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Last year was a stellar year for biotech investment, with the Amex Biotechnology Index growing an impressive 48 percent. Here, Life Science Investing News profiles the top-performing stocks of 2014.
Here, Life Science Investing News profiles the five top-performing stocks of last year.
Avanir Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:AVNR)
Total return in 2014: 404.5 percent
Market cap: $3,284.5 million
Quarterly sales: $32.7 million
Avanir Pharmaceuticals develops various treatments, including those for central nervous system disorders, inflammation and infectious diseases. The company made headlines last year when Japanese drugmaker Otsuka Holdings (TSE:4578) decided to purchase it for $3.5 billion.
Otsuka made the acquisition due to its desire to enhance its product pipeline before April 2015. During that month, the US patent for its schizophrenia drug, Abilify (which accounts for approximately 40 percent of Otsuka’s total holdings), expired, opening the field to generic competition. According to Reuters, Avanir will operate as a unit of Otsuka America, and will focus on developing and marketing treatments for central nervous system disorders.
OvaScience (NASDAQ:OVAS)
Total return in 2014: 383.8 percent
Market cap: $1,075.3 million
Quarterly sales: $0 million
This Cambridge, Massachusetts-based company develops and markets new treatments for infertility. Its share price increased throughout 2014, gaining increasing strength in the latter part of the year. In particular, OvaScience was bolstered by the news that it achieved its annual goals.
OvaScience is developing the AUGMENT treatment, which increases patients’ egg health by using mitochondria from their own egg precursor cells during in vitro fertilization (IVF). The company exceeded its patient goal for 2014, and expects to add an additional 1,000 patients in Canada, the United Kingdom, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates in 2015. It’s also signed a deal with one of Japan’s main IVF clinic networks to offer this treatment in 2015.
Agios Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:AGIO)
Total return in 2014: 367.8 percent
Market cap: $4,103.9 million
Quarterly sales: $33.9 million
Agios Pharmaceuticals develops therapeutics in the field of cancer metabolism, including drugs focusing on glycolysis, fatty acid metabolism and autophagy.
According to Forbes, the company debuted two promising cancer drugs in 2014; they operate by disrupting tumor cells’ metabolism. The experimental pill AG-221, intended to treat patients with acute myeloid leukemia whose tumors have a mutation in a specific gene, produced impressive results in its first study. Data from the second drug also produced notable results, leading to complete remission in four of 14 patients.
Bluebird Bio (NASDAQ:BLUE)
Total return in 2014: 337.2 percent
Market cap: $2,875.6 million
Quarterly sales: $6.4 million
Located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Bluebird Bio develops innovative gene therapies for severe genetic disorders, including childhood cerebral adrenoleukodystrophy, neurodegenerative disorders and beta-thalassemia. Bloomberg News reported that its share price rose to an all-time high when its gene therapy LeniGlobin BB305, which is for the rare blood disease beta thalassemia, helped four patients go without regular blood transfusions.
Receptos (NASDAQ:RCPT)
Total return in 2014: 322.6 percent
Market cap: $3,792.8 million
Quarterly sales: $3.5 million
Receptos develops and markets various therapeutics for immune and metabolic diseases, as well as small molecule drug therapies.
In October 2014, the company reported that its trial drug, intended to treat the irritable bowel disease ulcerative colitis, met all efficacy goals in an eight-week study. Five executives at the company then staged an initial public offering, selling $36.7 million worth of stock. Receptos intends to conduct more studies of this drug on patients with the same illness, as well as on those with Crohn’s disease.
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Securities Disclosure: I, Morag McGreevey, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.
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