Downtrodden Biotechs Pile Into Crypto to Win Back Wary Investors

They’re supposed to be on the cutting edge of medicine. Yet some tiny biotech companies, largely left behind in the stock market’s breakneck rally, are pursuing a new cure-all: Cryptocurrencies.

Shares of 180 Life Sciences Corp., now doing business as ETHZilla, tripled after the Peter Thiel-backed company said it had accumulated Ether tokens worth over $350 million. Less than two weeks later, the stock’s gains have been erased. In July, Sonnet BioTherapeutics Holdings soared 243% in one volatile session on plans to transform into a public crypto treasury while MEI Pharma Inc. initially doubled on plans to sell ...