You only have to do two things to make a fortune investing in stocks. First, buy the right stock. Second, buy it at the right time. That's it.
Unfortunately, those two simple steps can be very difficult to pull off. However, they don't always have to be so challenging. It's possible to find companies with products that could be revolutionary but haven't fully taken off.
Novocure (NVCR 2.36%) stands out as a great example and is attractively valued right now. But the clock is ticking to buy this game-changing stock at a discount.
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A true game changer
Many products that are touted to be revolutionary and game changing don't really deserve those labels. However, Novocure's tumor treating fields (TTFields) absolutely qualify for both descriptions.
TTFields use electric fields that are tuned to specific frequencies to interfere with the division of cancer cells. These electric fields leave healthy cells mostly unaffected.
Novocure has already demonstrated that TTFields work well in treating glioblastoma multiforme (GBM), an aggressive form of brain cancer. In clinical testing, the five-year probability of survival for patients with a 90% compliance rate receiving TTFields, combined with chemotherapy, was more than 6.5 times greater than that for patients receiving chemotherapy alone.
The company won U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval for TTFields as a stand-alone therapy for treating recurrent GBM in 2011. It added an approval for TTFields in combination with temozolomide (standard-of-care chemotherapy) for treating newly diagnosed GBM in 2015. In 2019, Novocure picked up FDA approval for the therapy, in combination with chemotherapy, for treating malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM).
However, these three indications are just the beginning. Novocure believes that TTFields can be used to treat a wide range of solid tumors. The company is conducting multiple clinical studies that could prove it.
Forget the valuation metrics
Novocure isn't profitable yet. Therefore, we can't use any of the standard earnings-based valuation metrics.
The stock's price-to-sales ratio currently stands at close to 14.5. That's high. So can Novocure really be priced at a discount right now? I think so.
Novocure's shares are down more than 60% from the peak set in mid-2021. Much of this decline resulted from an overall sell-off of biotech stocks. Investors were also concerned about the company's slowing sales growth.
However, it's important to understand Novocure's opportunity. The company has four late-stage clinical studies underway that represent a potential market that's 14 times bigger than its current addressable market. Novocure is conducting six additional phase 2 clinical studies.
There are also at least 10 other cancer types for which Novocure has preclinical evidence supporting the use of TTFields. Novocure doesn't have to achieve success in all of these indications for its addressable market to increase significantly.
The clock is ticking
Novocure plans to announce the results from its late-stage Lunar study of TTFields in treating non-small cell lung cancer in early 2023. Success in this indication would open up a huge new market for the company.
The chances for positive results from this study appear to be good. In April 2021, Novocure announced that the data-monitoring committee for the Lunar trial determined that it was "likely unnecessary and possibly unethical" to assign additional patients to the control arm instead of allowing them to receive TTFields. That was an especially encouraging sign.
Data from late-stage studies targeting recurrent ovarian cancer and brain metastases should be on the way later next year. Novocure expects to report results for another late-stage study in pancreatic cancer in 2024.
The upcoming flood of data begins, though, in only three months or so. Novocure appears to be a top stock to buy now in anticipation of what could be stellar results. The clock truly is ticking to buy this game-changing stock before it potentially explodes higher.
