Cellectar Biosciences Inc (NASDAQ:CLRB) Still Has Plenty Of Run Room

Towards the end of January, we highlighted Cellectar Biosciences Inc (NASDAQ:CLRB) as being a company to keep an eye on across the next six to eight weeks. The company had a number of potential catalysts that – at then-time of writing – were set to hit press near term, and we hypothesized that these catalysts would draw speculative attention as investors loaded up ahead of their release, and – in turn – we would see some upside momentum as and when they hit press.A few weeks have passed since our previous coverage, and the first part of our hypothesis has been vindicated. When we covered the company in January, it was trading for a little over $1.50 a share. At last close, this had risen to $2.36 a share – a more than 53% gain in a matter of weeks. Of course, the second side of our argument is still to play out, and we think that means there is plenty of potential to build on the recent gains, and push the company's market capitalization farther to the upside.So, for those that missed our initial coverage, and by way of a reintroduction to the catalysts in focus for those that did catch it, and have managed to capture 50% plus in gains already, here's what we're looking at near term.As a brief introduction to the science behind Cellectar's pipeline, the company focuses on what are called phospholipid ether-drug conjugates (PDC's). The mechanism of action that underpins this family of drugs is not overly complicated, but it does have the potential to the game changing if Cellectar can bring it to fruition and get a candidate to commercialization. Basically, the company takes a phospholipid ether and attaches to it a payload (generally, an agent that is toxic to cancer cells) using what's called a linker. The PDCs are administered and the combination of the ether, the linker and the agent means that they target cancerous cells with very high specificity. High specificity translates to high selectivity, and high selectivity means that the treatment can be administered with a high degree of toxicity to cancer cells, but only a fraction of the toxicity to healthy cells normally associated with cancer treatment. This dramatically reduces the potential for unwanted side effects, and makes cancer therapy both more effective and more bearable than it is under the current standard of care regimen.So that is the science, what are we looking at near-term as potentially reinforcing the commercial viability of the science, and boosting the company?Well, Cellectar is using this science to target blood cancers with a drug it calls CLR-131. The drug has performed well in early stage trials, and is about to start a phase 2 study investigating its impact in multiple myeloma. This is the same indication investigated as part of a phase 1 study (which demonstrated some great results, but is ongoing by way of an extension), and if the company can replicate the early results, the data will underpin an advance into a registration trial. Initiation of this trial is our next major catalyst, and then any data release (we are expecting some degree of interest after first dosing) should serve to compound upside momentum before the end of the year.A key point to note for this upcoming trial is that it is a double dose trial, with patients receiving two 25.0 millicuries doses of CLR 131, at baseline and between day 75 and day 180. In the first trial, the phase 1, patients only received one dose, yet the drug was still able to demonstrate a response to the therapy. As such, there is a high percentage chance that we should see some very good results as and when the numbers from this study hit press.As noted last time, the company had $5.7 million cash on hand at the end of September, and recently closed on a $9.2 million offering. The phase 2 study is supported by the National Cancer Institute, so cash should run through until at least the first quarter of 2018. This removes the potential for dilution, and makes Cellectar an attractive pick as it pushes 131 towards commercialization.We will be updating our subscribers as soon as we know more. For the latest updates on CLRB, sign up below!Disclosure: We have no position in CLRB and have not been compensated for this article.