If you’re a risk taker on the lookout for stocks with 1000% upside potential, you’d have to venture into speculative territory. It is difficult to find analyst ratings with such a high upside potential unless catalysts could propel the stock that high. Such catalysts include promising drug candidates that are awaiting approval or going through a clinical trial. These catalysts may or may not materialize for years. If the said business disappoints by losing the drug or not getting approval, shareholders will incur substantial losses almost overnight.
Furthermore, I will not be touching too much on their finances. The only companies with such high upside potential are early-stage biotech startups that generate negligible revenue. Instead, focusing on the drugs and their viability will give us a much better idea of the company’s future.
With that in mind, let’s look into three stocks with 1,000% upside potential.
Aptose Biosciences (APTO)
Aptose Biosciences (NASDAQ:APTO) is a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on developing personalized therapies for “hematologic malignancies, such as acute myeloid leukemia (AML), chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), and non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL).” The company has two lead drugs: tuspetinib, a myeloid kinase inhibitor, and luxeptinib, a dual lymphoid and myeloid kinase inhibitor.
According to analysts, Aptose Biosciences has a price target of $7, representing a whopping 1,409% upside from its current price of $0.46. The company recently reported positive results from its phase 1/2 trial of tuspetinib in relapsed or refractory AML patients, showing clinical responses across four dose levels. The company also initiated enrollment of a combination treatment arm with venetoclax, a standard-of-care therapy for AML.
The primary catalyst for Aptose Biosciences is the advancement of its clinical trials. It also has the potential to obtain regulatory approvals and partnerships for its drug candidates. The company has a strong intellectual property portfolio and a robust pipeline of preclinical compounds. The company also has a cash runway of about a year. But again, I believe the promising drug candidates here mean that fundraising shouldn’t be much of a hassle.
I believe that Aptose Biosciences is an undervalued gem in the biotech sector. It has a unique approach to targeting multiple kinases that are involved in cancer cell survival and proliferation. I believe it could end up being one of the stocks with 1000% upside. The company has demonstrated proof-of-concept for its lead drug candidates and has the potential to address large and unmet medical needs in hematologic malignancies. But of course, early-stage biotech companies have a lot of risks involved. I would not rely on the upside potential alone to make the decision whether or not to buy these stocks.
Checkpoint Therapeutics (CKPT)
Checkpoint Therapeutics (NASDAQ:CKPT) is a clinical-stage biotech company that develops drugs for various types of cancer. The company’s lead product candidate is cosibelimab, an antibody that targets “programmed death ligand-1 (PD-L1),” a key immune system regulator.
The company recently announced that the FDA accepted the filing of its “Biologics License Application (BLA) for cosibelimab in patients with metastatic or locally advanced cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma (CSCC),” a common and aggressive type of skin cancer. The FDA granted cosibelimab priority review and set a PDUFA goal date of January 3, 2024.
The main catalyst for Checkpoint Therapeutics is the potential approval and launch of cosibelimab in the CSCC market. It is estimated to be worth over $10 billion globally in 2020. Naturally, analysts have a price target of $35 for Checkpoint Therapeutics. This implies a staggering 1,175% upside, making it an easy choice for an article about stocks with 1000% upside.
Achilles Therapeutics (ACHL)
Achilles Therapeutics (NASDAQ:ACHL) is a clinical-stage biotechnology company that develops “personalized T-cell therapies targeting clonal neoantigens, which are protein markers unique to each individual and expressed on the surface of every cancer cell.”
The company uses its AI platform, PELEUS, to identify these neoantigens from DNA sequencing data. It uses the VELOS manufacturing process to create “patient-specific clonal neoantigen-reactive T cell products” or cNeTs.
Analysts have a price target of $11 for Achilles Therapeutics, which implies a 1,059% upside. There hasn’t been much recent news, but the company reported positive data from its phase 1/2a trial last year. The trials showed that in patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and melanoma, cNeTs showed tumor regression and durable responses.
I believe regulatory approval is likely for cNeTs in the future. The company has a pragmatic approach to targeting clonal neoantigens, which are present in all cancer cells and are absent from normal cells. There isn’t a single treatment that works for all cancers, but cNeTs certainly look promising because of this fact. They can likely treat a range of cancers, which could make ACHL be one of the stocks with 1000% upside.
On the date of publication, Omor Ibne Ehsan did not have (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer, subject to the InvestorPlace.com Publishing Guidelines.