Athenex, Inc. (NASDAQ:ATNX)

Athenex (NASDAQ: ATNX) has taught the old dog new tricks, making it a safer, more effective treatment for cancer. The drug is an oral form of paclitaxel, a chemo drug that’s given intravenously. The company’s drug-delivery technology makes paclitaxel absorbable in the digestive system, so no injections are necessary, which is great for improving patient compliance and reducing the need for doctor’s visits.

That would be great on its own, but Athenex’s oral chemo drug has also proven to cause fewer side effects and greater survival in patients with metastatic breast cancer.

The company has a shot at eventually taking oral paclitaxel into the market for most if not all of the types of cancer this chemo drug is used for as standard of care — which includes earlier-stage breast cancer, gastric cancer, ovarian cancer and lung cancer..

The sales potential for this improved form of paclitaxel is easily over $1 billion per year — it’s a blockbuster drug in the waiting should the FDA approve it.

Moreover, the basic delivery technology — which promotes absorption via the oral route — is applicable to a number of other widely used chemotherapy compounds.

Athenex’s drug won’t have to wait long for a decision. It’s been under priority review at the FDA for treating metastatic breast cancer and the decision date is Feb. 28, 2021. That’s less than two months from now.

Even better, our Flash Approval Indicator is showing very positive options activity, sending a signal that there’s deep interest in this $1.1 billion-market-cap drug developer. Moreover, insider activity is strong, with insiders accumulating millions in shares over the past 10 months. It’s also completely one-sided, with no recorded sells going back over that same period.

Strong pipeline for this cancer cure focused pharmaceutical company. FDA approval achieved in December 2020 for its first product with a large addressable market for Actinic Keratosis...aka pre-cancerous skin lesion. A second FDA approval is expected in February 2021 for its liquid chemotherapy (drink) for metastatic breast cancer. Not only does this company invent novel therapies, they also manufacture and distribute them.