Summary
I have always found a strong correlation between insider buying and upside potential in the biotech sector.
Recently, I have purchased two small biotech/biopharma stocks that I find attractive on a standalone basis and where insiders are also making purchases.
We profile both names below.
Judge a man by his questions rather than by his answers.” – Voltaire
I have always found a strong correlation between insider buying and upside potential in the biotech sector. This makes sense given the complexity of the industry where officers often have a much better idea on what is happening within a company’s pipeline development than analysts.
Given this, we highlight two attractive biotech/biopharma names that insiders have been purchasing recently in the paragraphs below
First we look at Reata Pharmaceuticals (RETA), an attractive small cap ‘Tier 4‘ biotech concern that also has had some recent significant insider buying.
Company Overview:
Reata Pharmaceuticals is a Dallas-based clinical stage biopharmaceutical concern focused on developing therapies to address rare and life-threatening diseases with few or no approved treatments by targeting molecular pathways that regulate cellular metabolism and inflammation. Specifically, the company’s lead product candidates, essentially antioxidant inflammation modulators, activate the transcription factor Nrf2 to restore mitochondrial function, reduce oxidative stress, and resolve inflammation. The stock trades at approximately $29.50 and has a market cap just north of $750 million.
The company’s pipeline consists of two candidates that are undergoing 6 trials for 10 indications. We will talk only of the company’s primary drug candidate Bardoxolone methyl, also known as Bard, given it has eight of those indications.
Bard is a once-daily oral medication that is being evaluated in a pivotal Phase 2/3 trial (CARDINAL), for the treatment of chronic kidney disease (CKD) caused by Alport syndrome. Reata began enrolling patients in the Phase 3 portion of CARDINAL in August 2017, after having announced preliminary results from the Phase 2 portion of the study in July.
