AbbVie, Vertex, Genmab among accurate biotech picks at SA for 2022 (NYSE:ABBV)

Seeking Contributors urged investors to buy AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV), Vertex Pharma (NASDAQ:VRTX), Genmab (GMAB) and a range of other biotechs in 2022 long before those stocks outperformed − sometimes even as the consensus view on Wall Street suggested otherwise.

Here’s a rundown of Seeking Alpha editors’ picks for some of our contributors’ best biotech articles of 2022:

A ‘Strong Buy’ Call on Genmab

While analysts were issuing bearish calls on Danish biotech Genmab (GMAB), Seeking Alpha contributor Biologics had different thoughts.

Biologics gave Genmab (GMAB) a “Strong Buy rating” shortly before the year began, noting in December 2021 that the stock was trading at a “significant” discount to forward earnings estimates.

Since then, Genmab (GMAB) has risen about 6% for 2022 even as the broader biotech sector has shed about 27% for the year.

Ignoring AbbVie’s Humira Patent ‘Cliff’

SA contributor Edmund Ingham was one of many SA authors to accurately predict the 2022 bull run of AbbVie (ABBV) despite an upcoming “patent cliff” for its blockbuster rheumatoid arthritis therapy Humira (adalimumab). ABBV’s patent on Humira, the world’s best-selling prescription drug, will expire in 2023.

Ingham gave the stock a “Buy” rating in February, arguing that with a dual-pronged strategy, ABBV management “appears to have outwitted and outflanked its opponents” ahead of rival generics’ entry into the market against Humira.

Vertex Picked Despite High Valuation

Cystic-fibrosis drugmaker Vertex Pharmaceuticals (VRTX) was another outperformer in 2022, adding nearly 30%.

SA author Biologics gave the stock a “Buy” rating in January, writing that despite a modest premium to rivals, Vertex (VRTX) was trading at an acceptable valuation in terms of projected earnings and cash-flow growth.

Ardelyx Rally Predicted

Cardiorenal drugmaker Ardelyx (NASDAQ:ARDX) more than doubled in value this year after a disastrous run in 2021 − gains that SA contributor Avisol Capital Partners foresaw.

Avisol gave the stock a “Buy” rating in January, highlighting ARDX’s kidney-disease therapy tenapanor.

“The prices are so low that the small chance of success is quite derisked,” Avisol wrote.

That view proved valuable last month when Ardelyx (ARDX) jumped some 41% after an FDA expert panel voted in favor of the U.S. approval of tenapanor.

Looking Ahead to 2023

SA Contributors have already offered some notable biotech recommendations for the new year. Biotech Beast just issued a strong buy rating on Rigel Pharmaceuticals (RIGL), predicting that the company could have “a potentially transformative 2023.”

The author thinks that the early approval and launch of its myeloid leukemia therapy Rezlidhia in December will pave the way for the company to record top-line growth, validating its licensing deal with Novo Nordisk’s (NVO) (OTCPK:NONOF) Forma Therapeutics.

Meanwhile, despite a ~52% loss in 2022, contributor Chris Lau is bullish on Beam Therapeutics (BEAM), which has only one candidate in the clinic, BEAM-101, in a Phase 1/2 trial for sickle cell disease.

While conceding that the gene-editing space is currently out of favor with investors, Lau issues a buy rating on the stock given the company’s strong pipeline and $1B cash.