Sellas Life Sciences’ record H1 rally has not scared retail traders into cashing out, with a new Stocktwits poll showing that most voters are still buying or holding as a key acute myeloid leukemia (AML) trial nears its final readout.

surged 292% in the first half, topping its H1 performance from 2012, when shares climbed 252%.

Traders Hold Through SLS Rally

In a  asking users what they were doing with SLS stock, 49% said they were holding, and 35% said they were buying or adding to their positions. Only 8% said they were selling or trimming, while another 8% said they were watching from the sidelines. The poll has drawn about 2,700 votes. Sentiment on the platform is ‘extremely bullish’ amid ‘extremely high’ message volumes.

One Stocktwits user, citing a 760-share position,  what their stake could be worth at prices ranging from $20 to $150 and called the potential upside “life changing,” adding that their “6th sense tells me July or August is the sweet spot.”

Another user pointed to Sellas’ change-of-control filing, calling it the “ultimate corporate siren song to Big Pharma” players who may not yet have signed nondisclosure agreements. Meanwhile, a third speculated that the trial’s 80th event could be used in negotiations for a “premium BO price,” saying that investors should “read the room” and “buy and hold.” Another trader said that the day-to-day price action was “fun to watch” but “pretty irrelevant” as they were waiting for topline results or a buyout before selling any shares.

SLS Investors Eye Final AML Readout

The biggest reason traders are holding shares is Sellas’ Phase 3 Regal trial of GPS (galinpepimut-S) in AML. The trial has reached 78 of the 80 events required to trigger its final analysis, putting the company close to one of the most important clinical readouts in its history.

Sellas CEO Angelos Stergiou has called the slower-than-expected accumulation of events an encouraging signal. “Crucially, the delay in reaching this 80th event is a profoundly positive signal—it suggests patients are living longer than projected,” Stergiou said recently. “GPS has the potential to become the true standard of care in AML maintenance.” Sellas has previously said that the Regal trial would be considered successful if GPS extends median overall survival to 12.6 months, compared with 8 months under standard treatment.

SLS Retail Eyes Buyout Clues 

Stergiou recently said Sellas’ market cap has grown from $73 million at the start of 2024 to more than $1.5 billion by mid-2026. The company also ended the first quarter with $107.1 million in cash and raised another $28.7 million through warrant exercises in April and May.

Sellas shareholders also recently approved a 20 million-share increase to the company’s 2023 Equity Incentive Plan. Stergiou was also awarded 1.065 million restricted stock units vesting over four years, bringing his ownership to 1.76 million shares after the grant.

The company has also updated executive severance and change-of-control arrangements. Stergiou’s amended agreement shifts certain change-of-control severance payments to a lump sum, while CFO John Burns and Chief Development Officer Dragan Cicic would receive 15 months of base salary, target bonus payments, COBRA reimbursement and full equity acceleration under qualifying change-of-control terminations.

Investors are also watching SLS009, the company’s Phase 2 CDK9 inhibitor for AML. Sellas expects topline data from its frontline AML trial later this year, adding another potential catalyst beyond Regal.

SLS stock has rocketed 574% over the past year.