Looking For Stocks Moving Today? Here Are 4 Biotech Stocks To Check Out.
Biotech stocks have been piquing the interest of many investors in the stock market lately. Well, this is largely due to the progress that we have seen in the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease shown by Biogen Inc (NASDAQ: BIIB). If anything, the new approach in treating Alzheimer’s could mean there’s a bigger growth runway for the company. As of late, it is the first and only Alzheimer’s disease treatment to address a defining pathology of the disease. Since the announcement, BIIB stock has surged by almost 40%.
As a matter of fact, other companies associated with the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease received a boost too. Cassava Sciences Inc (NASDAQ: SAVA) has benefited greatly from this as its stock soared by over 90% over the past month. It appears that investors are optimistic about Cassava’s drug candidate following Biogen’s success. So, is this the type of investment that gets you excited? If yes, then here are some of the top biotech stocks in the stock market today.
Biotech Stocks To Buy [Or Avoid] Today
- Novo Nordisk (NYSE: NVO)
- Anavex Life Sciences Corp (NASDAQ: AVXL)
- Genmab A/S (NASDAQ: GMAB)
- Altimmune Inc (NASDAQ: ALT)
Novo Nordisk
First, we have the Danish multinational healthcare company, Novo. The company primarily engages in diabetes and obesity care. It also engages in the discovery, development, manufacturing, and marketing of pharmaceutical products. As it stands, Novo supplies approximately 50% of the world’s insulin. NVO stock has climbed by almost 30% within the past year.
Earlier this month, the company announced that the U.S. FDA has approved Wegovy™. Adult patients with obesity overweight with at least one weight-related comorbidity could now use the drug as an adjunct to diet and exercise for chronic weight management. The approval is based on the results from the STEP phase 3a clinical trial program. An average weight loss of 17-18% is sustained over 68 weeks across the trials in people without type 2 diabetes.
On top of that, the company along with Heartseed Inc also entered into an exclusive worldwide collaboration and license agreement for the development, manufacturing, and commercialization of Heartseed’s lead asset HS-001. In the agreement, Novo will have the right to manufacture and commercialize the HS-001 worldwide except in Japan. This is an important collaboration for the company as it expands its treatment solutions for people with cardiovascular disease. All things considered, would you still consider NVO stock as a top biotech stock to buy?
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Anavex is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company. The company engages in the development of differentiated therapeutics for the treatment of neurodegenerative and neurodevelopmental diseases. This includes drug candidates to treat Alzheimer’s disease (AD), other central nervous systems (CNS) diseases, pain, and various types of cancer. As you would expect from an emerging biotech company showing promise, the company stock has risen over 350% over the past year.
Last week, Anavex announced that it has exceeded its enrollment target for the ANAVEX®2-73 (blarcamesine) Phase 2b/3 study in Alzheimer’s disease. This multi-center, double-blind clinical trial is measuring the efficacy, tolerability, and safety of two different once-daily oral ANAVEX®2-73 (blarcamesine) doses or placebo. This highlights the unmet need that exists currently for Alzheimer’s disease patients worldwide. Given the lack of available therapeutic interventions, the success of the drug could prove to be a huge boost for the company.
Furthermore, two of the company’s leading pipeline drugs, ANAVEX®2-73 and ANAVEX®3-71 were featured in a new peer-reviewed publication in the journal of Expert Opinion on Therapeutic Targets. In the research published, it appears that the two drugs could prove to be very effective in fighting diseases associated with the CNS. Given that the ANAVEX®3-71 has done well in clinical testing thus far, could AVXL stock be a safe bet for the long term?
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Genmab A/S
Genmab is a Denmark-based international biotechnology company. It specializes in the creation and development of antibody therapeutics for the treatment of cancer. The company is the creator of the approved antibodies: DARZALEX (daratumumab) for the treatment of certain multiple myeloma indications. Other notable products would include Ofatumumab and Teprotumumab. GMAB stock has climbed over 40% over the past year.
Earlier in June, the company and Bolt Biotherapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: BOLT) announced that the companies have entered into an oncology research and development collaboration. Both companies will combine their expertise to discover and develop the next-generation, antibody-based conjugate therapeutics for the treatment of cancer. Investors should be keeping a close eye on this as the company has a history of successful collaborations.
For instance, Janssen’s RYBREVANT™ has recently gained FDA approval. It is a fully human bispecific antibody for the treatment of adult patients with locally advanced or metastatic non-small cell lung cancer. This is a result of a collaboration between Genmab and Janssen back in 2012. It is the first regulatory approval for a product that was created using Genmab’s proprietary DuoBody technology platform. With all these in mind, would you consider adding GMAB stock to your portfolio?
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Altimmune Inc
To sum up the list, we have a trending clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, Altimmune. Essentially, it focuses on developing intranasal vaccines, immune-modulating therapies, and treatments for liver disease. The company also developed AdCOVID and T-COVID which are in Phase 1 and Phase 1/2 trials respectively. However, the company has risen over 16.49% in Wednesday’s trading session for another reason. So, let us see what has prompted this sudden hike.
On Wednesday, the company announced positive interim data from the ALT-801 Phase 1 trial in overweight and obese volunteers. The study is currently being conducted in Australia under a clinical trial application. The interim data showed a mean weight loss of 5.4% by Week 6 with a once-weekly ALT-801 dose of 1.8 mg administered subcutaneously (sc). On the other hand, the placebo group showed a weight gain of 0.9%.
So why is this significant? This is because it surpasses the pre-established treatment target of 2% weight loss. The drug was also well-tolerated without dose titration. Transient nausea rates were 14.3% at the 1.2 mg dose and 22.2% at the 1.8 mg dose, and no reports of vomiting, diarrhea, or constipation at either dose. A high degree of weight loss with good safety and tolerability profile makes it an attractive candidate among the GLP-1 class of drugs. With so many things happening at the company, would you consider buying ALT stock?
