New York, May 20, 2026, 11:07 EDT
MeiraGTx Holdings plc (NASDAQ:MGTX) gained in late-morning trading Wednesday, up 48 cents, or 5.3%, at $9.61. The move lifts the gene-therapy group’s market cap to around $781 million. The stock opened at $9.33 and touched $9.71 earlier in the session.
President and CEO Alexandria Forbes sold 62,000 ordinary shares at a weighted average price of $9.17 on May 19, a day after an SEC Form 4 hit. The sale was made under a Rule 10b5-1 plan set up Nov. 18, 2025, the filing said. Forbes still holds 1,387,695 shares.
MeiraGTx is aiming to get investors looking at its late-stage pipeline instead of worrying about its funding. In its May 14 update, the company pointed to a few steps: it got FDA Breakthrough Therapy Designation for AAV2-hAQP1, reported three-year data in radiation-induced xerostomia, and said it plans to buy back bota-vec rights from Johnson & Johnson. MeiraGTx also added $100 million to its balance sheet in a new round.
MeiraGTx moves in early 2026 have “materially strengthened” the company, Forbes said. He described the bota-vec reacquisition as “highly strategic.” MeiraGTx said it’s now working on regulatory filings for bota-vec across the U.S., EU, UK and Japan.
BofA Securities analyst Alec Stranahan called Bank of America’s healthcare conference the “single most important derisking event” the market could be missing. Forbes said buying back RPGR from J&J has been “the most derisking thing” the company has done, with global approval now a “real focus.” Seeking Alpha
FDA Breakthrough Therapy Designation is given to drugs for serious diseases to speed up review if early studies suggest clear benefits over existing treatments. MeiraGTx said its AAV2-hAQP1 gene therapy for radiation-induced xerostomia showed lasting improvements in patient responses and saliva flow after 36 months in a Phase 1 study of 24 people.
MeiraGTx ended the first quarter still pre-commercial, with $73.8 million in cash, cash equivalents, and restricted cash at March 31. Service revenue for the quarter was just $0.3 million. R&D costs came in at $32.0 million. The company’s 10-Q shows no product revenue and a net loss of $46.3 million for the quarter, wider than last year’s $40.0 million loss.
But risks are front and center. MeiraGTx said its cash, tax incentive receivable, $100 million from the public offering, plus the remaining Hologen payments should get operations funded into the second half of 2028 and cover debt. But it also warned those figures might be wrong, and cash could run short earlier. That puts clinical milestones, regulator meetings and capital raises directly at risk, not only mentioned deep in the notes.
Lilly keeps moving on gene therapy. In November, the drugmaker cut a deal with MeiraGTx that could hit $475 million for a rare eye disease gene therapy. It’s also making more moves in eye gene therapy through Adverum Biotechnologies. MeiraGTx is still working with bigger pharma players while also trying to get more say over its late-stage pipeline.
MGTX trades more on clinical steps than on the usual drug stock themes. The stock is active, though there’s no sign of approvals, launches, or strong cash numbers so far.
