Are These Top Biotech Stocks On Your December 2021 Watchlist?
With the start of the new trading week, investors are likely tuning in to the latest updates on the Omicron Covid variant. Accordingly, said investors could also be eyeing the top biotech stocks in the stock market today as well. After all, the industry is home to key players in the fight against the virus. This includes but is not limited to vaccine companies like Novavax (NASDAQ: NVAX) and Covid treatment developers like Vir Biotechnology (NASDAQ: VIR). Because of the current resurgence in Covid news, some would even argue that the biotech industry as a whole is receiving more attention now.
For one thing, biotech firms outside the Covid space are also hard at work developing groundbreaking drugs as well. Take Adicet Bio (NASDAQ: ACET) for instance. Earlier today, the company posted positive interim data from a Phase 1 study of ADI-001. To explain, it is the company’s candidate for the treatment of B-cell Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma, a cancer of the lymphatic system. As a result, investors appear to be flocking towards ACET stock now. Overall, with more eyes possibly on the sector now, biotech stocks could be worth watching. On that note, could one of these five be top picks in the stock market now?
Top Biotech Stocks To Watch Right Now
- Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE)
- Moderna Inc. (NASDAQ: MRNA)
- Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: REGN)
- AbbVie Inc. (NYSE: ABBV)
- AstraZeneca (NASDAQ: AZN)
Pfizer Inc.
Pfizer is a biopharmaceutical company that has improved the lives of millions all over the world. It develops and manufactures many health care products that include innovative medicines and vaccines. The company is also behind many blockbuster drugs, drugs that have brought in a revenue of over $1 billion. Most notably, its Covid vaccine was developed together with BioNTech (NASDAQ: BNTX) is on track to deliver over 2 billion doses by the end of the year. Pfizer is also digitizing drug discovery and development to make its work faster and easier. This would also enhance health outcomes and patient experiences in the long run.
Last week, the company announced a partnership with Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) Web Services. The two companies will be working to create innovative, cloud-based solutions with the potential to improve how medicines are developed, manufactured, and distributed for testing in clinical trials.
They will be exploring these advances through their newly created Pfizer Amazon Collaboration Team (PACT) initiative. The initiative will apply AWS capabilities in analytics and machine learning with Pfizer’s laboratory, clinical manufacturing, and clinical supply chain efforts. All things considered, is PFE stock worth adding to your portfolio?
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Moderna Inc.
Following that, we have Moderna, a company that has been at the forefront of messenger RNA (mRNA) development. It has a diverse clinical portfolio of vaccines and therapeutics across six modalities.
The company is also focusing on testing three existing Covid vaccine booster candidates against the Omicron variant. This comes in a time where the new variant of concern has mutations that are believed to increase transmissibility and mutations.
On December 1, 2021, the company announced a revised supply agreement with the U.K. government for up to 60 million doses of Moderna’s Covid vaccine, which may include authorized booster vaccine candidates. It expects to deliver up to 29 million doses in 2022 and up to 31 million doses in 2023. With this piece of information, is MRNA stock a top biotech stock to consider adding to your watchlist?
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Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc.
Regeneron Pharmaceuticals is a leading biotechnology company that creates life-transforming medicines for people with serious diseases. With over 30 years of experience, the company has nine FDA-approved treatments and numerous product candidates in development.
In detail, its medicines and pipeline help patients with eye diseases, allergic and inflammatory diseases, cancer, cardiovascular and metabolic diseases, pain, hematologic conditions, infectious diseases, and rare diseases.
Last month, the company announced that the European Commission has approved the casirivimab and imdevimab antibody cocktail, known as REGEN-COV in the U.S. and Ronapreve in the EU and other countries. The company says that for non-hospitalized infected individuals, its antibody cocktail is shown to reduce the risk of hospitalization or death by 70%. It is also able to reduce the risk of symptomatic infections by 82%. For this reason, is REGN stock worth watching right now?
AbbVie Inc.
Following that, we will be taking a look at AbbVie. By and large, it is a major player in the global biotech industry now. The company’s developmental pipeline and portfolio consist of a growing array of treatments spanning numerous medical fields. Among the core areas of AbbVie’s focus are immunology, neuroscience, eye care, oncology, and gastroenterology. For a sense of scale, the company raked in a total revenue of $14.34 billion in its latest quarter.
Despite its massive operations, AbbVie does not seem to be slowing down anytime soon. As of earlier today, the company seems to be making headway on the gastroenterological front.
Namely, AbbVie revealed that its Crohn’s disease drug candidate, Upadacitinib, met its primary and key secondary endpoints in a Phase 3 induction study. According to AbbVie, the drug is also noticeably effective in the difficult-to-treat refractory patient population. With all that said, would you consider adding ABBV stock to your watchlist anytime soon?
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AstraZeneca
Last but not least, is AstraZeneca. For the most part, the company is among the top names in the fight against Covid now. This would be thanks to its groundbreaking work on a Covid vaccine. The likes of which are currently being used across the globe. While this may be how most hear of AstraZeneca now, the vast collection of treatments should not be overlooked as well. Through said treatments, AstraZeneca treats millions of patients worldwide via its operations in over 100 countries.
All in all, with the Omicron variant being in focus now, investors could be considering AZN stock. While AstraZeneca is still hard at work testing its vaccine against the variant, its other divisions are not slowing down. As of last week, the company provided an update on its metastatic breast cancer treatment, Enhertu.
According to AstraZeneca, the treatment demonstrates “superior progression-free survival” in patients with HER2-positive breast cancer, compared to conventional drugs. With that said, will you be keeping an eye on AZN stock?
