One sector that has always been a favorite of investors of all varieties is the pharmaceutical sector and all investors like a turnaround story. Over the years, ACADIA Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:ACAD) had been one of the better-known strugglers in the industry. That was reflected in the stock price as well. But recent developments have breathed new life in the stock, which could be an indicator for the biotech industry at large.
Biotech Stocks To Watch: PharmaCyte Biotech (PMCB)
There has been no lack of attention on biotech penny stocks this year. At the beginning of August, one small biotech stock broke to highs of over $10 from a starting price below $2 a share after releasing news. PharmaCyte Biotech (PMCB) focuses on ways to effectively deliver treatments to patients with diseases ranging from cancer to diabetes.
The company’s proprietary cellulose-based live-cell encapsulation technology known as “Cell-in-a-Box®is the platform that the company uses to develop its therapy delivery methods. For most of the quarter, shares of PMCB stock have traded between $0.033 and $0.04 with volume recently surging.
On September 12, PharmaCyte saw more than 4 million shares trade; well above its daily average. Most of the attention surrounding the company has been on two things. First, its progress with Cell-In-A-Box and the application for Pancreatic cancer has continued to progress. The company brought on Dr. Manuel Hidalgo, has confirmed that he will be Principal Investigator (PI) for PharmaCyte’s planned clinical trial in locally advanced, inoperable pancreatic cancer (LAPC) now that he is at Weill Cornell Medical Center.
Second, the company has been ramping up for a much-anticipated shareholder update call on September 20. The call will cover PharmaCyte’s preparations for submission of its Investigational New Drug application (IND) to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to treat locally advanced, inoperable pancreatic cancer and developments related to PharmaCyte’s product pipeline on which PharmaCyte has been working and that have not yet been reported in a press release.
Acadia (ACAD) Stock Price: Important Developments
People who had held on to the stock through the barren years got a nice boost recently. This came after Acadia’s well-known medicine Nuplazid recorded better than expected sales. In addition to that, there were encouraging results from a dementia-driven psychosis study. Hence, it is important to figure out whether it is perhaps time to buy the stock.
While the signs are no doubt encouraging, it is important to note that data reveals that around 60,000 people in the United States are diagnosed with Parkinson’s every year. Out of those, a large proportion (50% to 80%) suffers from dementia. Hence it can be argued that the market is simply not too big for Acadia’s Nuplazid.
Moreover, different types of dementia are brought on by Alzheimer’s disease, which is why all of it might not actually fall into Acadia’s lap. That being said, it is also well known that antipsychotic drugs have only been approved for the treatment of Parkinson’s and hence the Alzheimer’s market is already out of the question.
Market Potential
Projections suggest that the sale of Nuplazid could grow to more than $1 billion in 2023 from $224 million in 2018. While that is encouraging, it is also important to note that the growth has been priced into the Acadia stock price.
However, if Acadia’s plans for growth somehow run into any trouble, then there is every chance of the stock price plummeting once again. The company is recovering and there is some time before the patient population for Nuplazid can be expanded sufficiently. In the meantime, investors need to be a bit more patient.
Shares of ACAD are up over 60% over the past week and made a new multi-year high of $43.98.
