Cancer is the most damaging health risk for millions of people worldwide, but at the same time, there are plenty of pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies who are working on ways to bring about effective treatments. The spending on cancer treatments is going to rise significantly and according to research by the Institute for Human Data Science, the spending could hit as much as $250 billion by 2023. If the spending reaches such levels, then some stocks could benefit significantly and hence, it is important to have a list of cancer treatment stocks to invest in. Here is a quick look at two of them.
Biotech Stocks To Watch #1: Tiziana Life Sciences (TLSA)
One of the hottest subsectors that has gotten more attention in 2019 has been digestive diseases especially things like liver disease, diabetes and myriad digestive system cancers. The obesity epidemic in the U.S. is leading to a new problem for doctors.
In fact, by 2020, a liver disease known as nonalcoholic steatohepatitis, or NASH [1], will be the leading cause of liver failure. That will lead to more liver transplants in the U.S., experts say. Tiziana Life Sciences (TLSA) is focusing on a plan to develop novel treatments for liver diseases such as NASH and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). With multiple treatments in advanced Phase Trials, it could make sense to have this biotechnology company in focus for 2019.
Tiziana (TLSA) is supported by extensive IP and a strong pipeline of in-licensed clinical assets and has clinical development programs for Foralumab and Milciclib. Strong IP for oral and nasal administration is for the platform technology, which is applicable to all antibodies drugs for the treatment of human diseases.
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Last year, Tiziana Lifesciences presented a poster at the AASLD, a premier scientific conference for liver diseases, demonstrating that milciclib produces significant synergistic activity in combination with tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) such as sorafenib, regorafenib and lenvatinib in preclinical studies. In addition, oral treatment with milciclib is also able to overcome drug resistance towards commonly used chemotherapeutic drugs such as gemcitabine.
Because it can be combined with TKIs as well as standard chemotherapy agents, Tiziana’s treatment could be in a position to directly compete with the therapies of some of the biotech sectors biggest companies. What may be more important is that patients often become resistant or unresponsive to certain treatments.
Biotech Stocks To Watch #2: AbbVie (ABBV)
AbbVie (ABBV Stock Report) is the manufacturer of blood cancer medicine Imbruvica and that product alone generated $9.5 billion worth of annual sales most recently. On the other hand, the company is also marketing the blood cancer medicine Venclexta in collaboration with Roche and that could be a lucrative product as well. Analysts believe the sales of that product could reach $2 billion to $2.75 billion. Humira is its top-selling drug but it has faced some difficulties in the recent past.
However, the company has many other products in the pipeline and if the acquisition of Allergen goes through, then its capacity would go even higher. Lastly, AbbVie is highly generous with dividends and has raised it progressively over the course of the past quarter of a century.
Biotech Stocks To Watch #3: Illumina (ILMN)
The other highly interesting cancer stock is Illumina (ILMN Stock Report), which has emerged as the leader in the gene-sequencing space. Although it is the market leader in the field of oncology, the company’s has somewhat slowed in 2019 so far.
However, there are plenty of gene sequencing products in the pipeline that could propel the company into a position of great strength in the years to come Although the stock is currently a bit expensive, its P/E ratio of 40 is still less than that of many leading healthcare stocks.