If you're looking for small-cap biotech investing ideas, the following list might offer a good starting point.
The following is a list of biotech stocks with market caps above $100M. All of these companies have seen significant mutual fund buying over two consecutive quarters.
To create this list, we started with a universe of about 150 biotech stocks. We collected data on mutual fund flows, and narrowed down the list to only focus on those biotech names with bullish fund flows.
We're not going to go into detailed analysis for each company -- the goal here is to give you a starting point for your own analysis.
Institutional data sourced from Fidelity, short float and performance data sourced from Finviz. (Click here to access an overview of charts for all the companies mentioned below.)
The list has been sorted alphabetically.
1. Achillion Pharmaceuticals
Achillion is dedicated to bringing important new treatments to patients with infectious disease. The company is focused on solutions for the most challenging problems in infectious disease-HCV and resistant bacterial infections.
Market cap of $290.58M. Net mutual fund shares purchased during current quarter at 179.2K, vs. 388.0K purchased in the previous quarter. Short float at 0.41%, which implies a short ratio of 1.36 days. The stock has gained 107.5% over the last year.
2. AEterna Zentaris
AEterna Zentaris is a late-stage oncology drug development company currently investigating potential treatments for various cancers including colorectal, ovarian, endometrial cancer and multiple myeloma.
Market cap of $141.85M. Net mutual fund shares purchased during current quarter at 41.6K, vs. 19.9K purchased in the previous quarter. Short float at 6.41%, which implies a short ratio of 2.61 days. The stock has gained 102.38% over the last year.
3. AVI Biopharma
The company's primary products are Morpholino oligos (PMOs), being developed under the name NeuGene Antisense. This form of antisense therapy uses a synthetic structural analog of RNA to bind to the messenger RNA produced by a known disease-causing gene strand and thus deactivate it.
Morpholinos have been tested for a wide range of applications including prevention of cardiac restenosis after angioplasty, treatment of coronary artery bypass grafts, treatment of polycystic kidney disease, and redirection of drug metabolism.
Market cap of $233.63M. Net mutual fund shares purchased during current quarter at 187.7K, vs. 773.3K purchased in the previous quarter. Short float at 9.67%, which implies a short ratio of 7.34 days. The stock has gained 46.48% over the last year.
4. Cadence Pharmaceuticals
In March 2006, the company in-licensed the exclusive U.S. and Canadian rights to OFIRMEV (acetaminophen) injection, which is currently marketed in Europe for the treatment of acute pain and fever by Bristol-Myers Squibb Company.
Market cap of $405.65M. Net mutual fund shares purchased during current quarter at 479.9K, vs. 872.3K purchased in the previous quarter. Short float at 27.23%, which implies a short ratio of 34.08 days. The stock has lost -11.67% over the last year.
5. Cambrex Corp.
Cambrex Corporation provides products, services, and technologies to accelerate the development and commercialization of small molecule therapeutics.
Market cap of $165.38M. Net mutual fund shares purchased during current quarter at 275.3K, vs. 773.8K purchased in the previous quarter. Short float at 2.08%, which implies a short ratio of 8.23 days. The stock has gained 35.51% over the last year.
6. Obagi Medical Products
Obagi Medical Products is a specialty pharmaceutical company that develops, markets and sells skin-care systems in the physician-dispense market.
Market cap of $249.93M. Net mutual fund shares purchased during current quarter at 38.1K, vs. 616.6K purchased in the previous quarter. Short float at 3.31%, which implies a short ratio of 6.09 days. The stock has gained 6.58% over the last year.
7. Oncolytics Biotech
Oncolytics Biotech focuses on the discovery and development of pharmaceutical products for the treatment of a wide variety of human cancers. Headquartered in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, the Company was formed in 1998 to explore the oncolytic capability of the reovirus, a virus that preferentially replicates in cells with an activated Ras pathway, one of the most common family of genetic defects leading to cancer.
Market cap of $447.93M. Net mutual fund shares purchased during current quarter at 15.8K, vs. 41.9K purchased in the previous quarter. Short float at 2.6%, which implies a short ratio of 8.98 days. The stock has gained 118.77% over the last year.
8. Osiris Therapeutics
Osiris Therapeutics, is a leading stem cell company focused on developing and marketing products to treat medical conditions in the inflammatory, autoimmune, orthopedic and cardiovascular areas.
Market cap of $237.4M. Net mutual fund shares purchased during current quarter at 54.7K, vs. 201.9K purchased in the previous quarter. Short float at 9%, which implies a short ratio of 18.41 days. The stock has lost -16.3% over the last year.
9. PharmAthene
PharmAthene, is a biodefense company engaged in the development and commercialization of medical countermeasures against biological and chemical weapons.
Market cap of $125.59M. Net mutual fund shares purchased during current quarter at 145.8K, vs. 21.7K purchased in the previous quarter. Short float at 10.41%, which implies a short ratio of 2.27 days. The stock has gained 60.73% over the last year.
10. PROLOR Biotech
Prolor Biotech, is a development-stage biopharmaceutical company, utilizing technology to develop versions of therapeutic proteins.
Market cap of $313.94M. Net mutual fund shares purchased during current quarter at 54.7K, vs. 68.8K purchased in the previous quarter. Short float at 1.92%, which implies a short ratio of 6.87 days. The stock has gained 124.33% over the last year.
11. Rexahn Pharmaceuticals
From their website: Rexahn's goal is to be a world-class biopharmaceutical company developing and delivering novel cures for cancer and disorders of the central nervous system (CNS) to patients worldwide.
Market cap of $136.58M. Net mutual fund shares purchased during current quarter at 149.3K, vs. 102.9K purchased in the previous quarter. Short float at 2.43%, which implies a short ratio of 1.33 days. The stock has gained 45.54% over the last year.
12. Zalicus
Zalicus discovers and develops treatments for pain and inflammatory diseases.
Market cap of $183.4M. Net mutual fund shares purchased during current quarter at 365.1K, vs. 985.5K purchased in the previous quarter. Short float at 1.97%, which implies a short ratio of 0.93 days. The stock has gained 60.94% over the last year.
Interactive Chart: Press Play to compare changes in analyst ratings over the last two years for the stocks mentioned above. Analyst ratings sourced from Zacks Investment Research. Note: The numbers on top of items represent the forward P/E ratio, if available.
Kapitall's Eben Esterhuizen does not own shares of any companies mentioned.
