mitapivat now has two U.S. approvals, a full rare-disease haematology franchise is forming, and 2026 has a surprisingly busy catalyst map.
PLSE Pulse Biosciences Inc

First-in-human data for the nPulse™ Cardiac Catheter Ablation System show high pulmonary vein isolation durability and low SAE rate in atrial fibrillation – but this is still a pre-commercial, single-platform story.
RCKT Rocket Pharmaceuticals

Gene therapy for ultra-rare immunodeficiency (LAD-I), a hard reset after last year’s CRL and the Danon shock, and a March 28, 2026 PDUFA that could flip sentiment in a name now trading near multi-year lows. This is a classic “platform vs. execution” test in gene therapy – with an additional potential upside lever in the form of a Rare Pediatric Disease Priority Review Voucher (PRV) if approval comes through.
RGTI Rigetti Computing Inc

Rigetti is one of the few pure-play public quantum computing hardware names. It designs and manufactures superconducting quantum processors, integrates the control stack and cryogenics around them, and exposes these systems through a cloud platform so that enterprises, governments and researchers can experiment with quantum algorithms and hybrid quantum-classical workflows.
ALVO Alvotech Feb 2026

Alvotech is not a typical development-stage biotech: it is a vertically integrated biosimilar platform that already generates hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue from launched products like AVT02 (adalimumab) and AVT04 (ustekinumab), while also running a crowded late-stage pipeline. The stock sits in that awkward middle ground between “early growth” and “heavy balance sheet”, with over 1B$ of debt but also positive adjusted EBITDA and operating profit in the latest 9-month period.
CRMD Thinking After Hours

This after-hours note starts from a simple, honest message in the comments. A reader who first bought CRMD around 11 USD, then averaged down at 9 USD and again at 6.5 USD, with one clear idea: one day, selling “north of 15” if the CorMedix story plays out.
RNXT RenovoRx Inc

Quick take: RenovoRx brings fresh clinical data on its TAMP™ therapy platform to SIO 2026 (February 6). The event is not a registrational readout, but it is a real-world test of how much the market still cares about this targeted intra-arterial delivery story as the company starts to generate device revenues.
DFTX Definium Therapeutics Inc.

Definium Therapeutics (DFTX) is not a mature commercial pharma story; it is a clinical‑stage CNS and mental health company whose equity behaves like a classic high‑beta biotech: the tape is dominated by expectations around clinical data, regulatory interactions, and the company’s ability to fund its programs through to value‑defining milestones.
ONCY Oncolytics Biotech, Inc

On February 4, 2026, Oncolytics announced that the FDA granted Fast Track designation to pelareorep combined with bevacizumab and FOLFIRI for adults with KRAS-mutant, microsatellite-stable metastatic colorectal cancer (MSS mCRC) in the second-line setting, after progression on a first-line oxaliplatin-based regimen. The designation is based on clinical signals from the REO 022 study and prior pelareorep experience across GI tumors and breast cance
BKSY BlackSky Technology

Small-cap geospatial intelligence pure play with a fast-growing Gen-3 satellite constellation, recurring U.S. and international defense contracts and strong leverage to the new U.S. space and missile-defense cycle.
VSTM Verastem Inc

Verastem Oncology enters 2026 as a very different story compared with two years ago. The company now has a commercial product, Avmapki Fakzynja (avutometinib + defactinib), approved under the FDA’s accelerated approval pathway for adult patients with KRAS-mutant recurrent low-grade serous ovarian cancer (LGSOC) after at least one prior systemic therapy.
ADMA Adma Biologics Inc

Commercial IG platform with three FDA-approved products, a yield-enhanced manufacturing process, and a revenue ramp from <$200M to >$500M in a handful of years. Not a binary biotech story, but an execution and capacity game that the market is finally treating like a growth compounder.
CCL Carnival Corporation February 2026

A comprehensive February 2026 strategic analysis of Carnival Corporation after the Q4 2025 earnings, the Excellence-class LNG fleet expansion, and the accelerated rollout of Carnival AI Operations Platform. Updated with latest SEC filings, January 2026 bookings data, and 2026-2027 sustainability targets. Educational only.
ONDS Ondas Inc

In early January we started to follow Ondas Inc. (ONDS) more closely on Merlintrader, first with a long-form deep-dive on the transformation of the group into an autonomous defense “system-of-systems” platform, and then with a sequence of updates as new contracts and Investor Day details emerged. Those articles focused on the structural story, the DCMA “Blue UAS” listing for Optimus and the growing defense pipeline.
OMER Omeros Corporation

What happened in January: Omeros successfully transitioned from pre-commercial biotech to commercial-stage rare disease company with the FDA approval of YARTEMLEA on December 23, 2025 and first commercial sales announced January 27, 2026.
PDYN Palladyne AI Updated feb 08

Palladyne AI announced a new contract with a major U.S. defense prime to deliver a mission-critical propulsion subsystem for an existing U.S. missile system. Management expects the award to generate nearly $1M in revenue, all booked in 2026, with hardware deliveries completed by the end of Q3 2026 according to the BusinessWire press release.
CYN Cyngn Inc

Cyngn (ticker CYN) sits in a corner of the market that many traders only notice when the tape goes vertical: micro-cap industrial autonomy. This is not a classical biotech binary, not a cash-generating SaaS giant, and definitely not a clean “AI story” with nine-figure revenues. It is a company trying to turn a fairly sophisticated autonomy stack into a repeatable, contract-driven business in forklifts, tuggers and other industrial vehicles – while burning real money and living under the constant threat of dilution.