5 Top Weekly NASDAQ Biotech and Pharma Stocks: La Jolla Soars

The NASDAQ Biotechnology Index (INDEXNASDAQ:NBI) bounced back last week, rising from 3,157.58 points on Monday (June 3) to 3,259.4 points as of 1:42 p.m. EDT on Friday (June 7).

Last week’s top gainer, La Jolla Pharmaceutical (NASDAQ:LJPC), soared on positive results revealed on Thursday (June 6) from a pre-specified interim analysis of its Phase 2 study in patients with hereditary hemochromatosis, a condition caused by the body trying to absorb too much iron.

The top biotech and pharma stocks on the NASDAQ last week are as follows:

• La Jolla Pharmaceutical
• Insys Therapeutics (NASDAQ:INSY)
• Dyadic International (NASDAQ:DYAI)
• Avenue Therapeutics (NASDAQ:ATXI)
• resTORbio (NASDAQ:TORC)

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

La Jolla Pharmaceutical

La Jolla Pharmaceutical’s focus is on developing treatments for patients with life-threatening diseases.

In its product pipeline are Giapreza for increasing blood pressure in adults with septic disease or other distributive shock, LJPC-0118 for severe malaria and LJPC-401 for iron overload resulting from beta thalassemia and hereditary hemochromatosis.

As a result of its news on Thursday, shares of La Jolla Pharmaceutical were up 130.98 percent over the week to US$12.01 as of 2:10 p.m. EDT on Friday.

Insys Therapeutics

Insys Therapeutics is a specialty pharmaceutical company developing novel drug delivery systems with a focus on cannabinoids for patients with unmet medical needs.

Last week it was revealed that the company’s subsidiary pled guilty to fraud charges related to its addictive fentanyl spray. According to ABC News, the company will pay US$225 million to settle the claim. Shares of the company were up 71.62 percent to US$1.28 as of 2:26 p.m. EDT on Friday.

Dyadic International

Dyadic International is working on a gene expression footprint called C1 that is derived from the ascomycete fungus Myceliophthora thermophila. C1 allows large-scale manufacturing of low-cost proteins and could help improve biologic vaccines and drugs at a commercial scale.

Shares of Dyadic International were up 35.94 percent last week to US$6.03 as of 2:34 p.m. EDT on Friday. Despite its share price movement, the company did not have any news during the trading period.

Avenue Therapeutics

Avenue Therapeutics is a specialty pharma company developing products for moderate to severe post-operative pain. Its lead product, IV tramadol, is a dual-acting opioid that provides opioid efficacy that isn’t likely to lead to drug abuse and has a low risk of drug dependency compared to other narcotics.

On Monday, the company announced positive top-line data from its second Phase 3 study of IV tramadol, which tested post-operative pain. According to the release, the trial demonstrated that IV tramadol improved pain when compared to a placebo in patients who had abdominoplasty surgery.

Shares of the company were up 21.64 percent last week to US$6.23 as of 2:43 p.m. EDT on Friday.

resTORbio

Closing out the list is resTORbio, which is a biopharmaceutical company in clinical stages developing treatments for aging-related diseases.

The company’s candidate, RTB101, is a TORC1 inhibitor. The inhibition of TORC1 has been proven to provide many benefits for the aging population, including increasing lifespan and enhancing mobility, memory and the immune system.

resTORbio did not have any news last week that would explain its rising share price. Over the five day trading period, shares of resTORbio were up 20.88 percent to US$8.74 as of 2:53 pm. 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 $15 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.