February 7, 2017
By Mark Terry, BioSpace.com Breaking News Staff
When in Rome, do what the Romans do, right? When investing in biotech stocks, do what the professional investors do. Arpita Dutt, writing for Zacks, with the help of Zacks Stock Screener, takes a look at four biotech stocks that have been given a “Strong Buy” or “Buy” rating by 80 percent or more brokers that also have a favorable Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) or #2 (Buy).
Celgene Corporation focuses on cancer treatments and drugs for inflammatory diseases. Revlimid is its top drug, although it has been diversifying its portfolio with drugs like Pomalyst for multiple myeloma and Otezla for psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis, both of which sold $1 billion in sales last year.
It also has a deep and promising pipeline. It’s working to expand its labels for its top drugs, but it also has ozanimod for ulcerative colitis and relapsing multiple sclerosis in late trials, and GED-0301 for Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis, as well as several promising cancer drugs.
Dutt writes, “Celgene’s price performance over the past one year shows that although the company has witnessed ups and downs, overall it has outperformed the Zacks categorized Biomedical-Biomedical/Genetics industry.”
Celgene is currently trading for $117.11.
Exelixis is an oncology therapeutics company. Its approved drugs include Cabometyx for advanced kidney cancer, Cometriq for some forms of thyroid cancer, and Cotellic for advanced melanoma. It launched Cabometyx for advanced renal cell carcinoma (RCCC) last year and in the third quarter, brought in $31.2 million in net product revenue. The company’s expected growth rate for 2016 was projected at 34 percent.
Dutt writes, “Exelixis, a Zacks Rank #2 stock, has also outperformed the Zacks categorized Medical/Biomedical Genetics industry over the last one year. The company enjoys 100% Strong Buy or Buy broker rating.”
Exelixis is currently trading for $20.42.
Dutt notes that Ligand ’s business model is focused on “developing or acquiring royalty revenue generating assets and coupling them with a lean corporate cost structure.”
On December 22, 2016, it inked a global license and supply agreement with Novartis for the development and commercialization of tramatenib as a Captisol-enabled oral liquid formulation for metastatic melanoma in patients with BRAF V600 mutations.
On the same day, it also signed a worldwide license agreement with ONO Pharmaceutical for ONO to use the OmniRat, OmniMouse and OmniFlic platforms to discovery fully human mono- and bispecific antibodies.
Dutt writes, “Ligand is a Zacks Rank #2 stock with 80% Strong Buy or Buy broker rating.”
Ligand is currently trading for $108.20.
Headquartered in Irsael, RedHill Biopharma is a specialty biopharma company focused on developing and commercializing late clinical-stage drugs to treat gastrointestinal (GI) and inflammatory diseases, including cancer. On January 11, 2017, the company announced that RHB-104 had been granted Qualified Infectious Disease Product (QIDP) designation by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to treat Nontuberculous Mycobacteria (NTM) infections. That designation makes it eligible for Fast-Track status and an expedited development pathway, as well as Priority Review.
The company has a deep pipeline with a number of big catalysts expected in 2017. Dutt writes, “RedHill is also a Zacks Rank #2 stock and enjoys 100% Strong Buy or Buy broker rating.”
RedHill is currently trading for $10.
