Are These Biotech & COVID Penny Stocks On Your List Today?
Over the weekend we saw some big interest grow in certain penny stocks after some Presidential remarks. U.S. President Donald Trump announced the EUA or emergency use authorization of convalescent plasma for COVID-19. At his press briefing, he explained that the FDA had made the determination that the treatment was safe.
So it should come as no surprise that COVID plasma stocks were a focus heading into Monday morning. Beyond that, however, we’re also seeing interest build in biotech penny stocks as a whole. Whether they deal directly with coronavirus or focus on something like immune diseases, the spotlight is on biotech right now.
We’ve also got news from larger biotech companies helping to drive momentum right now. Earlier Monday morning, AstraZeneca (AZN Stock Report) was on the move. Over the weekend, reports from Financial Times discussed emergency use authorization for a vaccine being developed by Oxford University & AstraZeneca.
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Even with AZN telling Financial Times that it hasn’t discussed a EUA for its potential vaccine, with the U.S. government, the rumors still pushed AZN higher. In light of this jump-start to the week, it might not be a bad idea to have some biotech penny stocks on the watch list. Will these follow the current bullish trend that the sector is experiencing?
Biotech Penny Stocks To Buy [or sell]: Cancer Genetics Inc
If there’s something that biotech is known for, it’s big mergers. This morning, Cancer Genetics Inc. (CGIX Stock Report) announced a merger agreement was signed with StemoniX Inc. The merger will see StemoniX merge with a newly formed subsidiary of Cancer Genetics.
“The mission will stay consistent – allow scientists to quickly and economically conduct high-throughput toxicity and drug development studies in ready-to-assay plates containing functional microOrgans®,” stated Ping Yeh, Chief Executive Officer of StemoniX.
Aside from this update, Cancer Genetics hasn’t been overly active in terms of news. It reported Q2 earnings a few weeks ago. However, something that should be considered is the CGIX float. If you recall, back in November of 2019, this penny stock exploded to highs of $9.50 after a news catalyst.
Seeing that the current shares outstanding is less than 3 million, this could be one volatile penny stock to watch. Essentially, with fewer shares in the publicly traded float, the more that supply and demand will play a role. Basically, there’s not a whole lot of supply so increased demand or increased selling could trigger violent moves in either direction. Keep this in mind if CGIX is on your list of penny stocks today.
Biotech Penny Stocks To Buy [or sell]: Bionano Genomics Inc.
Bionano Genomics Inc. (BNGO Stock Report) isn’t a stranger to big moves. Earlier this year, we began covering BNGO stock after a string of announcements. At the time, the company had begun a study identifying certain substances related to resistance or sensitivity to COVID-19. Due to the increased attention on COVID penny stocks, BNGO surged from under $0.30 to highs of $1.16 last month.
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Earlier this month the company announced the publication of the first study to utilize the Saphyr system. Specifically, it was for the analysis of structural variants in lung cancer and metastases. Saphyr is a platform for ultra-sensitive and ultra-specific structural variation detection. Bionano says that this enables researchers and clinicians to accelerate the search for new diagnostics and therapeutic targets. This week the focus remains on the Saphyr platform. However, it isn’t from a scientific development angle. It’s more M&A news.
On Monday, Bionano announced the acquisition of diagnostics services provider Lineagen Inc. Bionano paid approximately $9.6 million in consideration for Lineagen via a mix of cash, stock, and assumption of liabilities. Lineagen provides proprietary molecular diagnostics services for individuals showing clinical presentations consistent with neurodevelopmental disorders.
These are things like autism spectrum disorder and other disorders of childhood development. The deal effectively adds a commercial-stage diagnostics services business and expands the company’s commercial footprint. Will this latest update trigger a turnaround for BNGO stock this week?
Biotech Penny Stocks To Buy [or sell]: iBio Inc.
Back to the focus on COVID plasma stocks, iBio Inc. (IBIO Stock Report) saw its shares surge Monday morning. If you’ve been following the story around iBio for as long as we have, you might be scratching your head a bit. That’s because the company doesn’t derive plasma products directly. However, its contract development and manufacturing unit utilizes its FastPharming platform to produce vaccine antigens, enzymes, blood factors, and cytokines, among others.
Earlier this month, iBio released preclinical data on its IBIO-201 COVID-19 program. The company said that 10 district preclinical study arms have been concluded. The findings showed that early functional testing of mouse antisera from IBIO-201 immunized mice demonstrates the presence of antibodies. Specifically, these antibodies interfere with the binding of SARS-CoV-2 spike protein sequences to human ACE2 in ex vivo assays.
iBio said that it plans to do additional testing of IBIO-201 antisera. It will include more evaluations of neutralizing titers in multiple assay formats. In addition, significant immune profiling studies are ongoing to evaluate the safety and immune protection correlates, including antigen-specific T cell responses and memory B cell testing. The additional testing for both IBIO-201 and IBIO-200 is occurring in collaboration with the Texas A&M University System laboratories.
Biotech Penny Stocks To Buy [or sell]: Proteostasis Therapeutics Inc.
Proteostasis Therapeutics Inc. (PTI Stock Report) is another one of the biotech penny stocks gaining momentum after headlines today. Similar to the other companies mentioned, Proteostasis is in the middle of its own M&A event. The company announced on Monday that it entered into an agreement to merge with Yumanity Therapeutics. Yumanity will be the prevailing company, including the name and a new symbol ‘YMTX’.
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Yumanity’s initial clinical-stage product candidate, YTX-7739, is currently in Phase 1 clinical development. It’s designed for the treatment and disease modification of Parkinson’s disease. Yumanity is also building on several additional candidates for other neurodegenerative disorders. This includes certain types of dementia and Lou Gehrig’s disease.
Meenu Chhabra, President and Chief Executive Officer of PTI commented, “The combination of PTI and Yumanity brings together two technologies rooted in a shared scientific legacy of protein misfolding as the basis of disease, as well as capabilities and resources that offer shareholders a broad platform for value creation.”
Back in June, Proteostasis had also announced that it was evaluating one of its pipeline treatments in COVID -19. However, there wasn’t any additional mention or reference to the future of that specific treatment (PTI-129).
