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Biotech stocks have been taken to the woodshed in recent months, but the group still has several top-rated names strutting their stuff due to compelling growth prospects. While it’s best to focus on leading stocks in leading industry groups, there can be opportunities in lagging groups, especially in groups that house a lot of stocks. IBD’s biotech group is home to more than 400 stocks. It’s one of the larger groups in the database, and while there’s no shortage of stocks that have been hit hard by institutional selling in recent months, several other names are holding their own, showing relative strength. IBD 50 name Ligand Pharmaceuticals ( LGND ) has more than 85 partners and licensees in the pharmaceutical and biotech space. In February, the company reported revenue of $21.2 million, down 8% from a year earlier, but royalty revenue rose 22% to $11.5 million, helped by higher royalties from Promacta and multiple myeloma drug Kyprolis. Ligand is partnered with Novartis ( NVS ) on Promacta and with Amgen ( AMGN ) on Kyprolis. Ligand also announced a license agreement with Emergent BioSolutions ( EBS ), in which Emergent will use Ligand’s OmniAb platform to discover various antibodies. Ligand recently bought the platform from OMT, a leader in the genetic engineering of animals for the generation of human therapeutic antibodies. Emergent BioSolutions is itself another name holding up well in the biotech group. The company has a portfolio of products for biological and chemical threats, as well as emerging infectious diseases. Emergent operates a biodefense division and biosciences division, with plans to spin off the latter into a separate, publicly traded company under the name Aptevo, which will continue to focus on oncology and hematology. The distribution of Aptevo shares to Emergent shareholders is expected to be completed by the middle of the this year. Emergent’s weekly chart shows a conventional entry at 40.59, but a handle area could be in place by the end of the week that could yield an earlier entry. Elsewhere, shares of Five Prime Therapeutics ( FPRX ) have been under accumulation as they sit just below a 45.82 entry. Five Prime is scheduled to present data for its FPA144 treatment for patients with gastric cancer at the 2016 American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting next Monday. Five Prime isn’t profitable yet, but sales soared in 2015, thanks to a license and collaboration agreement with Bristol-Myers Squibb ( BMY ) for its FPA008 antibody. It received a $350 million upfront payment in Q4. Finally, Anika Therapeutics ( ANIK ) is a small yet compelling name in the group, with a market capitalization near $650 million. It’s showing tight action as it works on a base-on-base structure with a 47.34 entry. Anika is a provider of therapeutic pain management solutions. Earnings and sales growth accelerated nicely in the latest reported quarter, up 41% and 33% respectively. Image provided by Shutterstock . Scalper1 News
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