Rheinmetall unstoppable! Evotec shorted! Sensational news at Vidac Pharma! And what is BioNTech doing?

Vidac Pharma: Time to get in?

The fact that pharmaceutical and biotech stocks are not currently among investors' favorites offers exciting buying opportunities for those with foresight. This is the case with Vidac Pharma. The biotech highflyer is working on a new class of cancer therapies, and the stock exploded from EUR 0.30 to EUR 1 last October on the back of strong study data. The subsequent consolidation was healthy but is taking longer than expected due to weak industry sentiment. The stock is currently trading at around EUR 0.50, offering an exciting entry opportunity. Sphene Capital agrees. The analysts recommend the stock with a price target of EUR 4.90.

Yesterday's announcement shows that the excellent prospects remain unchanged. Vidac Pharma has achieved promising results in patient applications. Specifically, Almavid, a proprietary subcutaneous formulation of Vidac's drug candidate VDA 1102 (Tuvatexib), was administered to three pediatric patients with brain tumors. Vidac describes the results as exceptional. Among other things, high blood stability over more than 24 hours, strong dose linearity, and consistent blood concentrations were observed in all patients. This means that Almavid has the potential to be used as a broad-spectrum therapy for solid tumors, both as a monotherapy and in combination therapies. VDA 1102 has already demonstrated efficacy with minimal side effects in Phase 2 studies for two oncological skin diseases: actinic keratosis and cutaneous T-cell lymphoma.

This could make VDA 1102 a transformative drug for a broad range of solid tumors. The next step is to test Almavid in larger studies.

BioNTech and Evotec: New momentum?

Will there be new momentum for BioNTech shares over the weekend? Quite possibly, as BioNTech provided a brief update on its cancer pipeline on Tuesday. Clinical trial data for selected pipeline candidates will be presented starting tomorrow at the American Society of Clinical Oncology's annual meeting (May 30 to June 3). From BioNTech's perspective, they highlight the continued progress of the Company's clinical programs, which are pursuing various complementary therapeutic modalities such as mRNA cancer immunotherapies, immunomodulators, and targeted therapies such as antibody-drug conjugates.

BioNTech CMO Prof. Özlem Türeci commented: "We believe that the next era of cancer medicine will be defined by the interplay of complementary mechanisms and innovative molecules that unleash their full potential through synergy. We will present clinical advances in two of our therapeutic modalities: our next-generation immunomodulators, particularly our anti-PD-L1xVEGF-A antibody BNT327, and one of our ADC programs, which is an important pillar of our combination strategy."

BioNTech shares could use some new momentum. They are currently forming a floor at around EUR 85.

Short sellers can breathe a sigh of relief at Evotec for now. After the biotech stock rose significantly on Friday and ended the week at over EUR 8.30, it has fallen back sharply this week. Yesterday, it was trading at almost EUR 7 again.

The rollercoaster ride shows that takeover speculators and short sellers are currently battling it out at Evotec. Following the sobering figures and conservative strategic realignment, there is little momentum on the operational front. From an analyst's perspective, the bottom seems to have been reached. After the figures were released, even super-bear Deutsche Bank withdrew its "Sell" recommendation and is now neutral with a target price of EUR 7. According to the Federal Gazette, the major short sellers include Voleon Capital Management with 0.75%, AHL Partners with 1.09%, and Arrowstreet Capital with 1.19%.

Rheinmetall: When will the EUR 2,000 mark fall?

While Vidac Pharma could end its consolidation and march toward EUR 1 following yesterday's announcement, Rheinmetall shares are rushing from one record to the next. Yesterday, the stock of Germany's largest defense contractor traded above EUR 1,900 for the first time. This means the share has gained over 200% in the current year alone. According to UBS, the EUR 2,000 barrier will soon be broken. Yesterday, analysts raised their target price for Rheinmetall shares from EUR 1,840 to EUR 2,200 and continue to recommend buying. The experts cited the fact that NATO's target of 3.5% of economic output for armaments and defense has not yet been fully priced in.

Operationally, the Company appears to be in the perfect environment. In recent weeks, there has been a flurry of positive news. This demonstrates how broad and global Rheinmetall's positioning is. Yesterday and today, the Company is presenting the Rheinmetall Mission Master CXT from its Uncrewed Ground Systems (UGS) family with an integrated drone at CANSEC in Canada, the country's most important defense trade fair. The Mission Master UGS product family, developed entirely in Canada and tested in the Nordic countries, is excellently suited for use in the Arctic. Just earlier this week, Rheinmetall presented a "multi-layer approach" for the connected and digitized combat leadership of the future. The new digital platform for networked military systems, called Battlesuite, is designed to enable armed forces to conduct operations with superior effectiveness. The integrative concept is designed to combine human intelligence and creativity with artificial intelligence, conventional weapon systems, and unmanned or crewless systems.

There were examples of Rheinmetall's international growth last week. Strategic partnerships were announced in India and Spain. In Spain, a letter of intent was signed with local defense company Indra regarding strategic cooperation in the field of armored vehicles for the Spanish armed forces. This further expands the existing close cooperation between Indra and Rheinmetall, for example, on the Leopard 2E.

On the same day as the cooperation agreement with Spain, there was also news from India. There, Rheinmetall has agreed on a strategic partnership with the defense company Reliance Defense in the ammunition sector. According to the agreement, Reliance will supply Rheinmetall with explosives and propellants for medium and large-caliber ammunition. In addition, the two companies intend to jointly distribute selected products and expand their cooperation.

The Rheinmetall chart has formed a flagpole pattern, but this does not necessarily mean falling prices. The momentum of the stock and the entire industry is currently extremely strong. The Vidac stock has already undergone a healthy consolidation. Pharmaceutical and biotech companies are currently struggling, but if the positive news flow continues, it should only be a matter of time before the stock moves back toward its old highs. Then, the current level will be an excellent buying opportunity. Evotec is currently driven by speculation; operationally, the momentum has run out.