Are These Biotech Names On Your List Of Penny Stocks Right Now?
Are you looking for penny stocks to buy right now? If you are, you’re not alone. These cheap stocks have attracted the masses recently, and for a good reason. The strength of retail trading groups has become a clear focus of some of the top financial outlets in the market. Whether it’s Yahoo, CNBC, or even Bloomberg, the latest round of short-squeeze stocks has shifted attention to what retail traders are buying right now.
So, where should you begin? Should you look for stocks under $1 or maybe ones that have released news? What about companies that just filed insider buying reports? Wherever you place your focus, there’s one thing traders do before starting their full due diligence or “DD” process. That starting point is making a simple list of penny stocks. So, where is the focus right now in the market? One school of thought is to find the most heavily shorted stocks to buy. It’s definitely a higher risk option, in my opinion.
Banking on the idea that a stock will squeeze has many unknowns. One of the biggest things to factor in is the overall volume. To squeeze a short, buying volume needs to be so heavy that it forces shorts to cover their positions. As we saw last week with stocks like GameStop (NYSE: GME) and AMC Entertainment (NYSE: AMC), this entails billions of shares trading hands.
On the other side of the coin, some traders look for more industry-specific trends. While I’m sure green energy penny stocks will be a hot topic, biotech remains one of the most popular. Whether it’s from the “emerging growth” potential or the volatility, these companies attract traders seeking volatility.
Hot Penny Stocks To Watch
- Novan Inc. (NASDAQ: NOVN)
- PDS Biotechnology Corporation (NASDAQ: PDSB)
- NTN Buzztime Inc. (NYSE: NTN)
- Atossa Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ: ATOS)
Novan Inc.
The growing interest in COVID-related stocks has this one on watch as investors shift focus from vaccines to preventative treatments. Novan’s intranasal drug, berdazimer sodium, has been indicated for COVID-19. Late last year, the company signed a Master Services Agreement with Catalent to include support of chemistry, manufacturing, and control activities and the development of berdazimer sodium. Furthermore, the company said it would begin initiating preclinical Investigational New Drug enabling studies this quarter. So far, results from an in vitro assessment showed berdazimer sodium reduced 90% of the virus after repeat dosing, once daily.
But there’s more focus recently on the company’s other pipeline treatments. In a recent update, Novan said enrollment for its B-SIMPLE4 pivotal Phase 3 study reached 90% of the targeted subjects. This trial evaluates its SB206 topical antiviral gel for the treatment of molluscum contagiosum. Additionally, the company signed a deal for a new corporate headquarters in North Carolina, which will support R&D as well as manufacturing.
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In an 8K filing Friday, the company also confirmed compliance was regained with Nasdaq. The previous ten consecutive business days, from January 14, 2021, to January 28, 2021, the closing bid price for the company’s common stock closed at $1.00 per share or greater. In light of this, Novan has regained compliance with the minimum bid price listing requirement under Nasdaq Listing Rule 5550(a)(2). With momentum as a tailwind and COVID remaining a key point of interest with potential IND-enabling studies this quarter, will NOVN be on your list of penny stocks?
PDS Biotechnology Corporation
PDS has also become a frequent name on our list of penny stocks to watch when it comes to biotech companies. Since the start of the year, PDSB stock has risen as much as 40%. Last Friday, shares saw one of their more active post-market sessions with PDSB rising as high as $3.28. This level is one that hasn’t been tested since last summer. One of the key points of focus for the market right now is on immunotherapy. Cancer stocks are definitely a hot topic among traders. New advancements in T-cell treatments and the like have companies looking for ways to develop novel therapy pipelines.
PDS Biotechnology specifically focuses on its Versamune® platform. Earlier this month, the company released a white paper detailing how the platform works to treat cancer and the potential of Versamune® in treating a broad range of cancers. In particular, Versamune®-based immunotherapies have been shown to trigger superior quantity and quality of tumor-recognizing killer T-cells in-vivo. This has presented superior preclinical anti-tumor efficacy.
Research has also demonstrated antibody induction by Versamune® against SARS-CoV-2 at low antigen doses. This could potential for an effective antigen dose sparing COVID-19 vaccine. These data were based on preclinical studies combining PDS Biotech’s Versamune® with an inactivated Newcastle disease virus (NDV)/SARS-CoV-2 vaccine (NDV vaccine) developed at Mount Sinai.
NTN Buzztime Inc.
There are also cases where some companies are more obscure than others. They seem to “trade out of nowhere,” and the market seeks out a potential catalyst. In this case, NTN Buzztime is in focus. The company hasn’t released many updates. Furthermore, the last time it put out an update, it was just that it fell out of compliance with the exchange. Before that, the only headline was the company’s Q3 results in November. But there have been several filings made over the last few weeks that may be of interest.
A little background on NTN should also help. NTN Buzztime and Brooklyn ImmunoTherapeutics LLC entered into an agreement and plan of merger and reorganization, dated August 12, 2020. A wholly-owned subsidiary of NTN, BIT Merger Sub, Inc., will merge with and into Brooklyn, with Brooklyn surviving as a wholly-owned subsidiary of NTN. The deal would result in a biopharmaceutical company focused on Brooklyn’s business exploring the role that cytokine-based therapy in treating patients with cancer.
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As you’ll see, not only did the company sell its existing business, it also filed a formal proxy for its investors. In this proxy, NTN aims to gain approval for the Brooklyn ImmunoTherapeutics merger. It also wants to gain the approval of a reverse stock split and increase its authorized share count, among other things. Assuming the application is approved, NTN expects the new company to trade on the NYSE American under the symbol “BKIM.”
Since the last time we discussed this company, NTN stock has rallied big. This proposed merger has been a long-awaited deal in the making. Will shareholders vote to approve the combination?
Atossa Therapeutics Inc.
A company that shouldn’t be unfamiliar to many of you is Atossa Therapeutics. Since April of 2020, it’s been one of the penny stocks to watch. ATOS rallied from around $1 to highs of $5.08 by August. It then stumbled and ended up coming back down to that $1 area. However, over the past few weeks, Atossa has been coming back in a big way. Shares already bounced back as high as $3.77 last week.
A few key milestones accompanied the surge. The company targets breast cancer and, more recently, COVID-19. Atossa has a Phase I study observing the efficacy of its drug, AT-301. This nasal spray can be administered at home for those suffering from COVID-19. Dosing is complete, and data output is expected. The company previously explained that the preliminary assessment of AT-301 nasal spray was safe and well-tolerated. These results could also support advancing into a Phase 2 study.
Last week the company received $21 million from the exercise of outstanding warrants. The warrants were issued in financings in December 2020 and January 2021. Kyle Guse, CFO, and General Counsel. “We completed financings with gross proceeds of approximately $60 million and in the past week have added an additional $21 million to our balance sheet through the exercise of outstanding warrants. We look forward to the speed at which we can now advance our programs in 2021.”
With the dual focus on cancer and Covid, should ATOS be one of the names on your list of penny stocks in February?
Biotech Penny Stocks To Watch In February 2021
There’s an obvious demand from retail traders looking to buy cheap stocks. When it comes to biotech penny stocks, volatility is a big risk/reward factor. In this case, you’re mostly dealing with emerging stage companies that are developing treatments from the ground up. While mergers and acquisitions can play a role, these companies are focused more on proving that their platforms work before anything like that happens. In this light, keep in mind that biotech penny stocks can break out big and break down just as quickly depending on the outcome of current and future phase trials.
