5 Top NASDAQ Stocks: Sinovac Biotech Up Over 40 Percent

Last Friday, the NASDAQ 100 index (INDEXNASDAQ:NDX) closed down 143.3 points, or 3.44 percent, to end the week at 4,024.47 points. The index was battered quite a bit last week, dropping 254.39 points, or 5.94 percent, as a whole. 
Even though the index posted a loss for the week, some stocks still saw significant gains. Last week’s top gainer was Sinovac Biotech (NASDAQ:SVA). Runners up were Hansen Medical (NASDAQ:HNSN), followed by Anavex Life Sciences (NASDAQ:AVXL), Stereotaxis (NASDAQ:STXS) and Immunomedics (NASDAQ:IMMU).

Sinovac Biotech

Sinovac is a China-based biopharmaceutical company with a portfolio of vaccines that protect against human infectious diseases, like hepatitis A and B, H5N1 pandemic influenza and H1N1 influenza.
The company announced last week that it has received a preliminary non-binding proposal letter from a consortium of investors; under the proposal the investors would acquire all of the outstanding common shares of Sinovac for $7 in cash per common share.
Speaking to Benzinga, Peter Halesworth, managing partner at Heng Ren Investments, noted that Sinovac is a “coveted stock” due to its EV-71 vaccine, which has a “massive” target market in China.
“EV-71 is transformational for Sinovac and its shareholders,” Halesworth continued. “The initial production is eventually 20 million doses. There are estimates by vaccine experts EV-71 pricing could be $10.00 – $25.00 per dose, and in high-risk situations $50.00 – $75.00. Either of those scenarios – $200 million to $1.0 billion – would dwarf Sinovac’s current revenues.”
Last week Sinovac gained 40.44 percent to trade at $7.05.

Hansen Medical

Hansen Medical is global leader in intravascular robotics, and has been a top gainer in the past as well. Last week, the company was granted clearance by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for its Robotic Catheter eKit.
The eKit is Hansen’s latest addition to the family of approved Magellan Robotic Catheters and can enable physicians to have robotic control of third party microcatheters.
The company posted a gain of 36.28 percent last week, closing at $2.93.

Anavex Life Science

Anavex is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical working on developing novel drug candidates to treat Alzheimer’s disease, other central nervous system diseases and various types of cancer.
According to Microcap Daily, the company has continued on an upward trajectory despite a slew of recent lawsuits.
“AVXL is the penny stock that rose out of the bb’s and attained a NASDAQ listing transforming in the process from illiquid at pennies to a volume leader that topped $14 a share and attracted legions of followers,” Microcap Daily states.
Last week, Anavex gained 29.25 percent to close at $4.64.

Stereotaxis

On February 1, Stereotaxis announced that it has partnered with University Medical Center (UMC) New Orleans. Through the agreement, UMC will use Stereotaxis’ suite of products for electrophysiology abalation. The Stereotaxis platform includes the Niobe ES remote navigation system, the Vdrive robotic navigation system and Odessey information management solutions for lab optimization.
“We are proud to bring the most advanced solutions for treating complicated, debilitating conditions such as ventricular tachycardia and atrial fibrillation to the New Orleans community and surrounding areas,” said Jay Buras, vice president of operations at UMC. “We are pleased to have the opportunity to enhance patient and operator safety, improve clinical workflow and optimize patient outcomes in EP, while elevating our commitment to shaping the future of healthcare for the region.”
Stereotaxis gained 20.5 percent to end the week at $0.82

Immunomedics

Rounding off the list is Immunomedics. Immunomedics is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company that is working on developing monoclonal antibody-based products for the targeted treatment of cancer, autoimmune diseases and other serious diseases.
Last week, the company announced that it has received FDA Breakthrough Therapy Designation for its investigational drug, IMMU-132. The decision came after a successful Phase 2 study.
IMMU-132 is designed for the treatment of individuals with triple-negative breast cancer and who have failed two or more previous therapies for metastatic disease.
The company’s share price gained 17.02 percent last week, ending the week at $2.20.
 
Data for 5 Top NASDAQ Stocks articles is retrieved each Friday after market close using The Globe and Mail’s market data filter. Only companies with a market capitalization greater than $10 million prior to the week’s gains are included. Companies within the biotechnology and pharmaceutical sectors are considered.
Securities Disclosure: I, Vivien Diniz, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.
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