We've talked about the stellar "Baby Biotech" I'm going to update you on today. It's actually the first stock I ever recommended in Private Briefing, back in 2011.
At the time, you could buy it for less than nine bucks a share - $8.60.
The innovative firm has packed on peak gains of more than 1,003% since then, hitting a high of $94.88 a share.
Now, I usually keep choice recommendations like this between myself and my paid-up subscribers. Not because I'm sentimental about the first stock pick we looked at together, but because it's only fair.
But over the years, the gains have simply grown too huge to keep a lid on.
So in the summer of 2016, almost at the exact moment it was making new all-time highs, I recommended this company to Money Morning Members.
We've enjoyed market-crushing peak gains of more than 37% since then.
In point of fact, virtually every time we've published an updated recommendation, first in Private Briefing and then later in Money Morning, for these shares, the predicted catalyst we've spotted has exploded and big gains have followed.
And in any case - whether this stock has delivered you "ten bagger"-style gains already, or you're just getting used to the idea of years of triple-digit profits from one stock - you're going to love what I see coming just around the corner for this company...
There's an "Uplisting" Coming Soon
I updated everyone on the massive profit potential in Galapagos NV's (Nasdaq ADR: GLPG) flagship JAK inhibitor drug, filgotinib, just a few weeks ago.
But, incredibly, this company is at it again. This time on the financial front.
The Mechelen, Belgium-based drugmaker recently announced plans for a global offering of common stock.
But there's a cool, potentially very lucrative twist...
As part of the offering, Galapagos has asked the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for permission to offer shares here in the U.S. market in the form of "American Depositary Shares" (ADS) that will supplant its current over-the-counter (OTC)/American Depository Receipt (ADR) shares.
This isn't the first time we've seen this sort of ADS scheme from this play.
Back in 2015, the biotech firm used the same method to "uplist" to the Nasdaq stock market under the ticker GLPG - a move that netted the firm more than $210 million.
This time around, Galapagos has set its sights even higher.
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In its latest offering, the biotech firm is looking to add almost $400 million - one of the largest ADS fund-raising rounds ever conducted by a European biotech - to its current cash pile of $1 billion.
"We have quite a large existing balance with $1 billion already. But we have got some very expensive programs going on, with a clinical pipeline that has seven compounds at different stages of development," Paul van der Horst, director of investor relations and business development at Galapagos, said recently.
Simply put, this means the new influx of cash is expected to flow straight into development costs of Galapagos' promising filgotinib.
This oral JAK1 inhibitor that targets both rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and Crohn's disease (CD) was one of the catalysts we spotted in our 2011 recommendation.
Just look at the size of the potential market for it...
Galapagos Is Poised to Conquer a Large Niche
As many as 780,000 Americans are afflicted by CD. Although men and women are equally likely to be affected, Crohn's is more prevalent among adolescents and young adults aged 15 to 35.
The market for Crohn's drugs is expected to reach $4.2 billion by 2022, according to a report from research and consulting firm GlobalData. And that means the dominant drug will qualify as a "blockbuster" - the Holy Grail for biotechs.
Now, raising money when in a strong position is always wise, and the Belgian company's bank balance is looking decidedly like a classic "war chest."
As investors, this new influx of shares in the U.S. market will act as another catalyst to push the stock higher.
In fact, the last time Galapagos offered ADS shares, we saw the stock run up 48% in just five months.
And I'm expecting to see the same sort of action when Galapagos completes its uplisting. It's quite possible we'll soar far past our peak gains of 1,003% here.
Now, I'll update my Private Briefing readers first when this happens, so they can move to protect those gains. Like I said, it's only fair. But you can bet you'll hear from me, too, when the time comes.
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About the Author
Before he moved into the investment-research business in 2005, William (Bill) Patalon III spent 22 years as an award-winning financial reporter, columnist, and editor. Today he is the Executive Editor and Senior Research Analyst for Money Morning at Money Map Press.