Are you looking for stocks that can make big moves in a short amount of time? Then you want to check out this pair of drugmakers with huge catalysts on the way.
By the end of July, these companies are expected to make some important announcements. Positive outcomes could cause these stocks to more than double overnight. Then again, disappointing outcomes could lead to swift losses.
Before blindly risking any of your own hard-earned money, let's look at the catalysts that could make these two top performers.
Image source: Getty Images.
1. BridgeBio
BridgeBio(NASDAQ: BBIO) is a commercial-stage drugmaker with one drug for sale. Nulibry earned approval to treat molybdenum cofactor deficiency Type A, an ultra-rare disease, back in 2021.
Unfortunately, sales have been less than thrilling. With less than 150 addressable patients to treat, Nulibry sales are so low that the company's quarterly earnings reports don't even mention it.
BridgeBio is expected to announce results from a phase 3 trial with acoramidis, an oral transthyretin stabilizer, by the end of July. Transthyretin is a protein that's supposed to transport vitamin A and thyroid hormone to tissues that need it. Sometimes, though, it unravels, and the remaining fragments aggregate in a way that damages heart tissue.
Transthyretin-mediated cardiomyopathy (ATTR-CM) is a rare disease. It's common enough, though, that Pfizer's ATTR-CM treatment, Vyndaqel, is already a blockbuster drug, with $2.7 billion in annual sales. That's pretty good for a rare disease treatment that launched just four years ago.
Acoramidis has been shown to stabilize transthyretin, but it failed to improve six-minute walking test scores after 12 months during the Attribute-CM trial. Near the end of July, BridgeBio will present 30-month follow-up data that could help acoramidis redeem itself. At the 12-month check-in, there wasn't much disease progression from the placebo group. If acoramidis works, we'll have a better chance of measuring an improvement after 30 months of treatment.
At the moment, BridgeBio sports a $2.5 billion market cap, and acoramidis is just one of two drugs it has in late-stage clinical trials. With a large pipeline to lean on, BridgeBio can live to fight another day, even if acoramidis fails again. This stock looks like a good fit for investors with a high risk tolerance.
2. Biohaven
These days, Biohaven(NYSE: BHVN) is a clinical-stage drugmaker without any approved products to sell. Before turning away, though, investors should know that it's capable of shepherding new drugs through the regulatory process. Last October, Pfizer acquired two acute migraine treatments, Nurtec and Zavzpret, from Biohaven for $11.6 billion.
Biohaven has a robust pipeline of clinical-stage candidates aimed at neurological disorders. Its most advanced new drug candidate at the moment is troriluzole, an experimental treatment for spinocerebellar ataxia (SCA) and obsessive-compulsive disorder.
This May, Biohaven submitted a new drug application to the FDA regarding troriluzole for the treatment of SCA type 3. This subtype of SCA leads to a debilitating loss of muscle control and affects approximately 10,600 people in North America, Europe, and Japan. Approval to treat this population could send the stock through the roof, but we still don't know if the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will review the application.
Once a drugmaker submits a new drug application, the FDA has two months to ask for more data or begin a review process that generally spans 10 long months. Biohaven's market cap right now is just $1.5 billion because investors aren't sure how the FDA will handle the application.
A little over a year ago, the phase 3 trial with troriluzole and 218 SCA patients of multiple types failed to meet its primary endpoint. Investigators were looking for a change from patients' own baseline scores on an ataxia test after 48 weeks of treatment.
The NDA the company sent the FDA in May is based on a subgroup of 89 SCA type 3 patients. This group showed a numerical treatment benefit, which is encouraging, but it could also be a case of cherry-picking favorable results. An announcement that the FDA will begin reviewing its application could send the stock soaring.
While both of these biotech stocks have catalysts on the way that could send them soaring, there's still a lot that can go wrong. If you're going to take a chance on BridgeBio or Biohaven, be sure to make them a relatively small part of a diversified portfolio.
10 stocks we like better than BridgeBio Pharma
When our analyst team has a stock tip, it can pay to listen. After all, the newsletter they have run for over a decade, Motley Fool Stock Advisor, has tripled the market.*
They just revealed what they believe are the ten best stocks for investors to buy right now... and BridgeBio Pharma wasn't one of them! That's right -- they think these 10 stocks are even better buys.
*Stock Advisor returns as of June 12, 2023
Cory Renauer has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Pfizer. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
