5 Top Weekly NASDAQ Biotech and Pharma Stocks: Dova Up 52 Percent

The NASDAQ Biotechnology Index (INDEXNASDAQ:NBI) was in the red last week, dipping from 3,429.71 points on Monday (June 24) to 3,410.2 points as of 12:14 p.m EDT on Friday (June 28).

On Thursday (June 27), Dova Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:DOVA) received approval for a supplemental new drug application from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for its drug Doptelet.

According to the release, this approval will allow the company to use Doptelet to treat chronic immune thrombocytopenia. Dova Pharmaceuticals’ share price soared on the back of the news.

The top gainers last week in the biotech and pharma sectors are as follows:

• Dova Pharmaceuticals
• Avid Bioservices (NASDAQ:CDMO)
• Minvera Neurosciences (NASDAQ:NERV)
• Immunic (NASDAQ:IMUX)
• Melinta Therapeutics (NASDAQ:MLNT)

Here’s a closer look at those companies and what may have moved their share prices.

Dova Pharmaceuticals

Dova Pharmaceuticals’ area of focus is unmet medical needs, in particular thrombocytopenia. Thrombocytopenia is a condition that results in a low blood platelet count.

The company’s drug, Doptelet, has been indicated for this condition in patients with chronic liver disease and chronic immune thrombocytopenia.

As a result of the supplemental new drug application approval from the FDA, shares of Dova Pharmaceuticals were up 52.41 percent last week to US$13.62 as of 12:56 p.m. EDT on Friday.

Avid Bioservices

Avid Bioservices’ area of focus is on developing products originating from mammalian cell culture. This is the process of growing cells outside of their regular environment in a dish in a controlled environment.

On Thursday, the company announced its financial results for its fiscal Q4 and 2019 year, which wrapped up at the end of April. Avid Bioservices’ revenue increased 146 percent in Q4 to US$17.1 million.

Shares of the company increased 36.23 percent last week to US$13.86 as of 1:46 p.m. EDT on Friday.

Minerva Neurosciences

As its name suggests, Minerva Neurosciences’ primary target area is central nervous system diseases such as schizophrenia, insomnia, major depressive disorder and Parkinson’s disease.

It has several products in its pipeline, including roluperidone to treat schizophrenia, seltorexant for insomnia and major depressive disorder, MIN-117 for major depressive disorder and MIN-301 for Parkinson’s disease.

On Monday, the company announced it has reached the primary and secondary objectives of its Phase 2b clinical trial for seltorexant. Shares of Minerva Neurosciences responded favorably to the news, climbing 33.57 percent to US$5.60 as of 1:55 p.m. EDT on Friday.

Immunic

Immunic is a company focused on oral immunotherapy products for diseases such as ulcerative colitis, Crohn’s disease, relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis and psoriasis.

On Monday, the company announced that it will present unpublished data on its lead program, IMU-838, at the GI Inflammatory Diseases Summit. Shares of the company spiked 30.59 percent to US$11.78 as of 3:01 p.m. EDT on Friday.

Melinta Therapeutics

Melinta Therapeutics has a product line aimed at treating acute bacterial skin and skin structure infections. It also has products in preclinical and clinical trials targeting the anti-infective market.

The company didn’t have any announcements that could explain its share price increase last week. Over the period, Melinta Therapeutics jumped 27.63 percent to US$6.53 as of 3:06 p.m. EDT on Friday.

Data for the 5 Top NASDAQ Biotech and Pharma Stocks articles is retrieved each Friday at 1:00 p.m. EDT using TradingView’s stock screener. Only companies with a market capitalization greater than US$15 million and lower than US$500 million prior to the week’s gains are included. Companies within the biotechnology and pharmaceutical sectors are considered.

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Securities Disclosure: I, Jocelyn Aspa, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.