These Are Some of the Best Ideas from the Bio-Europe Spring Conference

The Bio-Europe Spring Conference hosted by EBD Group in Switzerland is in the books, having featured presentations and exhibits from some of the most promising names in biotechnology. Investors interested in investing in the latest innovations in biotech or pharmaceuticals learned much at the conference.

Details on the Bio-Europe Spring Conference

In some ways, the three-day event was a who's who in biotechnology and pharmaceuticals, especially those with a significant presence in Europe.

The Bio-Europe Spring Conference enabled companies in the space to connect with each other and with venture capitalists and other investors interested in the space. Featured speakers include executives and other leaders from well-known names in biotech and pharmaceuticals, including Novartis, Bristol Myers Squibb, Pfizer, and Roche.

The Bio-Europe Spring conference was held March 20-22 in Basel, Switzerland, but investors who missed out on attending in person will have another opportunity to learn more about the participating companies online. 

For those who missed the in-person event, here are some of the most promising and interesting companies, several of which are listed on the Nasdaq. Of course, investing in small-cap companies presents more risk, but it also bears the potential for greater rewards.

BiondVax Pharmaceuticals

This Nasdaq-listed company is collaborating with the Max Plank Society and University Medical Center Gottingen, Germany on a pipeline for nanosized antibodies (nanoAbs), starting with COVID-19. BiondVax touts nanoAbs as offering significant advantages over monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) and oral therapies.

According to the company, nanoAbs have longer shelf lives and are easier to store and distribute. Additionally, BiondVax states that they offer multiple, easier routes of administration and benefit from faster discovery, development, and production.

Further, the company claims that nanoAbs can be more effective than other treatments at lower doses, have an adaptable half-life, fewer contraindications, and may be safer. BiondVax also states that nanoAbs offer a more favorable path to market versus the risks associated with traditional drug development.

While the company's initial focus is on COVID-19, a market estimated to be worth over $8 billion, it plans to work on treatments for asthma, macular degeneration, psoriasis, and psoriatic arthritis in the future. According to BiondVax, all four treatment areas are validated targets of existing monoclonal antibodies and offer large markets growing at attractive rates of compound annual growth.

The company touts its COVID-19 nanoAb candidate as having a strong competitive edge, claiming that it neutralizes the omicron variant, while other treatments do not. The treatment is delivered directly to the lungs via inhalation, and BiondVax reported that a preclinical study showed its candidate "virtually prevented" COVID-19 infection in hamsters infected hours later with the virus. The company also said its nanoAb candidate "eliminated viral load in the lungs."

Ergomed PLC

This company is listed on the London Stock Exchange, but with a market capitalization of £506 million (about US$610 million), it's larger than most of the other firms on this list. Ergomed provides specialized services to the pharmaceutical industry and describes itself as a "rare disease and oncology-focused clinical research provider." The company operates with a global footprint in about 100 countries.

Ergomed provides clinical development, trial management, and pharmacovigilance services for over 300 clients, including top-10 pharmaceutical and generics companies to small and mid-sized drug development firms. The company's clinical research business specializes in oncology and rare diseases.

Its track record of solid growth makes it stand out from many of the other names on this list, as does its position as a provider of services to biotech and pharmaceutical companies rather than a developer of treatments.

In its last fiscal year, Ergomed grew its order book by 23% to a record £295 million. The company's revenue also grew 23% to £145.3 million, a 15% increase in constant currency. Ergomed's Clinical Research Services revenue also rose 23% to £71.4 million, including a 27% increase in service fee revenue to £50.8 million. The company's pharmacovigilance revenues rose 22% to £73.9 million in 2022.

GeoVax Labs

This Nasdaq-listed company is a clinical-stage biotech firm working on novel therapies and vaccines for cancers and some of the most threatening infectious diseases in the world.

GeoVax has developed proprietary technology in the form of a platform approach suited for use against a variety of different cancers and infectious diseases. The company touts its platform as offering significant advantages versus competing technologies.

GeoVax's pipeline includes a drug candidate for COVID-19 that's in a Phase 2 clinical trial. The company also has a candidate for pan coronavirus that's in the investigational new drug phase, also known as IND-enabling, which means it's in the process of securing approval to conduct the first-in-human clinical trials.

GeoVax also has a drug candidate to treat solid tumors in advanced head and neck cancer, which received orphan-drug status and is currently in Phase 1 and Phase 2 trials. It also lists another candidate for solid tumors that's in the IND-enabling phase.

Under the umbrella of infectious disease, GeoVax is working on one candidate for the Ebola and Marburg viruses in Sudan and another for the Zika virus, both of which are in the IND-enabling phase. The company is also developing two other candidates to treat Lassa fever and malaria, which are both in the exploratory phase.

All of GeoVax's infectious disease candidates are listed as being part of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's Priority Review Voucher program.

Imunon

This company is also listed on the Nasdaq, and it claims to be working on "novel approaches to harnessing the power of the immune system." Imunon is a clinical-stage biotech firm focused on treatments that aim to "harness the body's natural mechanisms to generate safe, effective, and durable responses" to a wide array of diseases.

The company has developed two technology platforms, TheraPlas and PLACCINE, which are the basis of its efforts. Imunon currently has a candidate for advanced ovarian cancer based on its TheraPlas platform, which is currently in a Phase 2 clinical trial. TheraPlas is a modality for immunotherapies and other anti-cancer therapies based on nucleic acid.

Imunon has also demonstrated preclinical proof of concept for its PLACCINE modality for the development of vaccines for infectious diseases and cancer using nucleic acid. The company plans to file its first investigational new drug phase for its PLACCINE platform this year.

In addition to its advanced ovarian cancer candidate, which is also indicated for fallopian tube or primary peritoneal cancer based on its TheraPlas platform, Imunon also has a COVID-19 booster, a prophylactic vaccine for infectious diseases, and a therapeutic vaccine for cancer based on its PLACCINE currently in the discovery phase.

CARsgen Therapeutics

Finally, this Hong Kong-listed company is far larger than all the other companies on this list, with a market capitalization of about HK$8.2 billion (or about US$1 billion). CARsgen Therapeutics is a biopharmaceutical company with operations in the U.S. and China. It focuses on innovative CAR T-cell therapies to treat hematological malignancies and solid tumors.

CARsgen has several CAR T-cell therapies in its pipeline. The one that's furthest along is a B cell maturation antigen that targets multiple myeloma, which is currently in Phase 2 and 3 trials and the application phase. CARsgen has another treatment that targets a rumor-related protein that's in Phase 2 and 3 trials, among several other candidates in earlier stages of its development pipeline.

The company touts its CycloCAR (cytokine and chemokine-loaded CAR) as "next-generation technologies to increase efficacy in solid tumors." CARsgen states that its CycloCAR-T cells could suppress tumor growth.

Investing in biotech stocks

Biotechnology stocks have been on a bumpy ride over the last year or so. Despite the volatility, the sector, as represented by the iShares Biotechnology ETF, is down only 5% for the last 12 months, versus the S&P 500's 11% decline. The Nasdaq Biotechnology Index is up 8% for the last six months, although it's down 4% year to date.

Many investing professionals have a love/ hate relationship with biotech; some favor going long on the sector while others prefer to short it. Of course, where there's volatility, there can be opportunities for investment, but investors are always advised to do their due diligence before investing in any company, biotech or otherwise.

The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.