In this article, we discuss the Billionaire Joe Edelman’s Stock Picks with Huge Upside Potential.
Joseph Edelman, the billionaire chief of New York-based Perceptive Advisors, specializes in the biotechnology and life sciences sectors. Under his leadership, his fund has grown into one of the most successful healthcare-focused hedge funds in the world, managing $5.6 billion in the 13F portfolio at the end of the fourth quarter of 2025. His investment strategy often focuses on clinical-stage biotech firms with the potential for massive breakouts. In recent weeks, biotech markets have officially thawed, with acquisitions and fundraising accelerating through the first three weeks of April. This resurgence is largely driven by the patent cliff, as major pharmaceutical companies face a loss of exclusivity on over $200 billion in annual sales by 2030. To replenish pipelines, bio-buying has become the dominant strategy.
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In mid-April, Gilead notably shifted focus from acquisitions to pipeline execution after digesting three major acquisitions. Meanwhile, global players like Merck and Sanofi continue to target startups with clean intellectual property and late-stage assets in oncology and metabolic diseases. The obesity gold rush remains a primary market driver. Reports from San Diego’s Fierce Pharma Engage conference underscore that the GLP-1 market, which generated over $70 billion in 2025, is entering its next generation. Investors are now focused on oral therapies and dual-agonist drugs, like amycretin and retatrutide, that offer improved tolerability and weight-loss durability.
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Our Methodology
For this article, we selected stocks by combing through the 13F portfolio of Perceptive Advisors at the end of the fourth quarter of 2025. The top 50 stocks were ranked based on their analyst upside potential and the top 10 from this list were filtered out. Data for the hedge fund sentiment surrounding each stock was taken from Insider Monkey’s Q4 2025 database of 1041 elite hedge funds.
Why are we interested in the stocks that hedge funds pile into? The reason is simple: our research has shown that we can outperform the market by imitating the top stock picks of the best hedge funds. Our quarterly newsletter’s strategy selects 14 small-cap and large-cap stocks every quarter and has returned 498.7% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 303 percentage points (see more details here).
Billionaire Joe Edelman’s Stock Picks with Huge Upside Potential
10. Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PTGX)
Perceptive Advisors’ Stake: $118 Million
Analyst Upside Potential: 41%
Elite investors have been positioning themselves in Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PTGX) stock as the firm transforms from a clinical-stage biotech to a high-margin commercial royalty engine. An important reason for interest in the shares this year has been the FDA approval of Icotyde for moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis. Icotyde is the only once-daily oral IL-23R peptide on the market. Wall Street views it as a disruptive alternative to existing injectables, offering the convenience of a pill with the potency of a biologic. The drug was developed in collaboration with Johnson & Johnson, which holds exclusive commercialization rights. This partnership de-risks the launch for Protagonist, as J&J’s massive marketing machine will drive adoption while Protagonist collects high-margin royalties.
Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PTGX) is rapidly improving the balance sheet following the commercial pivot. The FDA approval triggered an immediate $50 million milestone payment from J&J. The company remains eligible for up to $580 million in additional regulatory and sales milestones, plus tiered royalties, 6% to 10%, on global net sales. Hedge funds view this as a guaranteed, low-risk cash flow stream that could fund the rest of the company’s pipeline for years. These funds are also pricing in the success of Rusfertide, the company’s lead candidate for a rare blood disorder. In March, Protagonist submitted its New Drug Application for Rusfertide, backed by successful 52-week Phase 3 data.
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