Today's tough market conditions mean many well-known stocks are trading for great prices. It's a good idea to pick them up now -- and benefit later. But it's also a good idea to explore some lesser-known names. Many of these companies are trading at interesting levels and promise growth down the road.
Biotech is the perfect place to look for up-and-coming stocks. Here, you'll find companies that have recently launched first products -- and those on the way to reaching the commercial stage. Often, you can pick them up for a fair price right now. But once earnings start rolling in, those prices may soar. Let's check out two that are screaming buys.
1. Axsome Therapeutics
One of the things I like most about Axsome Therapeutics (AXSM -5.72%) is that all of the company's five pipeline candidates are phase 2 or more advanced. If all goes well, the biotech could bring multiple products to market within the next few years.
Today, Axsome has two newly commercialized products: Sunosi for sleep disorders and Auvelity for depression. Axsome bought Sunosi from Jazz Pharmaceuticals last year and started selling the drug in the spring. Axsome won regulatory approval for Auvelity and launched the drug in the fall of last year. Each drug could generate peak revenue of more than $1 billion, according to company and analyst forecasts.
Axsome also is moving closer to the finish line with two other programs. It aims to resubmit its migraine candidate to regulators later this year. It had to answer chemistry, manufacturing, and controls questions -- but regulators didn't have problems with the company's efficacy or safety data. So, there's reason to be confident about the submission this time around.
The company's candidate for Alzheimer's disease agitation recently met its primary endpoint in a phase 3 trial. That could represent another product in the not-too-distant future.
Axsome shares beat the bear market last year. But this year, they've declined more than 20%. It's important to remember the company is very early in its growth story. So potential approvals and increasing revenue could drive share performance down the road. And that makes this biotech stock a great one to buy now, on the dip.
2. CRISPR Therapeutics
CRISPR Therapeutics (CRSP 1.08%) doesn't yet have a product on the market. But the gene-editing specialist is getting close. Along with partner Vertex Pharmaceuticals, it's completed regulatory submissions for exa-cel in the U.S., Europe, and the U.K.
Exa-cel is designed as a one-time curative treatment for blood disorders beta thalassemia and sickle cell disease. Today, there aren't many options available for those who suffer from these diseases. So, a potential curative treatment could be a game changer -- and bring in blockbuster revenue.
This is an important and huge first step for CRISPR. But a lot more may lie ahead. The company has licensed its technology to Vertex for Vertex's type 1 diabetes program. Of course, since Vertex is working with CRISPR on exa-cel, the big biotech knows CRISPR's technology well. This makes the move a huge vote of confidence -- and shows the broad potential of CRISPR's technique.
And CRISPR may have a second potential product on the horizon. The company reported promising data from trials of its immuno-oncology candidate, CTX-110. Now, CRISPR is studying the investigational treatment in a phase 2 trial that may support a regulatory submission.
Finally, let's take a look at CRISPR's shares. They've dropped about 30% over the past year. And they've fallen quite a bit from a high reached back in 2021. At that time, investors had a lot less visibility about the future than they do now. That's why, considering CRISPR's growth potential ahead, the stock looks like a screaming buy at today's level.
