5 Top Weekly NASDAQ Biotech and Pharma Stocks: Genocea Biosciences on Top

The NASDAQ Biotechnology Index (INDEXNASDAQ:NBI) was in the red last week, dropping from 3,279.52 points on Tuesday (May 28) to 3,167.47 points as of 1:36 p.m. EDT on Friday (May 31).

Despite the index’s dip, a number of NASDAQ biotech and pharma stocks still had notable share price increases last week. In particular, Genocea Biosciences (NASDAQ:GNCA) spiked on its announcement that the Journal of Clinical Oncology chose the company’s GEN-009 clinical results to be presented at the 2019 ASCO Meeting, which took place on June 1.

Other top gainers last week are as follows:

• Genocea Biosciences
• Outlook Therapeutics (NASDAQ:OTLK)
• Hoth Therapeutics (NASAQ:HOTH)
• AVEO Oncology (NASDAQ:AVEO)
• Evofem Biosciences (NASDAQ:EVFM)

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

Genocea Biosciences

Genocea Biosciences is focused on developing personalized cancer immunotherapies. Its ATLAS technology allows for the creation of a tumor-specific treatment found by observing a patient’s T cell immune response.

The company is advancing programs based off ATLAS, including its GEN-009 neoantigen vaccine candidate, which is in a Phase 1/2a clinical trial with patients who have specific cancers. The company’s other candidate, GEN-011, uses ATLAS to create patient-specific therapeutics. The company anticipates filing an Investigational New Drug application for it sometime in the first half of 2020.

Shares of Genocea Biosciences increased 34.47 percent last week to reach US$5.73 as of 2:19 p.m. EDT on Friday.

Outlook Therapeutics

Outlook Therapeutics’ primary focus is on its lead clinical program, ONS-5010, which aims to treat wet age-related macular degeneration (wet AMD) and other eye diseases specific to the retina. The company aims to launch the candidate as the first bevacizumab formulation approved for the treatment of wet AMD, diabetic macular edema and branch retinal vein occlusion.

Therapeutics had no news last week that relates to its share price. Over the trading period, shares of the company were up 31.49 percent to US$2.53 as of 2:46 p.m. EDT on Friday.

Hoth Therapeutics

Hoth Therapeutics is working on therapeutics for patients with atopic dermatitis, commonly known as eczema. It is developing its BioLexa platform at the University of Cincinnati. The drug compound platform has seen positive results in preclinical studies at the University of Miami.

Last week, the company announced that it will be presenting at the LD Micro Invitational Conference, which will take place on June 4. Shares of Hoth Therapeutics were up 24.75 percent over the week to US$6.11 as of 2:55 p.m. EDT on Friday.

Aveo Oncology

Aveo Oncology’s primary area of focus is on advancing its portfolio of treatments for unmet medical needs and, of course, oncology.  The company’s primary candidate is tivozinab, which it is actively working to commercialize in North America.

The company didn’t have any noteworthy news last week other than its announcement that it will be presenting at the BIO International Convention on June 5. Shares of Aveo Oncology were up 22.14 percent last week to US$0.76.

Evofem Biosciences

Closing out the list is Evofem Biosciences, which is a company focused on products for women’s health. Its lead product candidate, Amphora, is a multipurpose vaginal PH regulator designed to bring vaginal PH within the range of 3.5 to 4.5.

Evofem did not have any news last week that relates to its share price increase. It rose 20.92 percent to US$6.43 as of 3:33 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 $10 million and lower than $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.