CELU to CMPI: Explore top 5 biotech stocks with over 100% YTD return

Highlights 

• Sierra Oncology, Inc. (NASDAQ:SRRA) stock grew 150.14% year-to-
• Voyager Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VYGR) generated a 17% return YTD.
• Checkmate Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:CMPI) stock rose 257.04% YTD. 

Biotechnology companies are engaged in the research and development of healthcare products. While many factors could affect the healthcare market, biotechnology firms are not immediately affected by inflation or supply chain issues. The reason is that they are most often driven by cash provided by investors, unlike others dependent on income from operations.

Moreover, drugs developed by these companies often take years to get approved because they go through a lengthy test process and are carried out in multiple phases. 

Also, most biotechnology companies are generally small enterprises and do not earn revenue in the initial years. Hence, investors often consider these stocks as long-term investments.

Experts believe the biotechnology industry would positively impact various other sectors in future, including food and agriculture, besides pharmaceuticals. 

Here we discuss five biotechnology stocks that generated 100% return year-to-date.

Celularity Inc. (NASDAQ:CELU)

Closing price on April 25, 2022: US$11.92
Market capitalization: US$1.63 billion

Florham Park, New Jersey-based Celularity is a clinical-stage biotechnology company. It is engaged in developing off-the-shelf placental-derived allogeneic cell therapies to target cancer, immunologic, infectious, and degenerative diseases.

For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2021, the company reported a net loss of US$100 million or US$1.49 per diluted share compared to the net loss of US$208 million or US$11.31 per diluted share in the previous fiscal. Its revenue was US$21.34 million in FY 2021 compared to US$14.28 million in fiscal 2020.

Its cash and cash equivalents were US$37.24 million as of December 31, 2021, compared to US$54.31 million as of December 31, 2020.  

Its stock price traded in the range of US$13.40 to US$3.63in the last 52 weeks. 

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Sierra Oncology, Inc. (NASDAQ:SRRA)

Closing price on April 25, 2022: US$54.53
Market capitalization: US$1.24 billion

Sierra Oncology Inc. is a clinical-stage drug company based in San Mateo, California. The company is focused on the research, development, and commercialization of DNA Damage Response (DDR) therapeutics for cancer patients in the US and abroad. 

Sierra did not report any revenue for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2021, while there was a collaboration revenue of US$300 thousand for the previous fiscal year. Its net loss per share diluted decreased to US$7.14 in FY 2021 compared to US$7.70 in FY 2020. The total net loss came in at US$94.6 million in fiscal 2021 compared to the net loss of US$80.9 million in the fiscal year 2020.

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Its cash, and cash equivalents stayed almost the same at US$104.7 million as of December 31, 2021, versus US$104.1 as of December 31, 2020. 

On April 13, the company announced that GlaxoSmithKline plc (GSK) agreed to acquire Sierra for an approximate total equity value of US$1.9 billion.

SRRA stock price moved in the range of US$54.97 to US$14.91 in the last 52 weeks. 

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Voyager Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VYGR)

Closing price on April 25, 2022: US$7.48
Market capitalization: US$298 million

Voyager Therapeutics Inc is a gene therapy company. It is focused on developing life-changing treatments for patients with severe neurological diseases. Cambridge, Massachusetts-based Voyager develops and commercializes gene therapies.

Its revenue was US$37.4 million for FY 2021 compared to US$171.13 million for fiscal 2020. Its net loss for fiscal 2021 was US$71.2 million compared to the net income of US$36.74 million a year ago.  Its cash and cash equivalents were US$117.4 million as of December 31, 2021.  

Its stock price traded in the range of US$10.60 to US$2.46 in the last 52 weeks. 

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CTI BioPharma Corp. (NASDAQ:CTIC)

Closing price on April 25, 2022: US$4.98
Market capitalization: US$502.6 million

Seattle, Washington-based CTI BioPharma is a biopharmaceutical company focused on acquiring, developing, and commercializing cancer therapies. Its therapeutic area is blood-related cancers. 

CTI BioPharma posted a net loss of US$97.9 million or US$1.09 per share diluted for the year ended December 31, 2021, compared to US$52.45 million or US$0.74 per share diluted in the fiscal year 2020. It earned no revenue, and the cash and cash equivalents were US$65.4 million as of December 31, 2021, compared to US$40.39 million as of December 31, 2020.

CTIC stock traded in the range of US$5.25 to US$1.43 in the last 52 weeks. 

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 Checkmate Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:CMPI)

Closing price on April 25, 2022: US$10.39
Market capitalization: US$224.7 million

Checkmate Pharmaceuticals Inc is a clinical-stage biotechnology company. The healthcare company is based in Cambridge, Massachusetts and is focused on developing and commercializing its proprietary technology to combat cancer.

On April 19, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (REGN) and Checkmate (CMPI) announced a definitive agreement to acquire Checkmate by Regeneron. The proposed acquisition valued Checkmate at an equity value of approximately US$250 million.

The company posted a net loss of US$61.4 million or US$2.84 per share diluted for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2021, compared to US$42.9 million or US$4.49 per diluted share in the previous fiscal year.  

Its stock price traded in the range of US$10.45 to US$2.00 in one year. 

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Bottom line:

Nasdaq Biotechnology Index (NBI) fell 16.20% YTD, and S&P 500 plunged 11.37% in the same period. Biotechnology stocks generally rise when their products get approval for commercialization. Thus, investors should carefully analyze these companies before investing in stocks.