Are These The Best Health Care Stocks To Buy As We Head Into August?
Health care stocks have been popular among investors in the stock market over the past year. As we continue to combat coronavirus and its variants, health care services remain an essential service. Recently, the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommended fully vaccinated Americans wear masks indoors, especially in crowded places. Naturally, this updated guideline comes amid a surge in COVID cases as the highly contagious Delta variant has become more prevalent. Well, unfortunately, the crisis is not over and investors are well aware of it.
After all, it is the health care industry that plays the biggest role in keeping the pandemic in check. Furthermore, it plays a vital role in developing, manufacturing, and marketing most of today’s medicines and cures. We only have to think of the likes of Moderna Inc (NASDAQ: MRNA) that plays a big role in COVID-19 vaccination or GlaxoSmithKline (NYSE: GSK) that provides a wide array of treatments and drugs. We can’t deny that we will need health care services at some point in our lives. With all said and done, do you have a list of the top health care stocks in the stock market today?
Top Health Care Stocks To Buy [Or Avoid] Before August 2021
- Cassava Sciences Inc (NASDAQ: SAVA)
- Stryker Corporation (NYSE: SYK)
- Amgen, Inc (NASDAQ: AMGN)
- Repligen Corporation (NASDAQ: RGEN)
Cassava Sciences Inc
Firstly, we have the clinical-stage biotech company, Cassava. The company focuses on the development of drugs for the treatment of nervous system disorders. It has been making the headlines over the past few months for its development of a treatment for Alzheimer’s disease. SAVA stock is easily one of the biggest winners in the industry over the past year. It has skyrocketed over 3600% during this period.
On Monday, the company announced positive data with SavaDx from a randomized controlled phase 2b study of simufilam. It uses a simple blood test to measure plasma levels of altered filamin A to detect Alzheimer’s disease. In this study, simufilam significantly reduced plasma levels of altered filamin A in Alzheimer’s patients treated for 28 days. Also, plasma levels of p-tau181 dropped significantly. This matters because it is believed that filamin A is a major culprit in Alzheimer’s disease.
So, keen investors will be following the live podium presentation at AAIC on Thursday, July 29, where it will feature updates on simufilam. It will cover the results of an interim analysis on safety and cognition for the first 50 patients with Alzheimer’s disease to complete 9 months of open-label treatment. Furthermore, there will also be a presentation on biomarker data analyzed from cerebrospinal fluid collected from 25 study subjects at baseline and again after completing 6 months of open-label drug treatment. Now, if the results are as good as expected, could there be more room to run for SAVA stock?
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Stryker Corporation
Next, we have the medical technology company, Stryker. Essentially, it offers a range of medical technologies that include orthopedic, medical and surgical, and neurotechnology, and spine products. The company also offers musculoskeletal care and sensor technology for total joint replacement. SYK stock has been on a bullish trend since the start of the year. It showed gains of over 38% within the period.
Just yesterday, Stryker announced its second-quarter operating results. Impressively, it reported net sales of $4.3 billion, representing an increase of 55.4% year-over-year. Meanwhile, its net earnings came in at $592 million, compared to a loss of $83 million from the prior year’s quarter. We can see that its business momentum continues to grow as the pandemic moderates.
It is also worth noting that Stryker has announced FDA clearance of InSpace earlier this month. This is the first balloon implant for arthroscopic treatment of massive irreparable rotator cuff tears. The implant has been successfully used over the past 10 years outside of the U.S. In fact, there have already been approximately 29,000 balloons implanted thus far. So this provides a new surgical option for surgeons to address their unmet needs in the shoulder continuum of care. Given the positive developments surrounding the company, would you invest in SYK stock?
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Amgen, Inc
Following that, there is the biotech company, Amgen. In detail, Amgen specializes in various human therapeutics. It focuses on human therapeutics for the treatment of serious illness in the area of oncology/hematology, cardiovascular disease, and neuroscience. Two of the company’s top-selling drugs are Enbrel and Neulasta. Enbrel is used to combat severe arthritis and similar inflammatory diseases while Neulasta is used to treat neutropenias.
Today, Amgen announced that it has reached an agreement with Teneobio under which Amgen will acquire Teneobio. It is a clinical-stage biotech company developing a new class of biologics called Human Heavy-Chain Antibodies. This acquisition will enable significant acceleration in the discovery and development of new treatments that have the potential to treat a wider range of important diseases across Amgen’s core therapeutic areas.
Not only that, the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour, and Welfare has also granted marketing approval for Aimovig® (erenumab). This drug has shown the effect of suppressing the onset of migraine attacks in adults. Up to this point, this is the first and only approved treatment in Japan to block the calcitonin gene-related peptide receptor (CGRP-R), which is believed to play a critical role in migraine. All things considered, would AMGN stock be a top health care stock to invest in?
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Repligen Corporation
Repligen Corporation is a bioprocessing company that focuses on the development, manufacture, and commercialization of products used to improve the interconnected phases of the biological drug manufacturing process. Its portfolio includes protein products, chromatography products, and filtration products. RGEN stock has risen over 65% over the past year.
On Tuesday, Repligen delivered an outstanding second-quarter earnings report. The company’s revenue increased by $75.5 million, representing an increase of 86% year-over-year. Meanwhile, its GAAP fully diluted EPS increased to $0.64, more than double that from the prior year. This strong showing really illustrates the strength of the company across the board in all of its franchises.
Furthermore, the company has also agreed to acquire France-based Polymem S.A., a provider of hollow fiber membranes and modules. The acquisition significantly expands its hollow fiber membrane and module production capabilities. Also, it adds core research and development, engineering, and production expertise in hollow fiber technology for both industrial and bioprocessing markets. With all these in mind, would you consider adding RGEN stock to your portfolio?
