My Top Pick for speculative investors for 2015 is an exciting vaccine player with a deep, growing pipeline, suggests Jay Silverman, editor The Medical Technology Stock Letter.
Novavax (NVAX) made exceptional progress in last year and 2015 will be a defining year, led by the results of three Phase II trials underway for its novel RSV vaccine candidate.
In addition, a quadrivalent flu vaccine is undergoing a large Phase II study. Furthermore, an equally exciting, and we believe disruptive, respiratory vaccine (RSV/flu combo) is starting trials this flu season.
Finally, the company initiated a program for the Ebola virus that will imminently begin human clinical trials. Taken together, the VLP platform technology of Novavax has created one of the broadest antiviral vaccine pipelines around.
Last year, the company raised over $200 million in two ways; half via a conventional stock issuance (@$4 per share) and the other half from non-dilutive government funding for its pandemic/flu vaccines (H7N9, H5N1).
As a result, they are well-funded to develop their pipeline without the need for further funds and/or a corporate partner.
The most attractive biotech stocks are those with an impressive and patented pipeline that are 100% owned by the company. That is Novavax.
We are confident that NVAX is on its way to a leadership position in vaccines, led by the RSV vaccine. With major clinical catalysts due this year, in our view, NVAX is a Top Pick for 2015. Our target price is $13 per share.
