Biotech Rally Takes Center Stage in After-Hours Session: Here's What's Moving

Extended trading hours on Wednesday painted a vibrant picture for biotech investors, as small-cap and micro-cap names surged amid a combination of factor-driven catalysts and renewed appetite for high-volatility names. The broader sentiment shift—largely attributed to the Federal Reserve’s recent rate cut—created a fertile environment for speculative positioning, while select companies cued up positive announcements to amplify their moves.

Mixed Catalysts Driving the Sector Rally

The biotech bounce wasn’t uniform across the board. Some companies benefited from concrete catalysts like upcoming clinical data releases or partnership announcements, while others appeared to ride the wave of pure risk appetite in the wake of the Fed’s decision. This divergence tells a story of both macro-driven momentum and micro-driven fundamentals at play.

Corbus Pharmaceuticals Holdings, Inc. (CRBP) — Up 12.76% After Hours

Data anticipation served as the primary fuel for Corbus, which gained traction ahead of a significant clinical milestone. The company is set to unveil results from its Phase 1a SAD/MAD study for CRB-913 before market open on Thursday, December 11, 2025, with an accompanying 8:00 a.m. ET conference call. Extended-hours investors were clearly positioning for this catalyst, viewing the after-hours strength as a signal of things to come.

Curis, Inc. (CRIS) — Up 7.68% After Hours

After hours: $1.3999 (+7.68%) | Close: $1.30 (-2.26%)

Momentum built on recently disclosed data, as Curis extended its post-news rally from a December 9 presentation at the 67th ASH Annual Meeting. The company’s frontline AML triplet study (CA-4948-104) continues to attract institutional interest, keeping the stock cued up for further upside as additional results mature.

Cerus Corporation (CERS) — Up 3.17% After Hours

After hours: $1.95 (+3.17%) | Close: $1.89 (+1.61%)

Corporate partnerships can be as powerful as clinical breakthroughs. Cerus announced a group purchasing agreement with Blood Centers of America (BCA), covering its full INTERCEPT product line. The deal positions the company to scale its pathogen-reduction technology across BCA’s nationwide network, validating its commercial strategy.

Sentiment-Driven Moves Dominate Micro-Cap Action

The lion’s share of Wednesday’s after-hours gainers lacked fresh company-specific news, instead riding the coattails of macro sentiment shifts and sector-wide rotation.

Agape ATP Corp. (ATPC) — Up 29.41% After Hours

After hours: $0.088 (+29.41%) | Close: $0.0680 (-94.83%)

The most explosive move of the session came from this micro-cap, which surged on pure momentum following the Fed rate cut. No corporate developments preceded the spike—just raw speculative buying in the wake of improved risk appetite.

Cue Biopharma, Inc. (CUE) — Up 13.12% After Hours

After hours: $0.54 (+13.12%) | Close: $0.4773 (-3.50%)

Cue Biopharma jumped into double-digit territory despite an absent news catalyst, driven entirely by the broader biotech recovery trade. Beaten-down micro-caps like CUE became the vehicle of choice for rotations out of fixed-income plays.

Anebulo Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (ANEB) — Up 8.37% After Hours

After hours: $2.33 (+8.37%) | Close: $2.15 (-6.52%)

Anebulo’s rebound exemplified the risk-on trading pattern, gaining sharply in the absence of news. The small-cap biotech name participated in the Fed-driven rotation into speculative equities.

Skye Bioscience, Inc. (SKYE) — Up 7.02% After Hours

After hours: $1.22 (+7.02%) | Close: $1.14 (-5.79%)

Similarly, Skye Bioscience benefited from sector-wide tailwinds with no new announcements, suggesting that macro factors overshadowed company-level developments for many names.

The Broader Takeaway

Wednesday’s after-hours session underscored the power of monetary policy in directing capital flows, particularly toward high-volatility biotech stocks. While Corbus, Curis, and Cerus leveraged fundamental catalysts to amplify their moves, names like ATPC, CUE, and SKYE demonstrated that pure sentiment can drive significant intraday swings in extended hours. For investors, the session offered a reminder that in biotech, headlines and catalysts matter—but sometimes, the macro tide simply lifts all boats.

Disclaimer: The views expressed herein are analytical observations and do not necessarily reflect institutional recommendations.