12 Best Booming Stocks to Invest in Now

7. Akero Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKRO)

Number of Hedge Fund Holdings: 30

Year-to-Date Performance as of January 30: 98.99%

Akero Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKRO) is a biotechnology company developing treatments for metabolic diseases. The company’s lead candidate, efruxifermin, has demonstrated promising results in reducing liver fat and fibrosis.

Akero Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKRO) has seen a significant surge in its stock price year to date, driven primarily by a series of positive developments including the release of compelling clinical data from its Phase 2b SYMMETRY study. On January 27, the company announced topline results from the study, which evaluated the efficacy and safety of its lead candidate, efruxifermin (EFX), in patients with biopsy-confirmed compensated cirrhosis (F4) due to MASH. The data showed that at week 96, 39% of patients treated with 50mg EFX experienced a reversal of cirrhosis with no worsening of MASH, compared to only 15% in the placebo group. This significant improvement in patient outcomes was a major catalyst for the stock’s 115% increase in early trading on the same day.

In addition to the impressive efficacy data, the safety profile of efruxifermin was also a key factor in boosting investor confidence. The drug was reported to be generally well-tolerated, with no deaths in the EFX arm. The most frequent adverse events were mild to moderate and gastrointestinal in nature, which is a common and manageable side effect in this patient population. This positive safety profile is crucial for a drug targeting a chronic and severe condition like MASH, as it increases the likelihood of regulatory approval and broad adoption by healthcare providers.

The success of the Phase 2b SYMMETRY study has paved the way for Akero Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKRO) to advance efruxifermin into Phase 3 development. The company is already enrolling patients for this next phase of clinical trials, which is a critical step in bringing the drug closer to market.