After dropping to a low of 3,637.05 in October 2023, the index climbed to a high of 4,954.813 on September 19, 2024. While the NBI is trading down at 4,399.36 as of January 7, 2025, further growth could be in store in the future. However, the current economic environment means the biotech sector may have a complex road ahead.
Driving that growth will be favorable government policies, investment in the sector, increased demand for synthetic biology and a rise in chronic disorders such as cancer, heart disease and hypertension.
The top NASDAQ biotech stocks have seen sizeable share price increases over the past year. For those interested in investing in biotech companies, the best-performing small-cap biotech stocks are outlined below.
Year-over-year gain: 2,232.41 percent
Market cap: US$281.1 million
Share price: US$40.22
Bright Minds Biosciences is developing novel treatments for pain and neuropsychiatric disorders such as epilepsy, post-traumatic stress disorder and difficult-to-treat depression.
The company’s platform includes serotonin agonists designed to provide powerful therapeutic benefits while minimizing the side effects.
Bright Minds is currently in Phase 2 clinical trials for its BMB-101, a highly selective 5-HT2C receptor agonist, in adult patients with classic absence epilepsy and developmental epileptic encephalopathy.
Bright Minds’ share price reached their highest yearly peak of US$55.77 on November 6.
Year-over-year gain: 518.52 percent
Market cap: US$371.37 million
Share price: US$8.35
Candel Therapeutics is a biotech company focused on developing oncology treatments. The company’s pipeline includes two clinical stage multimodal biological immunotherapy platforms.
Its second lead product candidate is CAN-3110, which is in an ongoing Phase 1 clinical trial in recurrent high-grade glioma (HGG).
Year-over-year gain: 467.04 percent
Market cap: US$314.63 million
Share price: US$5.43
The biotech stock had a great run up in the second quarter this year, climbing to an H1 2024 high of US$6.799 on June 5. Since then, Rezolute shares have managed to retain much of that value with a series of positive news releases.
Year-over-year gain: 301.52 percent
Market cap: US$97.61 million
Share price: US$2.65
Entera Bio’s proprietary N-Tab technology oral delivery platform allows for the development of therapies based on peptides and therapeutic proteins. The company is targeting a variety of indications, including osteoporosis, hyperparathyroidism and short bowel syndrome.
Entera Bio’s share price reached its yearly peak of US$2.98 on April 12, 2024.
Year-to-date gain: 251.42 percent
Market cap: US$258.63 million
Share price: US$11.14
California-based Benitec Biopharma is advancing novel genetic medicines via its proprietary “Silence and Replace” DNA-directed RNA interference platform. The company is currently focused on developing therapeutics for chronic and life-threatening conditions including oculopharyngeal muscular dystrophy (OPMD). Its drug candidate BB-301 was granted orphan drug designation by the FDA and the European Medicines Agency.
Securities Disclosure: I, Melissa Pistilli, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.
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