7 Reddit Penny Stocks Promising to Cure Cancer
The recent hype seen for Reddit penny stocks may not be coming back. Retail speculation in “meme stocks” is out and dabbling in cryptocurrencies is in. In short, overall enthusiasm is no longer enough to send low-priced penny stocks “to the moon” anymore. However, this does not mean the area has been emptied of opportunity.
This is especially true for penny stocks in the biotech space. Sure, biotechnology can be a real make-or-break environment. Successfully bringing a candidate to market can result in jaw-dropping returns for a clinical-stage biopharma name, but it’s a double-edged sword. A failed candidate can also sink one of these stocks like a stone.
Lately, much of the attention for this space has gone to names tackling Covid-19. Yet, it may be the small biotech stocks that are tackling other health issues — like cancer — which can offer the most appealing plays right now.
InvestorPlace - Stock Market News, Stock Advice & Trading Tips
These companies may not end up curing cancer, to be sure. But, the treatments they develop could extend, improve and possibly save the lives of millions. So, which Reddit penny stocks working on cancer treatment should you consider? These seven names, however risky, are ones to keep an eye on:
Aikido Pharma (NASDAQ:AIKI)
Actinium Pharmaceuticals (NYSEAMERICAN:ATNM)
Atossa Therapeutics (NASDAQ:ATOS)
Bionano Genomics (NASDAQ:BNGO)
CTI Biopharma (NASDAQ:CTIC)
Immutep (NASDAQ:IMMP)
Onconova Therapeutics (NASDAQ:ONTX)
Reddit Penny Stocks: Aikido Pharma (AIKI)
Source: Shutterstock
Aikido Pharma is a biotech company with an interesting angle. One of its areas of focus? The use of psychedelics to treat diseases, including cancer. Back in January, the company made a major announcement in regards to its possible development of a cancer treatment derived from psilocybin, a natural psychedelic.
This, along with the Reddit-penny-stocks trend, helped send shares soaring in the first two months of 2021. Starting off the year at around 87 cents, AIKI stock reached prices as high as $2.55. That said, as the mania for penny stocks cooled down, shares gradually fell back to earth. Giving up all its gains, AIKI has returned to prior levels today.
So, what’s in the pipeline that could help it reach new heights again? Per its latest corporate update, the company is pursuing development of candidates across many areas of medicine. This includes the development of antiviral treatments, including ones for Covid-19 and influenza. But, psychedelics remain a key area of focus. Through a sub-license agreement with Silo Pharma (OTCMKTS:SILO), for example, Aikido is still conducting research on psilocybin and its application in cancer treatment.
Aikido is even busy researching how psychedelics can help treat post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), too. So, the excitement over this stock may have waned for now. But, with many paths to success, it may be one of the better Reddit penny stocks in the biotech space.
Actinium Pharmaceuticals (ATNM)
Source: Iryna Imago / Shutterstock.com
Trading for around $7 per share as of this writing, ATNM stock may not officially be one of the Reddit penny stocks. Typically, penny stocks are defined by price, trading for $5 per share or less.
However, as a small, clinical-stage company, I think this speculative stock still deserves a place on my list, offering the chance for big gains. Of course, that’s if it manages to make progress in its cancer treatment research. As one biotech-focused commentator explained on Seeking Alpha, this company is focused on “developing Antibody Radiation-Conjugates or ARCS to treat a variety of potential indications.” It has many candidates in its pipeline.
The leading candidate? Iomab-B. This possible treatment for lymphoma and leukemia is currently in Phase 3 clinical trials. If it continues to make progress in development (and in turn, commercialization), it may be enough to send ATNM — which has languished at its current price level since the start of 2021 — back on an upward trajectory.
True, there hasn’t been a whole lot of news out of Actinium lately. But, with the company touting that the Iomab-B trials were approaching completion back in April, there may be some interesting developments ahead. That could have a big impact on shares.
Reddit Penny Stocks: Atossa Therapeutics (ATOS)
Source: luchschenF / Shutterstock.com
Atossa’s work in developing Covid-19 treatments may be garnering it the most attention right now. But, it’s the company’s work in the fight against breast cancer that may make this one of the Reddit penny stocks rebound in the coming months.
How so? As InvestorPlace’s Louis Navellier discussed back on Mar. 1, Atossa has made important progress with Endoxifen, its key candidate for treating breast cancer. More specifically, Endoxifen is used to minimize the risk of recurrence in patients after they’ve been treated for the initial onset.
Breast cancer may not be the only cancer this leading candidate could wind up treating, though; Endoxifen could end up being used against ovarian cancer, too. Admittedly, Atossa is still in the exploratory stages of this application. Recently, under the Expanded Access Pathway program, the company obtained approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to test the drug on a single ovarian cancer patient.
This could yield promising results, however. For one, the news helped ATOS stock move up in early April. All bets are off as to whether this development and the company’s Covid-19 catalysts will pay off. Yet, with many opportunities brewing, consider this name as another speculative biotech play with big potential.
Bionano Genomics (BNGO)
Source: Shutterstock
At the height of meme-stock madness, BNGO stock was one of the hottest Reddit penny stocks around. The story with this name revolves around its use of genome mapping to develop treatments for genetic diseases and cancer. That future-of-medicine narrative helped make it one of the aggressively bid-up names back in January and February.
Trading for less than $1 late last year, shares reached prices topping $15 in mid-February. But, like other meme stocks, BNGO has since pulled back in a big way. True, it’s still up substantially over the past six months. However, at $4.40 per share, those who chased it near the highs are sitting on big losses, assuming they didn’t make an exit.
So, as this Reddit penny stock deflates, what’s the appeal of buying it after the selloff? The hype around BNGO may have gotten out of hand. Yet, as InvestorPlace’s Chris Tyler wrote on May 7, there’s no denying that Bionano’s genome-mapping platform — Saphyr — could still change the game.
As the dust settles from the epic selloff, diving into BNGO stock today may be a big risk worth taking. Shares could languish or even trend lower in the near-term. Yet, in the coming years, Bionano’s continued progress with Saphyr could start to pay off.
Reddit Penny Stocks: CTI Biopharma (CTIC)
Source: Shutterstock
Unlike some of the other names on this list of Reddit penny stocks, CTI Biopharma experienced its pop months before “meme stocks” became a thing. Shares went parabolic back in September, as this developer of blood cancer treatments announced progress with its pacritinib candidate.
Pursuing a rolling new drug application (NDA) with the FDA, investors were bullish that CTIC was on the cusp of success with this treatment for a symptom of myelofibrosis, a rare type of blood cancer. But, after its move from $1 to over $3 per share, CTIC stock held steady near its high before starting to pull back last month. Today, it trades for around $2.16 per share.
The reason? The company has completed its rolling NDA submission, but its secondary offering announcement likely caused the downward pressure on shares. Of course, the company could certainly could use the $50.7 million raised from this transaction. Yet, the dilution from this offering, coupled with a lack of new developments with pacritinib, isn’t giving investors much reason to like the stock.
So, with interest waning, why consider it an opportunity? CTIC stock may not be something to pounce on today. But, if shares continue to slide and fall back toward September price levels, CTI Biopharma may be well worth the risk.
Immutep (IMMP)
Source: CI Photos / Shutterstock.com
A lot of the Reddit penny stocks involved in biotechnology are still in their early stages. Immutep, however, is much further along in making progress with its pipeline. As InvestorPlace’s Robert Lakin detailed on Apr. 8, the company has had several major developments in the past few months.
These developments include European patent approval for its antibody called LAG525, strong Phase 2/3 results for another antibody candidate and “fast-track designation from the FDA” for eftilagimod alpha (“EFTI”), the company’s head and neck cancer treatment.
Thanks to this treasure trove of news, shares have trended higher since March. Trading for less than $2.50 on Mar. 5, IMMP stock changes hands at around $3.50 today. Yet, even with the recent uptick, there may be more room for gains here. As Immutep makes progress commercializing LAG525 and EFTI, as well as in bringing its other antibody treatment to market, further developments may be enough to keep IMMP stock on its upward trajectory.
Partnered with scores of well-known big pharma companies, like Novartis (NYSE:NVS) and Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY), Immutep is positioned to turn its past research into material financial returns for investors.
Reddit Penny Stocks: Onconova Therapeutics (ONTX)
Source: Shutterstock
Being a penny stock trading for actual pennies, there’s no beating around the risky nature of ONTX stock. Onconova Therapeutics was another one of the small biotech plays that went on a rollercoaster ride last winter.
Since December, Onconova shares have gone from 37 cents, to as high as $1.93, to 52 cents per share as of this writing. Along the way, the company also seized opportunity, raising $28.75 million via a secondary offering. Looking back, though, it was hype and not the prospects of its pipeline that sent this stock higher.
All told, the candidates in ONTX’s pipeline are still in the early stages of clinical trials. Putting it simply, it’s still too early to tell whether any of them will find commercial success. Coupled with the shift of retail speculative interest — a move away from Reddit penny stocks and towards crypto — I wouldn’t expect shares to take off again all of a sudden.
With this in mind, you may want to wait for more developments before giving this name a second look. By doing so, you may miss out on an initial rebound boost. But, if you exercise some caution, you will also cut the risk of holding the bag if this deflated meme stock falls back below 50 cents.
On Penny Stocks and Low-Volume Stocks: With only the rarest exceptions, InvestorPlace does not publish commentary about companies that have a market cap of less than $100 million or trade less than 100,000 shares each day. That’s because these “penny stocks” are frequently the playground for scam artists and market manipulators. If we ever do publish commentary on a low-volume stock that may be affected by our commentary, we demand that InvestorPlace.com’s writers disclose this fact and warn readers of the risks.
Read More: Penny Stocks — How to Profit Without Getting Scammed
On the date of publication, Thomas Niel did not have (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article.
Thomas Niel, contributor for InvestorPlace.com, has been writing single-stock analysis for web-based publications since 2016.
More From InvestorPlace
The post 7 Reddit Penny Stocks Promising to Cure Cancer appeared first on InvestorPlace.
