Tags
Blood Flow, Disease, Investing, Medicine, Sickle Cell Anemia, Stocks, Therapeutics, Therapy, Treatment
Company Description-
Mast Therapeutics (MSTX) is a biopharmaceutical company based in San Diego that focuses on creating therapies and treatments for serious or life threatening diseases and illnesses such as strokes, sickle cell anemia, and heart failure. Mast Therapeutics main focus is working on their MST-188 product, but they also have many other developmental drugs and therapies in the works.
What is MST-188-
Mast Therapeutics strongest current product, MST-188, is an investigational agent that can be used in the treatment of many different kinds of diseases and conditions. MST-188 is mainly used in treating patients who have diseases which lead to weakened blood flow and/or imbalances within the inner lining of blood vessels. This can ultimately lead to circulation problems and can weaken the immune system. One example of such a disease is sickle cell anemia, a hereditary blood disease that can slow the flow of blood and lead to organ damage and death. MST-188 is currently being used in a therapy and treatment study of sickle cell patients and has recently proven to increase blood flow within patients and also reduce inflammation that could lead to pain or organ damage. MST-188 is also being used in treating other diseases by attempting to reduce or eliminate blood clots within the body and by increasing the blood flow and circulation of the patients.
Stock Analysis-
At the current moment in time, I do not believe that MSTX is a stock that is worth buying. It is currently priced at $0.70 although it was priced as high as $1.05 in mid-January. Earnings reports that came out yesterday have shown that the company had higher losses in the fourth quarter of 2013 than it did in 2012. This is obviously not what the stockholder wants to hear, but in the bio-pharmaceutical sector losses are quite common for relatively new companies due to extremely high R&D costs. However, MSTX has a lot of drugs in the works and has shown promise with the success of its MST-188 agent. As other stocks have proven within this sector, it only takes one successful drug to propel a company upwards. Due to the size of the company, MSTX has a high volatility and high beta. The market cap for MSTX is slightly above 71.64 million which means that Mast Therapeutics counts as a micro-cap stock. It also has a fairly low daily trading volume which means that any surge in trading could easily increase the price of the stock. If any one of these drugs were to prove highly successful, MSTX could see a massive surge in the stock price. Although at the current point in time MSTX is not a stock I would rate as a buy, it is definitely a company with great potential that could hit its stride at any point. This should be a company that investors keep an eye on in the news and take note of as it could potentially hit it big in its search for improved therapeutic solutions.
Summary-
Overall, Mast Therapeutics is a company that has not yet reached its potential. In its search for therapeutic solutions it is spending a lot on research and development and working to find its go to drug. When this will happen is a definite unknown, but when it does, MSTX will quickly increase its price and become a stock that investors will jump on. MSTX’s main drug at the moment is their MST-188 agent which is helping to increase blood flow and decrease clots in patients with serious and life threatening diseases. This is a company that is trying to save the world and has the research and people to do it. The company may not be the next Gilead Sciences, but one thing is for certain; they have not yet reached their best!