March 14, 2017
By Mark Terry, BioSpace.com Breaking News Staff
Although 2016 wasn’t a huge year for biotechs, it was decent for many and fantastic for a few. Cory Renauer, writing for The Motley Fool, looks at three biotech stocks that had a dazzling year and might rise even higher.
Based in Samford, Conn., Cara Therapeutics focuses on developing new drugs for acute and chronic pain and pruritus. On November 29, 2016, the company announced it had completed patient enrollment in its Phase II/III trial of intravenous CR845 in dialysis patients suffering from moderate-to-sever uremic pruritus (UP). UP is systemic itching in patients with chronic kidney disease. There are no approved therapies.
Cara is currently trading at $14.66. Shares traded for $5.64 on May 11, 2016.
The product to watch is CR845, an opioid that is believed to work effectively by targeting peripheral opioid receptors while avoiding the euphoria that makes opioids so addictive. Pain relief, according to arthritis patients in a study, compare its effectiveness to Oxycodone and Celebrex.
The dialysis UP study for CR845 expects data by the end of this month. Renauer writes, “Hopes that Cara Therapeutics has found a winning solution has driven its stock up 201% over the past year. Despite the run-up, the company’s market cap is a fairly modest $420 million. An approval in kidney disease-related itching alone could send the stock much higher, and acceptance in additional settings could make this a big winner over the long term.”
Headquartered in Boulder, Colo., Array BioPharma focuses on targeted small molecule drugs for cancer. It currently has five registration trials, which include binimetinib (MEK162), encorafenib (LGX818) and selumetinib, which is partnered with AstraZeneca .
In November 2016, the company released positive results on its pivotal Phase III COLUMBUS trial of binimetinib plus encorafenib (bini/enco) in BRAF-mutant melanoma patients. The combination showed significant improvement in progression free survival (PFS) compared with vemurafenib, a BRAF inhibitor, alone.
Array Biopharma is currently trading for $11.04. Shares traded on April 1, 2016 for $3.
The stock has risen 285 percent over the last year. The two new drug applications (NDA) the company has are giving investors hopes of blockbuster sales. Decisions are expected by the end of June.
Renauer writes, “At around $1.9 billion, Array Biopharma’s market cap has much further to fall if the FDA delivers some unexpected news. There’s also a chance the candidates could earn approval, only to flop in the commercial stage. Given the $100,000-plus price tags new cancer therapies generally command, and tens of thousands of melanoma patients that might benefit from Array’s candidates, this stock looks like it has more climbing to do over the long run.”
3. Corbus Pharmaceuticals Holdings
Based in Norwood, Mass., Corbus Pharmaceuticals Holdings focuses on developing and commercializing rare, chronic and serious inflammatory and fibrotic diseases. Although it doesn’t like to be called a marijuana company, its lead product candidate, Resunab, is a novel synthetic oral endocannabinoid-mimetic drug for inflammation and fibrosis.
The company’s Resunab has nothing to do with the marijuana plant. The drug is a synthetic compound that mimics some cannabinoid activity, preferentially binding to the CB2 receptor that is expressed on activated immune cells and fibroblasts. It is not psychoactive. It is being evaluated in cystic fibrosis, diffuse cutaneous systemic sclerosis (scleroderma), dermatomyositis and systemic lupus erythematosis.
In 2016, company stock climbed 412 percent. Corbus is currently trading for $9.20. Shares traded on April 19, 2016 for $2.21.
Renauer writes, “While major run-ups without fundamentals to explain them are common for marijuana stocks, this company’s new drug candidate produced data that suggests it could become the first available treatment for a rare, life-threatening condition called systemic sclerosis. … With about 90,000 systemic sclerosis patients in the U.S. and EU, success in this indication alone would send the stock far higher than its recent market cap of around $470 million.”
It also has shown positive data for three more indications.
