Biotech stocks are soaring in 2013 as major innovations in healthcare have offered enormous breakthroughs on once-untreatable diseases and conditions.
But for years, it was tricky to invest in some of today's best biotech companies given their volatility and uncertainty in the industry. For the better part of five years, some of today's leading biotech stocks remained essentially flat.
For some time, it was best to stick to large-scale pharmaceutical companies with a strong yield and avoid mass speculation in hit-or-miss penny stocks.
Well, not any more. Shares of the iShares NASDAQ Biotechnology Index (ETF) (NASDAQ:IBB) - which tracks industry returns - are up a staggering 42% since the beginning of the year, and the health/biotech industry has the highest returns of any sector for the year.
And you haven't seen anything yet...
With one of the most exciting biotech companies now joining the NYSE and another setting its focus on an uplisting, we're seeing major changes in the biotech industry and investment. And there are companies poised to become the best biotech stocks you can find right now.
Biotech Stocks Soar on Life-Changing Innovations
Many of the best performing stocks offer products and services that weren't even technologically possible just two decades ago. But new levels of biotechnological innovation have opened the door to massive amounts of wealth to investors throughout history.
The biotech industry is the hottest place you can put your money right now.
Since the beginning of the year, a number of biotech stocks have absolutely soared, drawing a lot of attention to the sector and its potential.
Cancer therapy firm Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ: AMGN) is up 24% on the year, biopharma producer Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ: GILD) is up 69%, molecular diagnostic company Myriad Genetics (NASDAQ: MYGN) is up 13%, and global biopharmaceutical company Celgene Corp. (NASDAQ: CELG) is up a whopping 72% in 2013.
In the 1990s, some of these shares were penny stocks, doing their best to survive the trials of speculation while investors parked their money in the booming internet industry.
And while dabbling in penny stocks is a still a bold strategy these days, there is another way to speculate on whether a company is about to enter the mainstream. And this one is far more lucrative in the long-run.
Biotechn Goes Mainstream, Provides Huge Profits
Perhaps the best way to determine a company is about becoming the next breakthrough stock is to explore its uplisting strategy from OTC markets to the major exchanges.
Moving to more liquid exchanges like the New York Stock Exchange or NASDAQ affords companies greater access to retail brokers and institutional investors.
Organovo Holdings (NYSE: ONVO) is a favorite of our technology expert Michael Robinson.
The company moved to the NYSE on July 11, and quickly soared by more than 30%, only to see a bit of a retreat on Friday. The stock is now up more than 70% in a month.
The recent upgrade to the will continue to provide Organovo with access to increased liquidity while reducing trading volatility, a major problem for OTC stocks.
ONVO develops three-dimensional (3D) bio printing technology. This technology enables the creation of functional human tissues on demand for research and medical applications.
The company's 3D NovoGen bio printing technology is almost out of a Hollywood sci-fi film. It enables development of various tissue and cell types, and enables doctors to place cells in desired patterns.
This technology will give doctors the ability to create organs, and cosmetic appendages for patients. Now that ONVO has joined the New York Stock Exchange, the company has been cleared for a huge takeoff.
But there's one more company that investors should consider given its goals of uplisting to a major exchange. The company is Cellceutix Corp. (CTIX.OB).
Cellceutix is in the clinical stage of its drug Kevetrin, a medication for the treatment of various forms of cancer and controlling cell mutations.
According to reports, its active compound P53, "has been shown to play critical roles in the homeostatic health of the human body by activating proteins required to repair DNA and plays a major role in the life cycle of cells by inducing cell cycle arrest and apoptosis to maintain cellular and genetic stability."
The company also recently received approval by the FDA for Prurisol, an anti-Psoriasis drug that has boosted the company's reputation and likelihood of being uplisted.
But the clearest sign of CTIX's potential comes in its recent agreement with Aspire Capital to raise $10 million in financing during the clinical trials for Kevetrin at Harvard Cancer Center, and its CEO's dedication to increasing its valuation.
In an interview with Seeking Alpha in March, the company's CEO Jim Boeheim committed to developing Kevetrin and Prurisol in the near-term, but also stated that "moving to a senior exchange is definitely part of our overall plan to maximize exposure and shareholder value."
Doing so would definitely provide greater exposure to investment and would naturally raise awareness of these two potential life-changing drugs.
There are plenty of biotech stocks out there right now poised for huge profits this year, particularly from those preparing IPOs. This is why investors also need a strategy to know how to price these investment opportunities.
After all, when biotech stocks are soaring like they have this year, you'll want to get every penny you can out of your investment.
Credit: Money Morning - Only the News You Can Profit From http://feeds.moneymorning.com/~r/moneymorning/jOLe/~3/xaf6MEiFZLc/
