ITUS Corp (NASDAQ:ITUS) Is Off to A Running Start This Week

ITUS Corp (NASDAQ:ITUS) exploded out of the gate last week and, as we enter a fresh week of trading this week, it looks as though strength is set to continue. Just last Tuesday, ITUS shares went for $1.27 apiece. Go back 30 days and this number dips to $0.67. At time of writing, midmorning session on Monday, shares at $2.55 and rising. That's a close to 300% run in a matter of weeks.So what is driving action and, perhaps more importantly, what's next?ITUS might be a new name for many reading so let's kick things off with a brief introduction.ITUS is a California based biotechnology play that's working primarily in development stage oncology. Through its wholly-owned subsidiary, Anixa Diagnostics Corporation, the company is trying to bring a piece of technology called Cchek to market, which is a novel cancer detection platform. It's rooted in what's called flow cytometry, which is a neat way of measuring the components of a liquid using a laser.Basically, you take a liquid (in this instance, blood), shake it up and fire a laser through it. The laser detects individual components and records them for analysis. That's the idea, at least. It is a little bit more complicated than that but for the purposes of this discussion, simplification will do. ITUS Daily ChartSo, for Cchek ITUS analyzes blood using flow cytometry and then feeds the results into a proprietary artificial intelligence platform that takes a look at what the cytometry has revealed and uses the data to identify any components that might indicate the presence of a solid tumor somewhere in the body.This is already a widely used technique for blood cancers, but for solid tumors, the approach is a little different as the science of a solid tumor in systemic blood flow are far smaller than those associated with blood cancer.Recent shareholder communication suggests that there is plenty of evidence in place that the Cchek can work (with which this evidence rooted in ovarian cancer testing) and ITUS is working with a number of healthcare institutes in the US to put together the data required to submit to the FDA for human clinical trials.This presents the potential for a range of upside catalysts and is likely what's driving the action of late – that and the issuance of a patent to Dr. Amit Kumar, Chief Executive Officer, and John Roop, VP of Engineering, of ITUS, covering the technology in question.The patent is here for anyone interested in taking a look at the science in a bit more detail.So what is next?This is a biotechnology company that is poised for growth into a potentially huge market. Just a few weeks ago, it was completely off the radar. Now, as the price is rising, the company is flashing up on screeners and traders and investors are taking a position in anticipation of continued advance. If we see a near-term shift into clinical studies (and management suggests that we should get an update in the coming weeks, meaning that clinical studies could be just around the corner) then the stock is almost certainly going to run.Cash at the end of July was around $1.8 million, meaning there is a chance we will see an equity issue in order to fund clinical development (read: the initiation of a clinical trial) near term. If this is the case, and we believe it is, there exists a certain degree of near-term dilution risk for anybody picking up an exposure in and around current prices. Beyond that, however, there is plenty of potential for upside revaluation on the company's current $37.8 million market capitalization.We will be updating our subscribers as soon as we know more. For the latest updates on ITUS, sign up below!Image courtesy of david__jones via FlickrDisclosure: We have no position in ITUS and have not been compensated for this article.