5 Top NASDAQ Biotech Stocks: Cellectar Biosciences Leads the Pack

By Tara Chloe Dusanj

Last week was a strong week for the NASDAQ Biotechnology index (INDEXNASDAQ:NBI) with the index up by 3.05 percent.
Those gains come ahead of ASCO, the world’s largest cancer research conference, set to begin in Chicago this Friday. CNBC reported that immunotherapies are expected to be the top focus of the conference.
Some companies managed to achieve good outcomes on the market. Last week’s top gainers included:

• Cellectar Biosciences (NASDAQ:CLRB)
• Capnia, Inc (NASDAQ:CAPN)
• Eleven Biotherapeutics (NASDAQ:EBIO)
• Lion Biotechnologies, Inc (NASDAQ:LBIO)
• Synergy Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:SGYP)

Cellectar Biosciences

Cellectar Biosciences is establishing phospholipid drug conjugates (PDCs), designed to provide cancer targeted delivery (of diverse oncologic payloads) to a vast range of cancers and cancer stem cells. Last week, Cellectar Biosciences saw its share price rise 85.25 percent.
Last Thursday, shares of Cellectar Biosciences shot up 19.11 percent to $3.75 as of 11:54 a.m.. It was announced last week that Jim Caruso, president and CEO of Cellectar Bioscience, will be presenting the 6th annual LD Micro Invitational. Taking place on Thursday, June 9. Prior to that, the company announced on May 31 that the USPTO had issued a patent for the treatment of cancer stem cells using Cellectar’s phospholipid drug conjugate (“PDC”) delivery platform technology. There was no other news from the company to explain last week’s rise in share price.

Capnia

Capnia also sits in the top five for last week. Within the last five days, shares of the company have increased by 55 percent, but are down 38 percent for the last year to date.
Capnia is focused on providing innovative solutions for unmet medical needs. The company reported its first quarter results on May 10, drawing attention to significant progress in advancing its product portfolio and therapeutics pipeline for the quarter. However, there has been no additional news that would have explained last week’s share price rise for the company.

Lion Biotechnologies

It was a nice close for Lion Biotechnologies last week, who’s shares had a 48.63 percent increase for the week.
Lion Biotechnology is a clinical-stage biotech, which focuses on cancer immunotherapy. Last Friday, the company gained by more than 25 percent as of 12:00 p.m. EST after the company announced the appointment of a new CEO, Dr. Maria Fardis. Dr. Fardis has extensive experience in novel oncology drug development.
Additionally, Lion Biotechnologies announced it will be raising $100 million through a private offering on Friday.

Eleven Biotherapeutics

Eleven Biotherapeutics develops and designs novel therapeutics for ocular disease using its AMP-Rx protein engineering platform. Last week, they set a new 50-day high, seeing share prices rise 62.88 percent.
However, shares of the company are still down 28. 57 percent year to date.
Eleven Biotherapeutics was one of the top gainers on the Russell 2000 for Thursday June 2, 2016. The stock popped 34.85 percent to $1.78, which represents a gain of $0.46 per share. Some 17.43 million shares traded hands, compared to an average daily volume of 1.85 million shares.
Eleven released its first quarter financial results on May 5. However, there has been no further news to explain last week’s rise in share price for the company.
Synergy Pharmaceuticals
Finally, Synergy Pharmaceuticals rounded out the top five. The company had a share price increases of 31.87 percent and finished at 0.66 percent.
Recent trading sessions from early June show that Synergy Pharmaceuticals climbed 1.91 percent. 2.3 million shares were traded versus the company’s average volume of 3.92 million shares. Synergy has market capitalization $655 million. The firm’s earnings before tax, interest, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) came in at $104.40 million for the past 12 months, as per IS Stories.
Near the end of May, Synergy reported new data regarding plecanatide, the company’s first uroguanylin analog, for the treatment of chronic idiopathic constipation. The company announced results from the second of two phase 3 clinical trials on May 22, and present new in vitro data relating to the treatment on May 24. There has been no further news to explain the company’s rise in share price last week.
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