These 2 Biotechs Are Poised for Growth Ahead
Let's see why these biopharma stocks should see potential catalysts in the coming year.
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It was a red-letter day for the biotech portion of my portfolio in holiday-shortened trading on Wednesday.
Edgewise Therapeutics, Inc. (EWTX) rose 25% after disclosing positive mid-stage trial results. Agios Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (AGIO) was up 19% after an expected Food and Drug Administration approval. Omeros (OMER) soared 75% after its primary candidate finally garnered the green light from the FDA after a years’ long saga. Finally, Dynavax Technologies (DVAX) , one of my favorite rinse, wash and repeat covered-call trades for years, climbed nearly 40% after getting an all-cash acquisition offer from French drug maker Sanofi (SNY) . It was the seventh biotech position in my portfolio that has been purchased since mid-September as the industry has seen a notable uptick in M&A activity in the past three months.
Talk about ending 2025 on a high note!
In today’s column I will highlight a couple of promising biopharma and biotech names with potential catalysts on the horizon. Let’s start with Viridian Therapeutics, Inc. (VRDN) . The stock has had a nice little run over the past few months. In October, Viridian did a capital raise to position itself well in front of a key marketing application submission in 2026. During summer, the company inked a collaboration deal with a drug maker in Japan for the eventual marketing of Veligrotug and VRDN-003 in that country. Viridian got a $70 million upfront payment as part of this arrangement and can earn additional milestone payments and royalties from commercialized sales in Japan.
Viridian’s key asset is a monoclonal antibody that is targeting insulin-like growth factor-1 receptor and is also known as veligrotug. The drug is targeting both active and chronic thyroid eye disease or TED. A biologic license application was accepted on December 22 for priority review. It should garner FDA approval in the second half of 2026.
Late-stage results from a modification of the veligrotug molecule delivered subcutaneously, VRDN-003, should be out evaluating it to treat both active and chronic TED in the first half of 2026. VRDN-003 has a much longer shelf life than VRDN-001 and shorter infusion times. A potential competitor from Roche (RHHBY) recently posted disappointing trial results and a Biologic License Application for VRDN-003 should be submitted by year-end 2026.
Then we have Viking Therapeutics (VKTX) , which remains on my short list for potential biotech buyouts. That is because of the GLP-1 weight loss candidate that it is developing. This could make Viking a logical buyout target for a larger player that wants to establish a foothold in this burgeoning space. A Phase 3 study for the subcutaneous version of the GLP-1 asset should start to enroll in the first quarter of next year. This comes after impressive results in earlier studies. Interim results from this pivotal trial should be disclosed near the end of 2026.
An oral version of this candidate has shown early promise where it delivered weight loss in double digits percentage wise after 13 weeks. More clarity should soon transpire on the way forward after management meets with the FDA. Viking also has an interesting MASH candidate in mid-stage development for fatty liver and some other early-stage assets. The company is well-funded for now and should have several trial milestones in the coming year.
At the time of publication, Jensen was long, AGIO, DVAX, EWTX, OMER, VKTX, VRDN.
