Do You Have These Health Care Stocks On Your Radar For 2022?
Health care stocks remain a top pick among investors in the stock market. In a pandemic-driven era, we are often reminded of the importance of health care. Thus, emphasis has been placed on the industry more than ever. We saw the number of COVID-19 cases per day surpassing the one million mark on Monday as Omicron continues to plague the country. The new daily tally brings the total number of cases confirmed in the U.S. to over 56 million. Therefore, it is only natural that health care stocks are heating up right now.
Around the globe, countries are struggling to keep the coronavirus in check. Hence, demand for health care products and services has been high. Yesterday, Belgium agreed to buy 10,000 courses each of the COVID-19 antiviral oral treatments developed by Pfizer and Merck (NYSE: MRK). Meanwhile, other health care companies are also not resting on their laurels. For instance, Amyris (NASDAQ: AMRS) and ImmunityBio (NASDAQ: IBRX) recently announced the completion of a joint venture agreement to accelerate the commercialization of a next-generation coronavirus vaccine. The goal is to start delivering the second-generation vaccine in 2022 as soon as practically possible. With that said, it would not be surprising to have investors keeping close tabs on the top health care stocks. So, here is a list of some of the top names in the stock market today.
Best Health Care Stocks To Watch This Week
- Pfizer Inc (NYSE: PFE)
- Jazz Pharmaceuticals plc (NASDAQ: JAZZ)
- Acadia Healthcare Company Inc (NASDAQ: ACHC)
- Eli Lilly And Company (NYSE: LLY)
Pfizer
Let us start the list with one of the pioneers of the coronavirus vaccine, Pfizer. In detail, the company is a research-based global biopharmaceutical company. It engages in the discovery, development, and distribution of biopharmaceutical products. As the coronavirus situation continues to escalate, so has the company’s stock. PFE stock has risen by more than 50% over the past year.
Pfizer ended the year 2021 with plenty of positives. It announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has authorized the emergency use of PAXLOVID™ for the treatment of mild-to-moderate COVID-19 in patients who are 12 years of age and older. This targets patients who have positive results of direct SARS-CoV-2 viral testing and who are at high risk for progression to severe COVID-19.
With this new breakthrough oral therapy, it will hopefully change the way to treat coronavirus and reduce the pressure faced by our health care and hospital systems. Furthermore, Pfizer and BioNTech (NASDAQ: BNTX) just announced on Monday that the U.S. FDA has expanded the Emergency Use Authorization of a booster dose of the company’s coronavirus vaccine to include individuals 12 years of age and older. All in all, these are positive developments that the world would welcome as it appears that the pandemic will likely remain a huge concern. Thus, would you consider adding PFE stock to your watchlist?
[Read More] Top Stocks To Buy For 2022? 4 Work-From-Home Stocks In Focus
Jazz Pharmaceuticals
Following that, we have Jazz Pharmaceuticals. The company focuses on developing life-changing medicines for people with serious diseases that often have limited options. It has a diverse portfolio of products and product candidates with a focus on areas of sleep and hematology/oncology. There has been a flurry of positive developments for the company over the past week.
Late in December, the company announced that the first patient has been enrolled in a Phase 2 clinical trial to evaluate the safety and efficacy of JZP150. This is an investigational first-in-class small molecule for the treatment of adults with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The drug was granted Fast Track designation by the U.S. FDA due to the serious nature of the disorder. So, if approved, JZP150 will become the first new drug approved in 20 years for patients suffering from PTSD.
On top of that, Jazz also recently announced that the U.S. FDA has granted Orphan Drug Exclusivity (ODE) for Xywav oral solution. Xywav aims to treat idiopathic hypersomnia in adults, making it the second ODE for the medication. This is a huge milestone for the company as there are no prior approvals for the treatment of idiopathic hypersomnia. With that in mind, would you consider JAZZ stock a top health care stock to watch?
Acadia Healthcare
Another top name in the industry today would be Acadia. Essentially, the company has its focus on acquiring and developing behavioral healthcare facilities. It engages in developing and operating inpatient psychiatric facilities, residential treatment centers, group homes, substance abuse facilities, and many more. Despite trading sideways for the past year, it has still climbed approximately 20% during the period.
On Monday, Acadia announced the acquisition of CenterPointe Behavioral Health System, the largest behavioral health care provider in the state of Missouri. It will provide the company with a unique opportunity to extend its footprint in high-growth markets. Furthermore, it aligns with its growth strategy to expand through select acquisitions that meet the criteria of its disciplined capital allocation.
Moreover, the company also recently joined venture with Fairview Health Services. The partnership will support both companies’ plan to design and construct a new in-patient mental health and addiction facility in the Twin Cities’ East Metro. Hence, it will be able to focus on delivering the latest and best innovations for patients receiving treatments for mental illness. All things considered, would you be eyeing ACHC stock right now?
[Read More] 4 Artificial Intelligence Stocks To Watch Right Now
Eli Lilly And Company
Last but not least, we will be looking at one of the leading drug manufacturing companies, Eli Lilly and Company. Put simply, Eli Lilly is a pharmaceutical goliath with operations spanning across the globe. For a sense of scale, the company has offices in 18 countries while its products are solid in approximately 125 countries. The company’s portfolio currently consists of treatments for a wide array of diseases. This includes but is not limited to, diabetes, cancer, endocrine-related illnesses, and COVID-19.
Last month, the company demonstrated that its Lebrikizumab provides a significant improvement when combined with topical corticosteroids in people with moderate-to-severe atopic dermatitis in a pivotal Phase 3 trial. Impressively, the study met all primary and key secondary endpoints by week 16 for patients on the lebrikizumab combination arm. So, it would hopefully contribute and address the unmet needs of people living with persistent itch and inflamed skin caused by the disease soon.
Besides that, the company’s mirikizumab also met the primary endpoint of clinical remission and all key secondary endpoints at one year in LUCENT-2. The LUCENT-2 is a Phase 3 maintenance study to evaluate the efficacy and safety of the drug for the treatment of patients with moderately-to-severely active ulcerative colitis. Given these exciting developments, would LLY stock be a top stock to invest in now?
If you enjoyed this article and you’re interested in learning how to trade so you can have the best chance to profit consistently then you need to checkout this YouTube channel. CLICK HERE RIGHT NOW!
