Health and Healthcare
12 Stocks Surging That Could Help Treat or Fight Coronavirus
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Monday morning brought a huge sell-off in the market as more and more people are concerned about the growing impact of this new coronavirus. So far, over 2,800 cases and 81 deaths have been confirmed in China. Five cases have been reported in the United States, and the virus has appeared on four continents.
Although this virus is not as lethal as SARS was, the rate of transmission is much higher and asymptomatic patients are capable of passing it on. SARS, for which fewer than 1,000 deaths were reported back in 2003, was perhaps the most memorable of the outbreaks in Asia as one of the first modern-era global scares. That had a direct impact on travel to China and the surrounding nations.
As with almost all pandemic scares and other national and global issues, some speculative stocks manage to see their shares rise sharply. Because many of these companies are under a $50 million or $100 million basic size threshold, some of them have been overlooked or omitted. If history repeats itself, many of these companies that see huge surges from related news often come back to earth.
Lakeland Industries Inc. (NASDAQ: LAKE) is not a biotech, but it occasionally gets to play tag-team when there are biotech movers or biohazard situations around major diseases and industrial waste issues. After all, it makes self-contained industrial protective clothing and containment suits for hazmat and all sorts of applications. Lakeland’s share price jumped by just over 11% to $15.26 on Monday morning, in a 52-week range of $9.70 to $15.40. The new market cap is just $110 million.
Allied Healthcare Products Inc. (NASDAQ: AHPI) saw its shares surge 93% to $2.90 on Friday, but it barely has an $11 million market cap, and it only just recently regained Nasdaq listing compliance. Among its breathing and respiratory products are facemasks and other products. Monday morning shares were up about 23% at $3.56.
Alpha Pro Tech Ltd. (NYSE: APT) makes masks and disposable protective apparel, and its shares rose almost 18% to $6.00 on Friday to end with a $78 million market cap. That’s a 71% gain from the $3.50 share price the prior week. Monday morning, shares surged another 30% to $7.77.
BioCryst Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: BCRX) has a $432 million market cap, and its galidesivir is being tested in Phase 1 studies for multiple viruses, including coronaviruses. Shares were last seen up about 7% at $3.00, in a 52-week range of $1.38 to $9.95.
Novavax Inc. (NASDAQ: NVAX) often sees its shares surge around global health and pandemic scares. While this was a $5 stock about a week ago, shares are up about 18% at $9.19 on Monday morning. The stock has a 52-week range of $3.54 to $48.80.
Moderna Inc. (NASDAQ: MRNA), which was the largest biotech IPO in America, has a market cap of $7 billion. This company’s stock rose to as much as $23 after the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) gave funding to accelerate its work on a coronavirus vaccine. Now shares are back near that level, with the stock up about 5% at $22.15 on Monday morning.
Cerus Corp. (NASDAQ: CERS) is targeting the MERS coronavirus and exploring to adapt its treatment to the current Wuhan strain. Cerus was last seen up about 1% at $4.63 on Monday morning, with a $650 million market cap, but that is up from $4.07 the prior week.
Co-Diagnostics Inc. (NASDAQ: CODX) has a $32 million market cap, but it was up more than 50% from last week. Now shares are up about 44% to kick off this week. It may have been higher, except that it sold shares to raise capital at a deep discount in a share offering. The company is preparing a coronavirus test.
Vir Biotechnology Inc. (NASDAQ: VIR) has been impressive enough for a $2.3 billion market cap, but that is up 23% from its lows last week. The company has an antibody for another coronavirus strain, and management is said to be testing to determine if it is effective against this Wuhan strain. Shares are up another 15% at $23.05 on Monday morning.
Inovio Pharmaceutical Inc. (NASDAQ: INO) has been selected by the CEPI with a grant of up to $9 million to develop a vaccine against the recently emerged strain of coronavirus. The stock closed Friday with a market cap of roughly $424 million. Shares were last seen up 33% at $5.64 on Monday morning.
NanoViricides Inc. (NASDAQ: NNVC) saw a whopping 65% gain on Monday alone. This stock rose over 150% in the past week, despite having closed on an $8.6 million public stock offering at just $3 per share. The company is targeting nano-medicines targeting swine and avian flu, as well as Dengue and Ebola.
Dyadic International Inc. (NASDAQ: DYAI) was up 6% at $5.57 on Monday. Analyst firm Dawson James noted that this company could help create a solution for the coronavirus.
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