Although there is some risk, the potential upside of investing now in Pieris Pharmaceuticals (PIRS -2.04%) could be extraordinary. In this Motley Fool Live segment from "The Pharma & Biotech Show," recorded on March 23, Fool.com contributors Taylor Carmichael and Keith Speights discuss the green flags and red flags for this exciting stock.
Taylor Carmichael: I just love the risk/reward. You think about what's the risk? What's the reward? You control your risk. Whatever you invest in this company, you might lose it all, so you've got to be prepared for that. If you're scared by a $100 worth of it, if you're not so scared by a 1,000 or 3,000 or whatever. But the point being, that's your risks, that you're going to lose your money, that the whole thing goes to zero. That's your risk, but the reward potential upside, this is not just a 10-bagger. A 10-bagger just takes them toward small-cap 2.3 billion. This could potentially be far bigger than that. That's why I'm excited. It's a small part of my portfolio. This is by no means my largest holding its way down there.
Keith Speights: It's a lottery ticket [laughs] A lottery ticket with better probabilities.
Taylor Carmichael: Way better. It's way better probabilities. I think of it like 50-50. I don't know if it's going to be good or bad, but the potential upside, amazing. If you're investing, I would say make a small investment here and be patient because they have several drugs in clinical trials, so even if the first one fails, maybe the second one hit, maybe the third one you don't know. Typically several drugs will not about fail the gauntlet. That's what happens, but all you need is one to hit for this library to increase in value.
Keith Speights: This is a company that could realistically have a platform.