#stocks

Every week my inbox fills with a version of the same question. This week it was two tickers retail can't stop trading: C4 Therapeutics ($CCCC) and Virgin Galactic ($SPCE). Both ignored by the big funds. Both "about to" do something enormous. Both the kind of bet that triples — or goes to zero.

So I did what I do: read the filings, the trial data, and — the part most people skip — the cash runway. The verdict isn't close. And the chart below is why.

CCCC — a real shot on goal

C4 Therapeutics does targeted protein degradation. In plain English: instead of just blocking a disease-causing protein, their drugs trick the cell into shredding it. The lead drug, cemsidomide, is an oral degrader for multiple myeloma — and the early data is the kind that makes oncologists lean forward: a 53% response rate at the top dose, with a safety profile clean enough to stack on top of other therapies. It's now in a registrational Phase 2.

Here's what separates this from a pure gamble — validation and money. Roche just signed a degrader-antibody deal worth north of a billion dollars in potential milestones and wrote a $20M check up front. Biogen and Merck KGaA are also at the table. And critically: C4 is funded into the end of 2028 — past the data readouts that actually move the stock. You're not betting on whether they survive to the catalyst. You're betting on the catalyst itself. That's the difference that matters.