Antares Pharma Inc (ATRS), ISIS Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (ISIS), Ligand Pharmaceuticals Inc. (LGND): 3 Pharma Stocks You Need to Watch for the Rest of 2013

And there’s more. Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd (ADR) (NYSE:TEVA) and OncoGenex Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:OGXI) plan to announce phase 3 results for custirsen in treating patients with first-line advanced metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer in the fourth quarter. ISIS Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:ISIS) and Oncogenex first developed the drug using Isis’ antisense technology. Teva formed an alliance with Oncogenex to completed development and commercialization of custirsen.

3. Ligand Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:LGND)
Ligand hasn’t had quite the banner year that Isis has had in 2013, but its year-to-date gains of almost 90% are still impressive. This strong performance stems largely from plenty of royalties and milestone payments for drugs initially developed by Ligand Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:LGND), particularly Kyprolis.

One of the significant events for Ligand Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:LGND) during the second half of the year will be the FDA’s decision on bazedoxifene/conjugated estrogens, or BZA/CE, scheduled for Oct. 3. The drug, which is being developed with Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE), targets treatment of moderate-to-severe vasomotor symptoms and vulvar and vaginal atrophy associated with menopause, as well as the prevention of postmenopausal osteoporosis. Pfizer and Ligand Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:LGND) have also submitted BZA/CE for approval in Europe.

There has been considerable skepticism for the drug, though, due in part from repeated delays by Pfizer in submitting for approval. The FDA decided against approval for bazedoxifene as a stand-alone drug several years ago because of concerns about the incidence of strokes and blood clotting, although the drug is approved in Europe and Japan. An FDA approval for BZA/CE probably wouldn’t move Pfizer shares much, but a positive decision could help Ligand Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:LGND) keep up its winning ways.

Watch and wait
I like all three stocks, especially Isis with its antisense technology. Favorable clinical results and FDA decisions later this year could boost the fortunes of all three of these pharma stocks. However, there’s always a chance that things won’t go the way the companies would prefer. For now, we’ll have to watch and wait.

Fool contributor Keith Speights has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned.

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