Bioelectronic medicine used to be the black sheep to the medical establishment. It has deep roots and a long history, but has been relegated to the backwaters of “alternative medicine” for much of the past half century. Only recently have we started to see signs that the field is proving to be a potential next-stage revolution in the medical sciences.
Top researchers have joined key companies working in the field, the press and academia are getting on board, and “big pharma” has started to make major investments and join collaboration agreements with smaller companies involved in Bioelectronic medicine.
As a result, stocks with legitimate ties to the field have started seeing interest from market participants. But the process may still be in the early innings. With that in mind, we take a look at three names in the space, including: electroCore Inc (Nasdaq:ECOR), Electromedical Technologies Inc (OTCMKTS:EMED), and Novocure Ltd (NASDAQ:NVCR).
electroCore Inc (Nasdaq:ECOR) has been climbing over recent months in part because it has responded well to the challenges posed by the Covid-19 health crisis. The company is a commercial stage medical device play that engages in the development and commercialization of a range of patient administered non-invasive vagus nerve stimulation (nVNS) therapies.
The company is developing gammaCore, a prescription-only nVNS therapy for the acute treatment of pain associated with migraine and episodic cluster headache in adults. Its lead product is gammaCore Sapphire, a rechargeable and reloadable handheld delivery system for multi-year use prescribed on a monthly basis. The company was founded in 2005 and is headquartered in Basking Ridge, New Jersey.
electroCore Inc (Nasdaq:ECOR) benefitted from a recent move by the FDA to grant its technology Emergency Use Authorization – specifically for its gammaCore Sapphire™ CV non-invasive vagus nerve stimulation (nVNS) at home or in a healthcare setting to acutely treat adult patients with known or suspected COVID-19 who are experiencing exacerbation of asthma-related dyspnea and reduced airflow, and for whom approved drug therapies are not tolerated or provide insufficient symptom relief.
“Needless to say, we are very pleased to have received this EUA, and we intend work vigorously to make this novel therapy available to physicians treating known or suspected COVID 19 patients who are experiencing exacerbation of asthma-related breathing difficulty,” said Dan Goldberger, Chief Executive Officer of electroCore.
If you’re long this stock, then you’re liking how the stock has responded to the announcement. ECOR shares have been moving higher over the past week overall, pushing about 25% to the upside on above average trading volume.
electroCore Inc (Nasdaq:ECOR) generated sales of $753K, according to information released in the company’s most recent quarterly financial report. That adds up to a sequential quarter-over-quarter growth rate of 2.6% on the top line. In addition, the company has a strong balance sheet, with cash levels far exceeding current liabilities ($18.9M against $5.1M).
Electromedical Technologies Inc (OTCMKTS:EMED) is the speculative stock on this list, being less established than either NVCR or ECOR, but also much cheaper.
The company’s WellnessPRO-Plus device is a self-administration tool for bioelectronic medical treatment of chronic pain. EMED is also developing its next generation product, the WellnessPro® POD, which will address not only chronic pain, but new modalities using frequencies that naturally tap into the body’s electrochemical system without the use of potentially harmful drugs.
Electromedical Technologies Inc (OTCMKTS:EMED) most recently put out news that it continues to find strong interest for its FDA cleared WellnessPro+ device line as a bioelectronic chronic pain solution from top professional athletes in the NBA, NFL, NHL, PGA, and PBR. As a result, the Company has ordered an additional 1,000 units to enter production to meet expected rising demand.
“We are excited to see use and growing demand among some of the world’s top athletes for our proprietary bioelectronic chronic pain solution, because it represents validation from those who demand performance in their treatment options,” noted Matthew Wolfson, Founder and CEO of Electromedical Technologies. “They can’t afford the risks associated with opioid-based drugs, but they need results. Word of mouth in locker rooms and team meetings has been a very valuable marketing tool because our device delivers a complete solution to chronic pain without any dangerous or harmful side effects – it helps players get up off the bench and back into the game fast.”
The stock is still establishing deep liquidity and undergoing a price discovery process. Shares testing key support a few days ago, and responded well, rebounding as much as 100% this week on growing volume.
Electromedical Technologies Inc (OTCMKTS:EMED) has already sold 8,000 units of the WellnessPRO® device, with customers including over 250 schools and universities, who use these devices in their athletic departments and research programs, and a number of professional athletes and sports teams in the NBA, NHL, and NFL.
Novocure Ltd (NASDAQ:NVCR) is perhaps the poster boy for the bioelectronic medicine space among publicly traded stocks right now. The company is targeting cancer with its technology, a proprietary therapy called Tumor Treating Fields, the use of electric fields tuned to specific frequencies to disrupt solid tumor cancer cell division.
Novocure’s commercialized product is approved for the treatment of adult patients with glioblastoma. Novocure has ongoing or completed clinical trials investigating Tumor Treating Fields in brain metastases, non-small cell lung cancer, pancreatic cancer, ovarian cancer, liver cancer and mesothelioma.
Novocure Ltd (NASDAQ:NVCR) is also a poster boy for the trend of big pharma starting to make investments in the bioelectronic medicine space, which points to the high ceiling that these stocks may have over time given that this infusion of capital and interest from such deep-pocketed players has only really just gotten started.
A good example is NVCR’s recent partnership with Merck (NYSE:MRK). According NVCR’s earnings call from 6 weeks ago, the Merck science team and the Novocure science team collaborated on the design of a high-intensity trial. According to NCVR management, “We started by presenting to at the highest levels to Merck science team our work that, both pre-clinical and early clinical showing the potential benefits of combining power therapy, Tumor Treating Fields therapy with any PD-1 therapy. I would say as is obvious by the fact that we move forward, they saw the potential of this.”
The context for this announcement is a bit of a bid, with shares acting well over the past five days, up about 24% in that timeframe. Novocure Ltd (NASDAQ:NVCR) pulled in sales of $115.9M in its last reported quarterly financials, representing top line growth of 33.7%. In addition, the company has a strong balance sheet, with cash levels far exceeding current liabilities ($347.5M against $85.1M).
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