Both of these companies could soon set the standard in their fields.
Even if you’re not an investor like Cathie Wood, who specializes in businesses that claim to have a shot at disrupting their industries, investing in aspiring disruptors can be a great tactic to shore up your portfolio’s exposure to growth. Assuming you can tolerate the additional risk that comes with trying to do things differently, that is.
In biotech, disruptive companies could be those with unique technology platforms with uncommon capabilities, or those with programs for medicines that could be unusually effective at their intended purposes. Let’s take a look at one of each, with the understanding that only one of the pair is mature enough to be ready to buy for most investors.
1. Viking Therapeutics
Viking Therapeutics (VKTX 0.02%) is disruptive because it could have a shot at breaking into the market for obesity medicines, which is currently dominated by Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly with their medicines Wegovy and Zepbound.
To accomplish that, it’ll need to survive long enough to advance its flagship program, VK2735, through its remaining late-stage clinical trials. As the company doesn’t yet have any medicines on the market, it’ll need to spend down its hoard of $963 million in cash, equivalents, and marketable securities. But with a trailing-12-month cash outflow of just $54.8 million, it has plenty of runway left.
As for VK2735 itself, there are two reasons it could be disruptive to the obesity market’s reigning champions.
First, the medicine appears to drive faster weight loss than Zepbound or Wegovy; in its phase 2 trial patients who were treated with VK2735 lost 14.7% of their body mass after 13 weeks of treatment. Per the relevant clinical trial data, the two already-commercialized medicines require roughly a year of treatment to reach the same amount of weight loss.
The second reason is that VK2735’s beneficial effects did not appear to taper off or plateau after the 13-week treatment period. So patients could ostensibly be treated for longer to lose more weight, a proposition that’s less certain with Zepbound and Wegovy.
Viking is also pursuing an oral formulation of VK2735 that’s currently in early-stage clinical trials. The preliminary data suggest that its efficacy and side-effect profile are comparable, and it’d be a much more convenient dosing platform than injections. Thus the company has more than one potential winner on hand.
It’s no secret that pre-revenue biotech stocks are risky. But in Viking’s case, there aren’t any clues portending a high probability of disaster, and its balance sheet is in great shape. Therefore, it’s worth buying this stock right now, especially if you’re willing to take a risk to secure a large upside from its probable future competition in the massive market for obesity drugs.
2. Recursion Pharmaceuticals
Unlike Viking Therapeutics, Recursion Pharmaceuticals (RXRX 3.74%) is disruptive because it’s one of a few biotechs that are built around using artificial intelligence (AI) for the purposes of drug discovery and development.
While the company’s claims about the merits of using this approach have yet to be proven, and it has no products on the market yet, in theory its use of AI could reduce the cost of research and development (R&D) while also reducing the risk of expensive failures. It already has buy-in from one of the biggest names in AI, Nvidia, which made an equity investment of $50 million as part of a deal that will deliver some of the world’s most powerful supercomputing resources to Recursion.
A couple of powerful biopharma players are in its corner, too. Bayer and Roche are both collaborating with Recursion on a few oncology programs. Bayer is on the hook for up to $1.5 billion in milestone fees and royalties, while Roche agreed to pay as much as $800 million, so it’s safe to say that the two players are heavily committed. Though its collection of allies doesn’t guarantee that the biotech’s AI platform will be able to accomplish its goals, it does suggest that at least a few external executives in high places are optimistic that it will.
For investors, the prospect of buying this stock is a fairly risky one. Its pipeline has a few mid-stage programs, three of which are for rare diseases, and one that’s for a rare cancer. The business has succeeded in getting a mix of Fast Track and Orphan Drug regulatory designations for the three rare-disease candidates, which is a good sign.
But the risk of late-stage failures is high, and Recursion only has $296.3 million in cash and equivalents as of the first quarter, after spending $102.3 million on its operating activities in the same period.
Nonetheless, the company has a few chances to succeed with its candidates, and it has more than one lifeline within reach via its illustrious crew of collaborators. If you can tolerate a fair amount of volatility, Recursion Pharmaceuticals stock could be a good purchase, but it isn’t for investors who can’t tolerate a significant amount of risk.