In this piece, we will take a look at the 11 most profitable biotechnology stocks to buy today. If you want to skip our introduction to the biotechnology industry and want to take a look at the top five stocks in this list, then head on over to 5 Most Profitable Biotech Stocks Today.
Biotechnology is one of the fastest growing industries these days. Its successes have been influenced in a large amount by the advances in technology which have enabled biotechnology companies to develop new treatments, medicines, and products with the computing power that was unavailable just a decade ago. One technology that has been at the center of the attention of both the stock market and the media is artificial intelligence. In the biotech industry there are many companies using AI to make innovative treatments. One firm that has been using AI and machine learning in biotechnology for years now is Atomwise. The company uses a computational neural network (CNN) to discover billions of small molecules for drug development. As of 2023, Atomwise has generated more than $174 million in funding from venture capital financing, and the company also has a partnership with the pharmaceutical giant Sanofi (NASDAQ:SNY) for a deal that can potentially be worth $1 billion to discover medical compounds that will exclusively be used by Sanofi.
Another firm that integrated AI into its operations before the recent hype is Eyenuk, Inc. It uses its AI platform called EyeArt to not only screen for eye diseases based on images but also predict whether such diseases can occur in the future. The firm scored a big win in June 2023 when the FDA approved a camera to be used with its EyeArt system to detect diabetic retinopathy.
These developments make it clear that the biotechnology sector is perhaps one of the most revolutionary industries these days. They also show that the industry has a lot of potential apart from developing vaccines for the coronavirus pandemic – which itself has proved to be a major catalyst for the sector. Another big catalyst that might make biotechnology one of the most lucrative industries in the world is its ability to develop treatments for some of the most deadly and painful diseases known to humans. These diseases are collectively referred to as cancer, and cancer can affect a lot of body organs which makes it difficult to develop treatments since each different kind of cancer has its own mutations. Cancer treatments are further complicated by the fact that while some options do exist, cancer cells often evolve to defeat them.
On this front, researchers from New York University’s Langone Health Center have researched new antibodies to biologically ‘mark’ the cancer cells so that the body’s immune system can target them and fight the disease. The treatment shows potential as a lab study with dish grown cancer cells saw immune system antibodies successfully recognize the cancer cell ‘flags’ and attack them as a result. Another firm that is leveraging biotechnology and artificial intelligence to fight cancer is Agilent Technologies Inc. (NYSE:A). Agilent has partnered up with another company, Visiopharm, to use AI for sifting through datasets for recognizing biological patterns in images to diagnose the correct diseases for an effective treatment plan.
However, not all is rosy in the biotechnology industry. While the technologies, developments, and treatments that we’ve shared above have immense potential, the simple fact is that these technologies cost vast sums of money simply for research and development. At the same time, the fruits of this spending might take years to appear, which often ends up making several biotechnology firms unprofitable. To gauge a sense of just how capitally intensive spending in the biotechnology industry is, consider the fact that according to Deloitte, the average cost of developing a drug sits at a whopping $2.3 billion at the biggest biopharmaceutical companies in the world. At the same time, the return on investment on these drugs sits at just 1.2% – so the biotechnology companies have to be absolutely certain of future market potential and profitability when investing in drugs.
As to the biotechnology companies themselves, we made a list of the 10 Most Promising Biotech Stocks According to Analysts to find out that the top firms were Zai Lab Limited (NASDAQ:ZLAB), Vir Biotechnology, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIR), and Intellia Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTLA). Here is what the management of Vir Biotechnology had to say during its latest earnings call:
Now, let’s turn to chronic hepatitis B. Unlike the current standard-of-care, which requires taking antiviral medicines for the rest of one’s life and does not eliminate the risk of cirrhosis or liver cancer, our goal is a functional cure. After completing a functional cure therapy, there should be no need for further treatment and there should also be a further reduction in the risk of liver complications. Our functional cure hypothesis is based on a novel widely accepted belief that chronic hepatitis B is an immunologic disease caused by a virus. As such, we believe that combinations of anti-virus alone are not enough. Instead, we believe functional cure requires a combination of antivirus with immunologic agents.
We call our approach stop and clear. We stop the virus from replicating and clear already infected cells by immune-stimulation. This is the fundamentally different hypothesis we seek to prove in our clinical trials. Our clinical development pathway has been as follows. We began with Phase 1 and Phase 2a studies that are exploring different combinations of anti-virals and immunomodulators. By specifically using small courts in these studies, we are able to explore a broad space of possibilities to help identify the right combination, dose, duration, frequency, and population. In the studies, we have made two major advances towards a functional cure for chronic hepatitis B that highlight why we believe we can succeed. One, At 11 June, we showed that we could achieve a durable off treatment response in 16% of participants who received VIR-2218, and pegylated interferon alpha for 48 weeks.
With these details in mind, let’s take a look at some of the most profitable biotechnology companies in the world out of which the top picks are Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ), Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE), and Roche Holding AG (OTCMKTS:RHHBY).
Photo by National Cancer Institute on Unsplash
Our Methodology
To compile our list of the most profitable biotechnology companies, we made a list of biotechnology companies included in our previous coverage and the VanEck Biotech ETF (NASDAQ:BBH). This led to a list of 41 companies which were ranked through their trailing twelve month net income. Out of these, the top 11 most profitable biotechnology companies are as follows.
Most Profitable Biotech Stocks Today
11. Amgen Inc (NASDAQ:AMGN)
Latest TTM Net Income Figures: $6.5 billion
Amgen Inc (NASDAQ:AMGN) is a biotechnology firm that develops treatments for different ailments including immune system complications that arise from cancer. The firm has either met or beat analyst EPS estimates for all four of its latest quarters and the shares are rated Buy on average.
57 of the 910 hedge funds part of Insider Monkey’s Q2 2023 database had bought a stake in Amgen Inc (NASDAQ:AMGN). Out of these, the firm’s largest shareholder is John Overdeck and David Siegel’s Two Sigma Advisors through an investment of $355 million.
Amgen Inc (NASDAQ:AMGN) joins Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE), Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ), and Roche Holding AG (OTCMKTS:RHHBY) in our list of the most profitable biotech stocks.
10. Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)
Latest TTM Net Income Figures: $6.9 billion
Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) is a global pharmaceutical company with a biotechnology division that manufactures biotechnology products for other companies. It expanded its biotechnology portfolio in July 2023 when it bought a firm with drug delivery technologies for $1 billion.
After digging through 910 hedge funds for their second quarter of 2023 shareholdings, Insider Monkey discovered that 26 had invested in the firm. Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)’s largest hedge fund stakeholder is Jim Simons’ Renaissance Technologies since it owns 2.3 million shares that are worth $237 million.
9. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)
Latest TTM Net Income Figures: $6.95 billion
Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) is a backend medical company that provides biotechnology firms with the tools to research and develop products. The firm missed its Q2 2023 analyst EPS estimates by a wide margin after a return to normalcy in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.
As of June 2023, 103 out of the 910 hedge funds part of Insider Monkey’s research had bought Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)’s shares. Chris Hohn’s TCI Fund Management is the firm’s biggest shareholder among these since it owns a stake worth $1.6 billion.
8. Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO)
Latest TTM Net Income Figures: $8 billion
Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) is a biotechnology firm that develops treatments for obesity, blood diseases, and other ailments. The firm’s Ozempic drug for weight loss has been making waves lately after it was revealed that it can even treat some heart diseases.
Insider Monkey scoured through 910 hedge fund portfolios for this year’s June quarter and discovered that 43 had held a stake in the company. Out of these, Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO)’s largest investor is Jim Simons’ Renaissance Technologies since it owns $1.5 billion worth of shares.
7. Moderna, Inc. (NASDAQ:MRNA)
Latest TTM Net Income Figures: $8.36 billion
Moderna, Inc. (NASDAQ:MRNA) is one of the more well known biotechnology companies in the world due to its coronavirus vaccine. The firm’s shares moved in August after it announced that its latest COVID vaccine is quite effective against a fresh virus variant.
Insider Monkey took a look at 910 hedge fund holdings for 2023’s second quarter to find out that 40 had invested in Moderna, Inc. (NASDAQ:MRNA). Philippe Laffont’s Coatue Management is the firm’s biggest shareholder, through a stake worth $795 million.
6. BioNTech SE (NASDAQ:BNTX)
Latest TTM Net Income Figures: $9.4 billion
BioNTech SE (NASDAQ:BNTX) is a German biotechnology company. Its successes during the coronavirus pandemic has lent the firm a fortress of a balance sheet, with the latest estimates showing more than $15 billion in cash and equivalents. These make BioNTech SE (NASDAQ:BNTX) quite attractive as they provide it with a wide buffer to handle any adverse events.
21 of the 910 hedge funds part of Insider Monkey’s Q2 2023 database had bought the firm’s shares. BioNTech SE (NASDAQ:BNTX)’s largest investor out of these is Jim Simons’ Renaissance Technologies since it owns 445,019 shares that are worth $48 million.
Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ), BioNTech SE (NASDAQ:BNTX), Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE), and Roche Holding AG (OTCMKTS:RHHBY) are some of the most profitable biotechnology firms in the world.
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Disclosure: None. 11 Most Profitable Biotech Stocks Today is originally published on Insider Monkey.