Wall Street’s rally back to an all-time high on Aug 24, no doubt, has been triggered by optimism over a COVID-19 vaccine. But most importantly, FDA’s emergency use authorization (EUA) of convalescent plasma for the treatment of COVID-19 patients helped healthcare stocks, primarily the convalescent plasma therapy players, see an uptick. Notably, convalescent plasma is the liquid component of the blood-containing antibodies from patients who have recovered from the virus.

 

Initially, it was difficult for the FDA to approve emergency use of convalescent plasma as it needs to go through a lot of legislative hurdles. However, things became easier following President Trump’s immense support, a move he called “a major therapeutic breakthrough” regarding coronavirus.

 

Trump added that “this is a powerful therapy that transfuses very, very strong antibodies from the blood of recovered patients to help treat patients battling a current infection. It’s had an incredible rate of success.”

 

Meanwhile, the World Health Organization cautioned that the plasma therapy hailed by Trump is still unproven and that there is “very low evidence” that it is safe and effective.

 

Although arguments and opinions about the effectiveness of the therapy may differ, the EUA did help convalescent plasma stocks scale upward. Here’re three of them that should be on your watch list – 

T2 Biosystems, Inc. (TTOO Quick QuoteTTOO - Free Report) is an in-vitro diagnostics company. It is known for utilizing its T2 Magnetic Resonance platform that helps in identifying pathogens, biomarkers and other abnormalities in a variety of unpurified patient sample types, including whole blood, serum and plasma. Its molecular diagnostic test, named T2SARS-CoV-2, is particularly used to identify severe coronavirus infections.

 

In its most recent earnings update, the company announced that it expects 2020 revenues of $18 million to $20 million. T2 Biosystems currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). The Zacks Consensus Estimate for its current-year earnings has moved up 37.5% over the past 60 days. The company’s expected earnings growth rate for the current and next quarter is 67.7% and 70%, respectively. Its shares soared 6.9% on Aug 24. What’s more, its shares have already advanced 32.5% year to date. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Kamada Ltd. is a biopharmaceutical company. It develops, produces and markets therapeutics based on chromatographic purification technology.

 

Presently, the company is developing plasma-derived immunoglobulin product as a potential treatment for COVID-19. The company said that it has finished manufacturing of the first batch of the product. 

 

The company currently has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). The Zacks Consensus Estimate for its current-year earnings increased 12.5% over the past 60 days. Its shares have jumped 17.3% on Aug 24. In fact, its shares have already soared 71.8% so far this year. To top it, Kamada has a Growth Score of B.

Cerus Corporation (CERS Quick QuoteCERS - Free Report) is developing medical products based on a platform technology that prevents nucleic acid replication. The company is also focusing on research and development of other potential health care applications. 

 

Notably, the company’s INTERCEPT Blood Systems is known to inactivate SARS-CoV-2 in plasma components. Needless to say, SARS-CoV-2 is the causative agent for COVID-19.

 

The company currently has a Zacks Rank #3. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for its current-year earnings has risen 2.4% over the past 60 days. The company’s expected earnings growth rate for the current quarter is 7.7%. Additionally, the company’s shares have jumped 61.8% so far this year.

Last year, it generated $24 billion in global revenues. By 2020, it's predicted to blast through the roof to $77.6 billion. Famed investor Mark Cuban says it will produce ""the world's first trillionaires,"" but that should still leave plenty of money for regular investors who make the right trades early.