5 Penny Stocks To Watch If You’re Concerned About Coronavirus
The Coronavirus Has Investors Curious About What Penny Stocks To Watch
Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’ve likely heard of the coronavirus outbreak in China. What’s more, is that this could be turning into a pandemic spanning multiple continents. That’s bad news for health officials but potentially big news for companies working on vaccines for certain viruses.
But before you start looking for the top penny stocks to watch related to the coronavirus, you might want to know exactly what it is, first. According to the Center For Disease Control and Prevention or the “CDC” here’s a quick answer to the question, “What is the coronavirus?”:
“Common human coronaviruses, including types 229E, NL63, OC43, and HKU1, usually cause mild to moderate upper-respiratory tract illnesses, like the common cold…These illnesses usually only last for a short amount of time…Human coronaviruses can sometimes cause lower-respiratory tract illnesses, such as pneumonia or bronchitis. This is more common in people with cardiopulmonary disease, people with weakened immune systems, infants, and older adults.”
Since these can develop into MERS or SARS, the severity can be extreme. Sometimes death can become the result of late-stage coronavirus left untreated. The virus can also become easily spread, which is why it has become such a serious topic. So given this situation, the markets tend to find reasons to invest in certain companies speculating on one that may find an actual vaccine or cure.
Here’s a look at a few companies that have both benefited from the surge in interest as well as have a pipeline that could hold some version of a treatment:
Coronavirus Penny Stocks #1: Inovio Pharmaceuticals (INO)
Inovio Pharmaceuticals (INO – Free Report) was actually one of the penny stocks to watch during the last quarter of 2019. Shares ended up jumping from 52-week lows of $1.92 to highs this week of $4.70. Inovio Pharmaceuticals focuses mainly on DNA medicines to treat/cure/protect people from certain diseases.
Aside from HPV and cancer, infectious diseases are a target of the company. The company has collaborated with the likes of ApolloBio Corporation, AstraZeneca, The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, GeneOne Life Science, the National Cancer Institute and many more.
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Aside from just having a keyword associated with it, Inovio was selected by the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations this week. The Coalition grated the company “up to $9 million” to develop a vaccine against the new strain of coronavirus. It will support INO’s preclinical and clinical development into Phase 1 human testing. Inovio’s INO-4800 became its new coronavirus vaccine matched to the outbreak strain.
Furthermore, Inovio and the Coalition have worked together in the past. It had awarded Inovio a grant of up to $56 million to develop vaccines against Lassa fever as well as MERS, which is another version of coronavirus.
Coronavirus Penny Stocks #2: Alpha Pro Tech (APT)
Though this is no longer a penny stock after today, Alpha Pro Tech (APT – Free Report) caught the attention of coronavirus stock seekers this week. Last Friday (1-17) shares closed at $3.50 which continued a relatively lackluster month up to that point. However, this week got off to a running start. APT stock opened on January 21 at $4.25 and eventually reached highs of $6.87 on the 24th.
Where does Alpha fit into this mix? Well, believe it or not, it isn’t a vaccine developer and it doesn’t have any biotech pipeline either. Simply put, the company makes face-masks. Think of this as a “picks and shovels” type of play on coronavirus. As basic as it sounds, when there’s a virus outbreak, people cover-up.
And based on the market’s response, they appear to think a lot of people are looking to cover up in the near term. Whether or not that translates to a sustainable move is in the air. But for the time being, Alpha Pro has found itself in the coronavirus stocks list.
Coronavirus Penny Stocks #3: Aethlon Medical, Inc. (AEMD)
Next on this list of coronavirus stocks, Aethlon Medical (AEMD – Free Report) has been a hot topic on this site. However, the recent hype has everything to do with the coronavirus. The company prides itself on addressing unmet global health needs. Its clinical-stage device called Hemopurifier combats things like cancer as well as viral infections.
As an FDA designated “Breakthrough Device” preclinical studies have validated applications to a broad spectrum of viral threats. Specific to a pandemic threat like variations of the flu, the Hemopurifier has captured H5N1 avian flu and H1N1 swine flu. Needless to say, not much has been announced by the company besides a few multi-million dollar capital raises.
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Some of the net proceeds from these offerings were designated for the currently planned clinical trials for the Hemopurifier®. Whether or not that translates into an immediate solution for the coronavirus epidemic is still to be seen. Shares of AEMD closed down 7% on January 24.
Coronavirus Penny Stocks #4: Oncolytics Biotech (ONCY)
Next, Oncolytics Biotech (ONCY – Free Report) is a company known for developing treatments for deadly viruses as well as cancers. However, it should be mentioned that ONCY may be a bit far off the path of a company working to find a vaccine for coronavirus. The main focus of the company is on cancer. But in your search to find coronavirus stocks, you may come across Oncolytics.
Regardless of its progress in that light, the company does have an active pipeline developing different cancer therapies. Furthermore, Oncolytics has a laundry list of partnerships with larger biotech firms. These include Roche, Pfizer, Merck, and Bristol-Myers Squibb. It’s pipeline includes treatments in numerous clinical phases and in combination with proven drugs. Keytruda, Tecentriq, Opdivo, and Bavencio are all being combined with Oncolytics lead therapy, pelareorep.
So if coronavirus stocks are your focus, Oncolytics may not be “the one.” However, from a cancer stock angle, it may be worth understanding a bit more on its treatment pipeline. Pelareorep has applications for breast cancer treatments, GI cancer treatments, and multiple myeloma treatments right now.
Coronavirus Penny Stocks #5: AIM Immunotech (AIM)
Rounding out this list of coronavirus stocks is AIM Immunotech (AIM – Free Report). The company was caught up in the coronavirus hype this week as investors scoured for more opportunities. It almost had the same feel as the bitcoin boom did during its early boom phase. Despite this as the case, AIM develops drugs for debilitating disorders.
Similar to Oncolytics, AIM’s pipeline focuses on cancer treatments. However, it does have a current product designed to treat certain viral infections. Its Alferon N Injection treats certain STDs and is approved for sale in the U.S. for certain patients.
According to the company, it will seek FDA pre-approval inspection of an upgraded manufacturing process to allow commercial viability as well. Despite this excitement, shares closed down on January 24. Will the new interest in coronavirus help give this penny stock a boost during the weeks to come?
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