If you go to Redwood National Park in California, you can see the tallest tree in the world – a redwood tree called Hyperion that is over 380 feet tall. Like every other tree, Hyperion started as a tiny seed.
Stocks can be like this, starting small but growing to a large size over time. Three Motley Fool contributors think they've found some great stocks you can buy right now. Here's why they chose semen (NASDAQ:ALT), Axum treatments (NASDAQ: AXCM)And Viking Remedies (NASDAQ: VKTX).
Small-cap stocks with big potential
David Jagielski (Wishing): Altimmune is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company with a modest market cap, but it has an exciting drug in its portfolio that could make it very popular with investors soon. The company has a glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1) treatment, bemfedotide, which has achieved some encouraging results in clinical trials.
In a 48-week phase 2 trial, patients taking bemfedotide achieved a median weight loss of 15.6%. 30% of patients lost at least 20% of their body weight. These numbers are comparable to Wegovy, which is Novo NordiskGLP-1 drug. In addition to being effective for weight loss, Altimmune is optimistic that bemfedotide can help treat other comorbidities, including metabolic syndrome-associated fatty liver disease (MASLD) and high blood pressure.
The market for anti-obesity drugs could reach $100 billion, according to estimates from Goldman Sachs. While Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly Likely to dominate the market, there may be scope for bemfedotide to penetrate the market and be a potential success Blockbuster drugs also. What may occur are side effects of these medications as patients may tolerate certain treatments better than others. While Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk are the early winners in the GLP-1 drug market, investors shouldn't rule out Altimmune in the long term.
With a market capitalization of just over $500 million, this stock could grow significantly if bemfedotide receives approval. While the business is unprofitable and Altimmune comes with a fair amount of risk, it has the potential to be a huge growth stock in the future.
Promising biotechnology on the rise
Prosper Junior Bikini (Axum Therapeutics): If it were easy to pick a long-term winner among smaller biotech companies, everyone would do it. There are many factors that can make or break a company looking to rise to prominence. However, there are important clues that you should choose when doing this exercise. Many of them lend credence to Axsome Therapeutics' claims that it will become a more important player in the industry somewhere down the line.
First, the company already has two products on the market (clinical-stage companies are much riskier). One is Auvility, which is a treatment for depression, and the other is Sunosi, which treats daytime sleepiness due to narcolepsy. Second, and perhaps more importantly, the late stage of Axsome Therapeutics' pipeline is incredibly exciting. Note that these products are already in phase III studies; Some have already been successful in at least one clinical trial.
At this stage of development, the probability of successful launch is much higher than in phase II or phase I studies. Axsome Therapeutics is conducting late-stage studies for several therapies, including Auvility in Alzheimer's disease and Sunosi in ADHD, while AXS-07 and AXS-14 are ready for regulatory submissions in migraine and fibromyalgia. , respectively.
Axsome Therapeutics expects six readouts of Phase 3 data from the second half of the year through 2025, in addition to several late-stage clinical trial initiatives. Even a modest 50% success rate would mean that Axsome Therapeutics' lineup would change in the next three years. There will likely be more clinical and regulatory progress later, given the company's track record.
So, Axsome Therapeutics looks like a very promising biotech company on its way to the top. Investing in stocks now seems like a great move.
A particularly promising pipeline
Keith Speights (Vikings Remedies): Viking Therapeutics is the largest of these three monsters in the making with a market cap of about $8 billion. The company doesn't have an approved product yet, but investors are justifiably excited about its pipeline.
Viking has four programs in clinical development. Its lead candidate, VK2809, is currently in a Phase 2b clinical study targeting non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), also known as metabolic-associated steatohepatitis (MASH). The company expects 52-week histology results from this study in the second quarter of 2024.
In February, Viking announced positive results from a phase 2 study evaluating an injectable version of VK2735 in the treatment of obesity. The experimental drug achieved greater weight loss than Lilly's Mounjaro/Zepbound and Novo Nordisk's Ozempic/Wegovy.
Viking had more good news in March with results from a phase 1 study of an oral tablet version of VK2735. Most importantly, the side effects of the tablet were not a problem. The company plans to advance the oral drug into a Phase 2 study in the second half of this year.
In addition to these three programs, Viking is evaluating VK0214 in a Phase 1b clinical trial targeting X-linked adrenoleukodystrophy (X-ALD), a rare genetic disease that affects the nervous system and adrenal glands. The company expects to announce the results of this study by mid-2024.
As David mentioned previously, obesity could become a market worth more than $100 billion annually. Some analysts believe the NASH/MASH market could also reach $100 billion. X-ALD does not present much of a chance, but there are currently no approved treatments for this disease. Viking could grow into a much larger drug maker if its pipeline candidates sail through clinical testing and receive regulatory approvals.
Should you invest $1,000 in Viking Therapeutics now?
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Think when Nvidia I prepared this list on April 15, 2005… If you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, You will have $578,143!*
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David Jagielski He has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. Keith Speights He has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. Prosper Junior Pakina He has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Axsome Therapeutics and Goldman Sachs Group. The Motley Fool recommends Novo Nordisk. The Motley Fool has Disclosure policy.
3 Giant Stocks in the Making You Can Buy Now Originally published by The Motley Fool