04. September 2020 | 09:48 CET
Moderna, Evotec or Valeo Pharma: Who has the game changer?
The pandemic is driving the markets. But sometimes investors either come too late or bet on the wrong horse. In the analysis, three stocks for which investors hope for the game changer. The fact that the search for a cure for Covid-19 is making high waves on the stock market is shown by stocks like Moderna. Despite the current price correction, the biotech company from the USA achieves an annual performance of a massive 280%. The reason for this soaring performance is easy to find: Moderna is researching a Corona vaccine and has already reported promising interim results. Among other things, the EU has already secured several million vaccine doses in the event of a successful clinical approval procedure.
time to read: 2 minutes by Nico Popp
Established biotech players between hype and passivity
However, with a market capitalization of more than EUR 21 billion, the market has already given a lot of advance praise. It is considered certain that the one vaccine against Corona will not be available, but Moderna shareholders must ask themselves whether the level in the share price has not become too high given the hype of recent months. Whereas BioNTech was previously considered Moderna's main competitor, AstraZeneca has now also caught up with a similar approach and is in a test series with 30,000 volunteers in the USA.
Evotec's shares are significantly more conservative than Moderna's. The Hamburg-based company is focused on the research and development of new active ingredients and cooperates with Bayer, Genentech, Roche and AstraZeneca, among others. At the end of July, Evotec announced that a subsidiary in the USA will cooperate with the US Department of Defense in the search for measures against Covid-19.
On the stock market, this news left most investors unimpressed: While Moderna had a one-year run, Evotec's share price has only increased moderately by 16%. Why is this? Unlike pure Covid-19 plays, Evotec is about research into drugs for all diseases. These include diabetes, cancer and cardiovascular diseases. Evotec is valued at EUR 3.4 billion on the stock market - despite the pandemic, the share price has not changed that much so far.
Approval for Hesperco™ - Product before sales start
A completely different share is the Canadian company Valeo Pharma. The manufacturer of special pharmaceuticals is currently valued at only about 43 million EUR and is thus a very small company compared to Moderna or Evotec. But for this very reason investors should take a close look at the possible perspective of an investment. Valeo Pharma distributes Hesperco™, an antioxidant that is supposed to support the immune system.
In the opinion of Pierre Laurin, President and CEO of Ingenew, a research company with which Valeo Pharma collaborates, the active ingredient is suitable for fighting the consequences of symptoms associated with Corona viruses. Yesterday, the Canadian Ministry of Health Canada granted Valeo Pharma the natural product license, authorizing the sale of Hesperco™. As the company also announced, sales are scheduled to begin as early as the end of September 2020.
Speculative investors should think outside the box
While the use of antioxidants in the context of serious diseases can only be a supporting measure and should be discussed with treating physicians, investors should not ignore Valeo Pharma's recent success. In view of the current threat, the proven positive effect of Hesperco™ on the immune system could result in sales opportunities for Valeo Pharma.
While new medical products or research projects are less important for companies such as Evotec in terms of share price, a success of Hesperco™ could be a game changer for Valeo Pharma. At a time when many of the well-known "vaccine stocks" are already ambitiously valued and also highly volatile, it may be a good time for speculative investors to think outside the box.
