Sagimet Biosciences is planning to start a U.S. Phase 3 trial of its acne drug denifanstat in the second half of this year, and on June 29, 2026 the company said it has also been added to two Russell stock indexes.
The San Mateo, California, company (Nasdaq: SGMT) joins the broad-market Russell 3000 Index and the small-cap Russell 2000 Index. The change took effect at the open of U.S. equity markets that day, as part of the 2026 Russell reconstitution.
The June reconstitution takes up to the 4,000 largest U.S. stocks as of April 30 and ranks them by total market capitalization. Membership in the Russell 3000 stays in place for half a year beginning in 2026, and it automatically carries inclusion in either the large-cap Russell 1000 or the small-cap Russell 2000, along with the matching growth and value style indexes. FTSE Russell sets membership mainly through objective market-cap rankings and style attributes.
Chief executive David Happel tied the listing to the company’s recent progress. “We believe inclusion in the Russell indexes reflects the meaningful progress Sagimet has made over the last year,” he said.
The acne trial
The Phase 3 study will test denifanstat in moderate to severe acne and will include adolescents aged 12 and older. “If approved, denifanstat would be the first innovative oral treatment for acne vulgaris in patients aged 12 years and older in more than forty years,” Happel said.
The drug has not been approved, and the trial has not started. Anyone with acne who wants to know about options available now should talk to a doctor.
Sagimet says it has the capital to fund its programs through 2028, which covers the data readout from the planned acne trial. Happel said the company looks forward to “the broader visibility that inclusion in the Russell indexes brings.”
Sagimet develops FASN inhibitors, drugs designed to target dysfunctional metabolic and fibrotic pathways in conditions that result from overproduction of the fatty acid palmitate. FASN regulates lipid synthesis and is a key pathway in several diseases, including acne, MASH and certain FASN-dependent tumor types.
