Shares of ProQR Therapeutics N.V. (NASDAQ:PRQR) were up 16% as of 3:48 p.m. EDT on Monday. ProQR didn't report any new announcements, but the biotech's update last Wednesday from a phase 1/2 clinical study -- of RNA medicine QR-110, in treating Leber congenital amaurosis type 10 (LCA10) -- still had investors fired up.
In its announcement last week, ProQR stated that patients receiving QR-110 experienced clinically meaningful responses in both visual acuity and ability to navigate a mobility course after three months of treatment. The experimental drug also appeared to be tolerated relatively well by patients, with no serious adverse events reported.
Image source: Getty Images.
So whatProQR Therapeutics' phase 1/2 results justify the stock's big jump, in my view. LCA10 is the leading cause of genetic childhood blindness, with around 2,000 individuals known to have the disease. Currently, there are no approved treatments for LCA10 and no other drug in clinical development other than QR-110.
Top Biotech Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Amgen Inc.(AMGN)
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Logan Wallace]
Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) was upgraded by stock analysts at BidaskClub from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued on Monday.
- [By Jon C. Ogg]
In September of 2016, Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ: AMGN) announced that the FDA had approved its Amjevita as a biosimilar to Humira for multiple inflammatory diseases that included RA and several other related inflammatory diseases.
- [By Stephan Byrd]
PNC Financial Services Group Inc. trimmed its stake in Amgen, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 0.3% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 2,120,853 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 6,484 shares during the quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc.’s holdings in Amgen were worth $391,489,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.
- [By Trey Thoelcke]
Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ: AMGN) shares saw a nice bump after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Thursday approved Aimovig (erenumab), Amgen’s preventive treatment of migraine in adults. It is the first FDA-approved preventive migraine treatment in a new class of drugs, which work by blocking the activity of calcitonin gene-related peptide, which is believed to play a critical role in migraine attacks.
- [By Keith Speights]
Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD), Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN), and Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) rank as the three top biopharmaceutical companies when it comes to cash stockpiles. Here's what these drugmakers are most likely to do with all that money -- and whether or not you should consider investing some of your hard-earned cash to buy their stocks.
- [By Stephan Byrd]
Cpwm LLC increased its holdings in Amgen, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) by 59.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,702 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,253 shares during the period. Cpwm LLC’s holdings in Amgen were worth $1,606,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
Top Biotech Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Biogen Idec Inc(BIIB)
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Chris Lange]
Short interest in Biogen Inc. (NASDAQ: BIIB) decreased to 2.85 million shares from the previous 3.59 million. The stock recently traded at $316.87, within a 52-week range of $249.17 to $388.67.
- [By Keith Speights]
Investors haven't been happy with either Biogen (NASDAQ:BIIB) or Celgene (NASDAQ:CELG) lately. But the level of discontent is much higher with Celgene. The biotech stock has dropped more than 20% so far in 2018, compared to a single-digit percentage decline for Biogen.
- [By Logan Wallace]
Biogen (NASDAQ:BIIB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 24th. The biotechnology company reported $6.05 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.93 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $3.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.15 billion. Biogen had a net margin of 23.54% and a return on equity of 37.64%. Biogen’s quarterly revenue was up 11.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $5.20 earnings per share. research analysts anticipate that Biogen will post 23.94 earnings per share for the current year.
Top Biotech Stocks To Invest In Right Now: ArQule Inc.(ARQL)
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Logan Wallace]
ValuEngine downgraded shares of ArQule (NASDAQ:ARQL) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research report sent to investors on Saturday.
Several other brokerages also recently issued reports on ARQL. Zacks Investment Research upgraded shares of ArQule from a hold rating to a buy rating and set a $2.75 target price for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 8th. B. Riley set a $4.00 target price on shares of ArQule and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Monday, March 26th. Roth Capital raised their target price on shares of ArQule from $5.00 to $6.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 17th. BidaskClub upgraded shares of ArQule from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note on Saturday, May 19th. Finally, Leerink Swann upgraded shares of ArQule from a market perform rating to an outperform rating in a research note on Thursday, April 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. The company has an average rating of Buy and a consensus price target of $5.35.
- [By Maxx Chatsko]
Shares of development-stage biopharma ArQule (NASDAQ:ARQL) rose nearly 17% today after the company announced two appointments to its management team in two newly created positions. Dr. Marc Schegerin will serve as senior vice president, corporate strategy, communication, and finance. Dr. Shirish Hirani will serve as senior vice president, program management and product planning.
- [By Lisa Levin] Gainers Melinta Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: MLNT) shares surged 20.6 percent to $6.39. WBB Securities upgraded Melinta Therapeutics from Hold to Speculative Buy. Shoe Carnival, Inc. (NASDAQ: SCVL) shares climbed 17.2 percent to $30.87 after the company reported upbeat quarterly earnings. Acorn International, Inc. (NYSE: ATV) shares rose 15.2 percent to $28.804 after the company declared a special one-time cash dividend of $14.97 per ADS. Foot Locker, Inc. (NYSE: FL) gained 15 percent to $53.35 after the company reported better-than-expected results for its first quarter. Sears Hometown and Outlet Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ: SHOS) surged 14.2 percent to $2.625. ArQule, Inc. (NASDAQ: ARQL) rose 13 percent to $5.12 after gaining 4.86 percent on Thursday. Quality Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: QSII) gained 12.8 percent to $16.97 after the company posted better-than-expected FQ4 results. Loma Negra Compañía Industrial Argentina Sociedad Anónima (NYSE: LOMA) shares rose 12 percent to $12.94. ArQule, Inc. (NASDAQ: ARQL) shares rose 12 percent to $5.07. Mirati Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: MRTX) climbed 11.4 percent to $43.50. Zai Lab Limited (NASDAQ: ZLAB) gained 11.3 percent to $24.7000. Zymeworks Inc. (NASDAQ: ZYME) rose 9.7 percent to $19.64. Park City Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: PCYG) climbed 9 percent to $7.90. Roku, Inc. (NASDAQ: ROKU) gained 7.9 percent to $38.82 after Citron reversed previously bearish position on the stock. Sears Holdings Corporation (NASDAQ: SHLD) shares jumped 7.3 percent to $3.55. Deckers Outdoor Corp (NYSE: DECK) rose 3.5 percent to $107.27 after reporting better-than-expected results for its fiscal fourth quarter.
Check out these big penny stock gainers and losers
- [By Ethan Ryder]
ArQule, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARQL) insider Value Fund L. P. Biotechnology sold 1,035,939 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.00, for a total value of $5,179,695.00. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink.
- [By Joseph Griffin]
ValuEngine upgraded shares of ArQule (NASDAQ:ARQL) from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a research report released on Tuesday.
Several other equities analysts have also issued reports on ARQL. Zacks Investment Research upgraded ArQule from a hold rating to a buy rating and set a $2.50 price objective for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 20th. BidaskClub upgraded ArQule from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a research report on Saturday, March 24th. B. Riley set a $4.00 price objective on ArQule and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Monday, March 26th. Leerink Swann upgraded ArQule from a market perform rating to an outperform rating in a research report on Thursday, April 5th. Finally, Roth Capital boosted their price objective on ArQule from $5.00 to $6.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. The company has a consensus rating of Buy and a consensus target price of $5.35.
- [By Stephan Byrd]
Get a free copy of the Zacks research report on ArQule (ARQL)
For more information about research offerings from Zacks Investment Research, visit Zacks.com
Top Biotech Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Alnylam Pharmaceuticals Inc.(ALNY)
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Brian Orelli]
Alnylam Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ALNY) and Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) looked to be in a two-horse race to develop TTR amyloidosis (ATTR) drugs. Alnylam recently got its drug Onpattro approved, while Ionis Pharmaceuticals and its marketing partner Akcea Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKCA) should hear about Tegsedi by Oct. 6. Tegsedi was approved in the EU last month.
- [By Sean Williams, Chuck Saletta, and Brian Feroldi]
So, which biotech stocks should you consider buying in June? That's a question we posed to three of our healthcare-focused investors. Interestingly enough, mid-cap biotech stocks are the clear flavor of the month. If biotech is on your radar in June, our investors suggest you consider Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS), Spark Therapeutics (NASDAQ:ONCE), and Alnylam Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ALNY).
- [By Shane Hupp]
Alnylam Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ALNY) was downgraded by analysts at Zacks Investment Research from a hold rating to a sell rating. According to Zacks, “Although we are pleased with Alnylam’s broad and promising pipeline, we note that most candidates are in their early or mid stages of development. These candidates still have a long way to go before hitting the market. Currently, Alnylam depends heavily on Onpattro for growth. We also note that gaining approval for pipeline candidates has become more difficult now. However, In August, Alnylam got a significant boost with the approval of Onpattro (patisiran), a first-of-its-kind RNA interference (RNAi) therapeutic, both in the United States and in Europe, for the treatment of the polyneuropathy of hereditary transthyretin-mediated (hATTR) amyloidosis in adults. This is the first approved candidate for the company and hence should drive revenues. Loss estimates have remained stable ahead of the Q3 earnings release.”
- [By Cory Renauer]
Taking a medical breakthrough from concept through commercial success is like ascending a mountain that grows taller and more treacherous with every setback. It's taken Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:ALNY) 16 years to launch its first drug, so challenges have had plenty of time to take up positions along this company's path to a successful first launch.
- [By Keith Speights]
It's not exactly David vs. Goliath. However, Bellicum Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:BLCM) and Alnylam Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ALNY) are definitely in different leagues right now. Both are clinical-stage biotechs, but Bellicum's market cap is less than $350 million while Alnylam's market cap is close to $10 billion.
No comments:
Post a Comment