4 Top NASDAQ Biotech Stocks 100 Days in Under Trump's Presidency

It’s no secret that a Donald Trump presidency hasn’t been kind to the pharmaceutical sector and–to that end–the biotech market. 
In fact, in the weeks before Trump’s inauguration, he said the drug industry “has been disastrous”, stating [they’re] leaving left and right.
“We have to do is create new bidding procedures for the drug industry, because they’re getting away with murder,” he continued.
Following Trump’s comments, the iShares Nasdaq Biotechnology Technology ETF (NASDAQ:IBB) had dropped 2.5 percent, CNBC reported, notching its first negative day of 2017.

Since then, the index has gained 11.67 percent year-to-date, and some analysts have even said that the president isn’t ‘a worse case scenario for biotech.’ That said, 2017 has no doubt been rocky so far for the pharmaceutical and biotech sectors. According to Bloomberg, acquisitions in both industries accounted for $44 billion in the first quarter of 2017, down 13 percent from the previous year.
Still–there are bright spots in the biotech market. In fact, a few biotech stocks on the NASDAQ S&P 500 have still performed exceptionally well since Trump’s inauguration just over 100 days ago. The companies listed below all have a market cap of less than $500 million, but higher than $50 million, and have percentage gains of more than 50 percent.
Here’s a closer look at those companies.

Pieris Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:PIRS)

Market cap: $158.03 million; percentage gain since Jan. 20: 105.04 percent; current share price: $3.67
Pieris Pharmaceuticals is a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing Anticalin-based drugs with a focus on respiratory diseases, including asthma. Currently, Pieris is working on three drug candidates, the PRS-080 (targeting hepcidin), PRS-060 (binds to the IL-4 receptor alpha-chain) and PRS-300.
On May 3, the company’s shares skyrocketed by 54 percent following its announcement that it had entered into a $57.5 million deal with AstraZeneca (NYSE:AZN) to develop anticalin-based inhaling treatments for respiratory drugs.

Viveve Medical (NASDAQ:VIVE)

Market cap: $141.07 million; percentage gain since Jan. 20: 63.27 percent; current share price: $8.00
Viveve Medical is focused on women’s health and, in particular, its medical device, Geneveve. The product has  been tested in three clinical trials: in the US, in Japan and placebo-controlled multi-national clinical trial.

Fortress Biotech (NASDAQ:FBIO)

Market cap: $197.89 million; percentage gain since Jan. 20: 63.44 percent; current share price: $3.71
Fortress Biotech is a biopharmaceutical company in the business of developing immunotherapy agents for the treatment of autoimmune diseases and cancer.
In early April, the company announced that the FDA approved the transfer of two orphan drug designations for CAEL‐101 in Amyloidosis from Columbia University to the company’s subsidiary, Caelum Biosciences.

Brainstorm Cell Therapeutics (NASDAQ:BCLI)

Market cap: $77.92 million; percentage gain since Jan. 20: 56.23 percent; current share price: $4.14
Rounding out the top four is Brainstorm Cell Therapeutics, who is currently developing stem cell therapies to treat neurodegenerative diseases.
The company’s products target diseases such as Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, Parkinson’s Disease, Multiple Sclerosis, and Huntington’s Disease.
In mid-April, Brainstorm Cell Therapeutics announced the publication of an Autism research study.
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Securities Disclosure: I, Jocelyn Aspa, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.