For several months now, the novel coronavirus has changed lives dramatically and impacted how people trade stocks. Biotechnology sector investments like iBio (NYSE:IBIO) stock have come into focus during this time. But the potential to make or lose money quickly is present with this type of stock. Some traders are more daring than others. IBIO stock might not be your cup of tea, but risk-tolerant investors might appreciate the company’s unique approach to developing therapeutics and vaccines.
And one Covid-19 vaccine candidate from iBio looks particularly promising. It might or not succeed, yet its potential advantages make it worth a closer look.
The Big Difference
If you’ve sifted through enough biotech companies, you may start to feel like they’re all pretty similar. That makes investing in biotech stocks more challenging. To get a real edge as a biotech-stock trader, you can look for companies that stand out from the rest in some way.
So, what makes iBio unique among biotechnology companies?
It all comes down to plant-based solutions. In fact, the company bills itself as a “a global leader in plant-based biologics manufacturing.”
The company calls its plant-centered technology FastPharming. This proprietary methodology combines “vertical farming, automated hydroponics, and glycan engineering technologies to rapidly deliver gram quantities of high-quality monoclonal antibodies, vaccines, bioinks and other proteins.”
It advances its FastPharming technology at its fully owned 130,000-square-foot facility located in Bryan, Texas. One advantage of FastPharming is that it can be quickly scaled. That’s a crucial feature as the coronavirus continues to spread. The public needs a solution that can be brought out on a massive scale as soon as possible.
People will also want a reasonably affordable coronavirus vaccine. FastPharming has the potential to provide this. It doesn’t require “expensive, labor-intensive, and costly cell line development.”
Seeking a Science-Backed Solution
Using its unique plant-based methods, iBio is developing a potential Covid-19 vaccine known as Ibio-200. Using virus-like particles, Ibio-200 is designed to “resemble the structure of a naturally occurring virus” and to “display enhanced vaccine uptake by antigen presenting cells to increase the overall immune response.”
The company asserts that IBIO-200 offers better dose definition. Just as importantly, this promising vaccine may provide higher product yields. That relates to the aforementioned scalability advantage of the FastPharming method. Any coronavirus vaccine that’s approved and brought to market would need to be produced in massive quantities.
IBio claims that Ibio-200 would feature “fast scalability to tens of millions of doses,” while still maintaining a high standard of quality. It’s amazing to consider that a plant-based technological breakthrough could end up saving many human lives. Yet, FastPharming and Ibio-200 may be a game changer in the biotech space.
Moreover, to help facilitate the development of Ibio-200, the company has partnered up with the Infectious Disease Research Institute. Through the signing of two Master Services Agreements and a Memorandum of Understanding, iBio will receive support from the Infectious Disease Research Institute in the development of its vaccine solutions, including Ibio-200.
This partnership circles back to the scalability factor. Infectious Disease Research Institute CEO Corey Casper expressed excitement in facilitating the development of Ibio-200 and highlighted the synergy between his institute and iBio:
“Combining iBio’s VLP antigen with an IDRI adjuvant provides for promising safety and efficacy characteristics, and importantly, the ready ability to scale-up manufacturing to help meet the projected global demand for a suitable vaccine.”
The Takeaway on IBIO Stock
Backed by unique proprietary science and a powerful partnership, Ibio-200 holds promise in a world desperate for a coronavirus vaccine. Success in this area would undoubtedly benefit humankind. It would benefit early IBIO stockholders too, and there’s certainly nothing wrong with that.
David Moadel has provided compelling content – and crossed the occasional line – on behalf of Crush the Street, Market Realist, TalkMarkets, Finom Group, Benzinga, and (of course) InvestorPlace.com. He also serves as the chief analyst and market researcher for Portfolio Wealth Global and hosts the popular financial YouTube channel Looking at the Markets. As of this writing, he did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities.
