Should Investors Be Watching These Top Health Care Stocks Right Now?
Most would know that health care stocks are amongst the top performers throughout the current pandemic. Some might even say that the sector is among the best to invest in now. For one thing, the industry is home to countless companies who work towards improving the quality of our lives. They do so via constant innovations in the medical tech and biotech fields. At the same time, some of the top health care stocks continue to soar when progress is made on these innovations.
Take Rubius Therapeutics (NASDAQ: RUBY) for example. The cancer and autoimmune disease-focused biotech company recently made headlines with its experimental cancer treatment, RTX-240. Regarding its shares, RUBY stock is currently looking at year-to-date gains of over 160%.
Meanwhile, investors looking for more defensive players in the industry have their fair share to pick from as well. Health care giant UnitedHealth Group (NYSE: UNH) has seen mostly consistent growth over the past few years. With the company offering health insurance services, investors could be looking at long-term gains. After all, the need for health care remains a universal one. With all that said, do you have these top health care stocks on your watchlist now?
Top Health Care Stock To Watch Now
- bluebird bio Inc. (NASDAQ: BLUE)
- Helius Medical Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ: HSDT)
- XOMA Corporation (NASDAQ: XOMA)
- Zealand Pharma (NASDAQ: ZEAL)
bluebird bio Inc.
First, we have biotech company bluebird bio Inc. The company is a pioneer in the field of gene therapy, developing gene and cell therapies. Bluebird does so for patients facing potentially deadly severe genetic diseases and cancers. Aside from that, the company is also a gene therapy advocate working towards making it available to all in need. At the moment, bluebird is currently working on treatments for cerebral adrenoleukodystrophy, sickle cell disease, β-thalassemia, and multiple myeloma (MM). Regarding its MM treatment, the company is collaborating with pharma giant, Bristol Myers Squibb (NYSE: BMY). The therapy is known as Abecma. In fact, BLUE stock could be in focus this week thanks to a regulatory update on Abecma.
Late on Friday night, it was revealed that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved Abecma for use. Particularly, it is now the first-in-class B-cell maturation antigen (BCMA) directed cell therapy for relapsed or refractory MM. This positive news comes after Abecma was found to be effective in 72% of clinical trial patients.
Overall, this marks a major milestone for bluebird as its first treatment to be approved in the U.S. Not to mention, Abecma is also bluebird’s first oncology treatment to receive FDA approval. Given this groundbreaking development, I could see investors flocking to BLUE stock this week. Will you be doing the same?
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Helius Medical Technologies Inc.
Following that, we will be looking at Helius Medical Technologies. The Pennsylvania-based neurotech company focuses on making medical devices. The likes of which serve to improve neurological wellness. According to Helius, the company aims to develop, license, and acquire non-invasive tech that amplifies the brain’s ability to heal itself. More importantly, HSDT stock is up by over 60% year-to-date. This is thanks to a 30% jump last Friday. This activity coincided with a recent regulatory update on one of its flagship devices.
Namely, Helius’ Portable Neuromodulation Stimulator (PoNS) received marketing authorization from the FDA. This approval is on the grounds that PoNS is a short-term treatment of gait deficiency in multiple sclerosis (MS) patients. Basically, PoNS is a portable, non-implantable neuromuscular tongue stimulator. How it works is via therapist-controlled electrical stimulation of the patient’s tongue. Additionally, the therapist can connect the PoNS to a computer to view usage data via designated software. This provides therapists with information on how to improve a patient’s therapy based on data from earlier sessions.
According to the FDA, MS is among the most common neurological diseases in young adults today. In turn, the FDA hailed this authorization as “a valuable new aid in physical therapy” for patients living with MS. Could this make HSDT stock worth watching now?
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XOMA Corporation
Another health care company making waves now would be XOMA. In brief, the company boasts a significant portfolio of products that are licensed to and being developed by other companies. This over 65-asset portfolio of partner-funded programs spans multiple stages of the drug development process across various therapeutic areas. Generally, XOMA’s pioneering efforts in the field of antibody therapeutics are the basis for many of its licenses. Through its royalty-aggregator business strategy, XOMA can reap the benefits across a wide array of assets. Evidently, this appears to benefit XOMA stock as it has almost doubled in value over the past year.
On the operational front, the company just announced a multi-license milestone and royalty monetization transaction, last week. In particular, XOMA has purchased potential future milestones and royalties of two clinical-stage drugs from Viracta Therapeutics (NASDAQ: VIRX). The first candidate is DAY101 which is a treatment for a pediatric low-grade glioma, a type of brain tumor.
Following that is vosaroxin which is being developed as a potential treatment for acute myeloid leukemia. Overall, XOMA has acquired potential royalties worth over $100 million between both drug candidates. With the company continuously expanding its portfolio, will you be adding XOMA stock to your watchlist?
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Zealand Pharma
Zealand is a Danish biotech research company that designs and develops peptide-based treatments. Simply put, the company’s main focus is on treating metabolic diseases like diabetes and obesity. To begin with, Zealand’s robust pipeline of investigational medicines includes three candidates in late-stage development. The company is currently marketing V-Go, an externally attached insulin delivery patch for diabetic patients. With V-Go, patients receive a steady rate of background insulin over 24-hours and can access additional insulin boosts at mealtimes. Notably, V-Go works discreetly and at a push of a button. This would be a go-to product for diabetic individuals throughout the pandemic. Similarly, ZEAL stock could be a go-to for investors looking to bet on diabetes treatments.
To point out, the company also received its second FDA approval last week. The treatment in question is Zealand’s Zegalogue injection. The FDA approved Zegalogue as a treatment of severe hypoglycemia (SH) in diabetic patients aged 6 years and above. Remarkably, this approval provides patients with another means of quickly treating SH which can quickly progress from a mild event to an emergency.
In its Phase 3 clinical trials, Zegalogue effectively treated SH within an average of ten minutes. According to the FDA, SH is an acute, life-threatening condition. This would make Zealand’s treatment crucial for diabetes patients moving forward. Given all of this, would you say ZEAL stock is a top health care stock to watch now?
