5 Top Weekly NASDAQ Biotech Stocks: Arsanis Gains 271 Percent

Over the past trading week, the NASDAQ Biotechnology Index (INDEXNASDAQ:NBI) increased 3.76 percent to 3,415 points as of 3 p.m. EST on Friday (November 30).

Some big news last week includes Antares Pharma (NASDAQ:ATRS), which announced Tuesday (November 27) that its partner Teva Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:TEVA,TLV:TEVA) now has commercial availability for Antares’ generic EpiPen. Teva’s device is made with Antares’ VIBEX auto injector, which was approved as a fully substitutable therapeutic equivalent to the EpiPen by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in August.

Eyenovia (NASDAQ:EYEN) launched a Phase 3 clinical trial on Monday (November 26). The company enrolled the first patient in the first of its two Phase 3 trials for its MicroStat program for pharmacologic mydriasis, which is a pupil dilation. These two trials include MIST-1 and MIST-2, both for the same program.

Against that backdrop, a number of other NASDAQ biotech stocks saw significant share price increases last week. The five top gainers are as follows:

• Arsanis (NASDAQ:ASNS)
• Tyme Technologies (NASDAQ:TYME)
• CohBar (NASDAQ:CWBR)
• Cocrystal Pharma (NASDAQ:COCP)
• Contrafect (NASDAQ:CFRX)

Here’s a closer look at those companies and what moved their share prices. Share prices are quoted in US dollars and are current as of 1 p.m. EST on Friday.

Arsanis

First on our weekly NASDAQ biotech stocks list is Arsanis, with a hefty 271.53 percent share price jump to $4.61. The company announced on Tuesday it will merge with privately-held X4 Pharmaceuticals. The new joint company intends to create a NASDAQ-listed late-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on rare diseases and oncology.

The companies expect the merger to close in Q1 2019. On its own, Arsanis is clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing monoclonal antibodies for immunotherapy of serious diseases.

Tyme Technologies

Tyme Technologies is a clinical-stage oncology focused company developing broadly-effective drugs for different tumor types and low toxicity. Over the past trading week, the company’s share price made a 76.75 percent jump to $3.80.

A possible trigger for the company’s share price increase may have been a presentation at the Piper Jaffray Healthcare conference on Wednesday (November 28). Tyme Technologies also shared the details of four poster presentations, these will be presented at the 2019 Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium in January.

CohBar

Middle on our weekly NASDAQ biotech stocks list CohBar. This company develops a niche range of therapeutics which are mitochondria-based; these have the potential to treat diseases associated with aging. Last week, the company’s founder received a 2018 Fondation IPSEN Longevity Prize. Other than this news the company reported its Q3 2018 financial results on November 14.

Over the trading week, CohBar’s share price increased 27.10 percent to $3.94.

Cocrystal Pharma

Cocrystal lands on our list with a 24.64 percent share price increase to $3.49 over the trading period. This clinical-stage company has four drugs in its pipelines with just two in clinical development — both for Hepatitis C.

This company also presented at a conference last week, the RespiDART 2018: Frontiers in Drug Development Against Respiratory Viruses Conference on November 30. Cocrystal’s president presented the company’s technology and influenza drug pipeline design.

Contrafect

The final company to land on our weekly NASDAQ biotech stocks list is Contrafect, with a 20.69 percent share price increase to $2.51. This company is working on therapeutic protein and antibody products to treat infectious diseases including those which are drug-resistant.

Contrafect didn’t have much news this past trading week, but it did participate in the Piper Jaffray Healthcare, similar to Tyme Technologies. The company’s presentation at this investor-focused conference may have been what spurred the share price increase.

Don’t forget to follow us at @INN_LifeScience for real-time updates!

Data for 5 Top weekly NASDAQ Biotech Stocks articles is retrieved each Friday at 1:00 p.m. EST using TradingView’s Stock Filter. Only companies with a market capitalization greater than $50 million and lower than $500 million prior to the week’s gains are included. Companies within the biotechnology and pharmaceutical sectors are considered.

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

***This article is published weekly. Scroll to the top for the most recent information.***

5 Top Weekly NASDAQ Biotech Stocks: Gamida Cell Leads

By Gabrielle Lakusta, November 25, 2018 

Over the past trading week, the NASDAQ Biotechnology Index (INDEXNASDAQ:NBI) decreased 0.45 percent to 3.251 points as of 1 p.m. EST on Friday (November 23).

Rocket Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:RCKT) started the week off with a positive announcement from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The company received FDA clearance for its Investigational New Drug application of PR-L201, a gene therapy drug to treat a rare pediatric disease.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) also had positive news, announcing a new partnership with iMetabolic Biopharma. The agreement will allow iMetabolic to fully access Ligand’s OmniAb therapeutic antibody platform, which includes the OmniRat, OmniMouse, OmniFlic and OmniChicken.

Against that backdrop, a number of other NASDAQ biotech stocks saw significant share price increases last week. The five top gainers are as follows:

• Gamida Cell (NASDAQ:GMDA)
• AcelRx Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ACRX)
• KalVista Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:KALV)
• Evelo Biosciences (NASDAQ:EVLO)
• Magenta Therapeutics (NASDAQ:MGTA)

Here’s a closer look at those companies and what moved their share prices. Share prices are quoted in US dollars and are current as of 2 p.m. EST on Friday.

Gamida Cell

Top of our NASDAQ biotech stocks list this week is Gamida Cell with a 49.30 percent share price increase to $14.90. Gamida Cell is a cellular and immune-focused company developing therapies to cure cancer and rare hematologic diseases. The company’s NAM technology aims to address shortcomings of other cellular therapies by focusing the functionality of donor cells.

The company didn’t release any news last week that may have contributed to this share price gain. However, in early November the company did announce it would present at a conference in December. A poster presentation will be presented at the annual American Society of Hematology for the company’s CD4+ and CD8+ T-, NK-, B- and Monocyte Cell Reconstitution after Nicotinamide-Expanded Cord Blood Transplantation.

AcelRx

This speciality pharmaceutical company develops and commercializes pain therapeutics based on the company’s proprietary sublingual formulation. AcelRx’s share price jumped 27.82 percent over the trading period to $3.63.

The company didn’t have any news over the past trading week, but it did present at the Annual Pain Medicine Meeting of the American Society of Regional Anesthesia and Pain Medicine on November 16. Investors may be showing interest over the company from this presentation, which was on the company’s sufentanil sublingual tablet versus IV morphine equivalence.

KalVista

Middle of our top weekly NASDAQ biotech stocks list is KalVista. The company’s share price increased 26.52 percent to $22.90. Its drug KVD001 is in an ongoing Phase 2 clinical trial for Plasma Kallikrein. Another drug candidate called KVD900 has the same target with a Phase 2 trial expected to be initiated within the year.

Again, this company didn’t have any news over the past trading week, but it did provide a clinical update for KVD900 on November 12. The drug’s Phase 2 study is set to begin in 2018 as a potential treatment as acute hereditary angioedema. Results are set to follow in 2019.

Evelo Biosciences

Last week,Evelo presented a corporate update at the Evercore ISI HealthconX investor conference. This may have been the news which increased the company’s share price 23.59 percent to $9.01 over the trading period.

Evelo is a clinical-stage company working on monoclonal microbials, which are a new modality of medicines acting on the gut-body network. Currently, Evelo’s pipeline consists of single strain microbes for oncology and inflammatory diseases. Some indications include: psoriasis, atopic dermatitis and colorectal cancer.

Magenta Therapeutics

The final company to land on our weekly NASDAQ biotech stocks list is Magenta Therapeutics. This clinical-stage company specializes in novel medicines for autoimmune diseases, blood cancers and genetic diseases. Without an abundance of news it’s hard to say what triggered this share price gain, but the company did announce a new chief operating and financial officer on Monday.

Magenta’s share price increased 22.87 percent to $8.81 over last week’s trading period.

Don’t forget to follow us at @INN_LifeScience for real-time updates!

Data for 5 Top weekly NASDAQ Biotech Stocks articles is retrieved each Friday at 1:00 p.m. EST using TradingView’s Stock Filter. Only companies with a market capitalization greater than $50 million and lower than $500 million prior to the week’s gains are included. Companies within the biotechnology and pharmaceutical sectors are considered.

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