As investors await the upcoming quarterly results of big name pharma companies such as Merck (MRK), due out at the end of the month, I wanted to take a closer look at some small-cap pharma companies that carry zero debt. For this analysis, the companies needed to meet the following criteria:
- Currently have total debt of $0.00
- Currently trade under $11/share
- Currently have a market cap under $350 million
After developing this screen, I found four small-cap pharma companies that carry total debt-to-total-cash ratios of zero. I consider any ratio under "1" very healthy, under "2" satisfactory, under "3" cautionary, and anything over "3" a warning sign.
Symbol | Price | Mkt Cap | Total Debt | Total Cash | Ratio |
5.51 | 308.73 M | 0 | 0.00 | ||
0.35 | 8.07 M | 0 | 0.00 | ||
10.60 | 335.42 M | 0 | 0.00 | ||
0.96 | 51.39 M | 0 | 0.00 |
DepoMed (DEPO), which trades in a 52-week range of $4.20/share (52-week low) to $8.75/share (52-week high), has a market cap of $308.73 million and was given a ratio of a "0.00" based on the statistical calculations of my formula.
DEPO, which currently has $92.94 million in total cash on its books (it should be noted that the company currently has -$33.66 million in operating cash flow and -$141.0 million in free cash flow), also carries zero in total debt. That equates to a total debt-to-total-cash ratio of 0.00, which, in my opinion, is a very positive catalyst moving forward. Trading at a 5.6% discount to its 200-day moving average, DEPO recently acquired the rights to Xanodyne's product Zipsor for $25.9 million plus additional compensation that is structured on a contingency basis.
Opexa Theraputics (OPXA), which trades in a 52-week range of $0.29/share (52-week low) to $1.75/share (52-week high), has a market cap of $8.07 million and was given a ratio of a "0.00" based on the statistical calculations of my formula.
OPXA, which currently has $4.68 million in total cash on its books (the company currently has -$6.38 million in operating cash flow and -$3.78 million in free cash flow), also carries zero in total debt. That equates to a total debt-to-total-cash ratio of 0.00, which is a very positive catalyst moving forward. Trading at a 50.0% discount to its 200-day moving average, OPXA recently rebranded its MS Therapy, which will now be called Tcelna.
Osirus Theraputics (OSIR), which trades in a 52-week range of $4.12/share (52-week low) to14.46/share (52-week high), has a market cap of $338.38 million and was given a ratio of a "0.00" based on the statistical calculations of my formula.
OSIR, which currently has $43.20 million in total cash on its books (the company currently has -$18.49 million in operating cash flow and -$21.24 million in free cash flow), also carries zero in total debt. That equates to a total debt-to-total-cash ratio of 0.00, which is a very positive catalyst moving forward. Trading at a 70.6% premium to its 200-day moving average, OSIR recently announced interim one-year results of its Prochymal trials, which were subsequently questioned by Adam Feuerstein.
Neuralstem (CUR), which trades in a 52-week range of $0.66/share (52-week low) to $1.60/share (52-week high), has a market cap of $51.39 million, and was given a ratio of a "0.00" based on the statistical calculations of my formula.
CUR, which currently has $5.14 million in total cash on its books (the company currently has -$7.91 million in operating cash flow and -$4.28 million in free cash flow), also carries zero in total debt. That equates to a total debt-to-total-cash ratio of 0.00, which is a very positive catalyst moving forward. Trading at a 6.7% discount to its 200-day moving average, CUR recently initiated the Phase Ib trial with regard to the safety of the company's drug NSI-189.
Disclosure: I have no positions in any stocks mentioned, and no plans to initiate any positions within the next 72 hours.
