Top Biotech Stocks for 2026: 5 Companies to Watch
Did you know the average drug takes about 12 years to get from a laboratory idea to a pharmacy shelf?¹ Most don't make it through the full approval process. But the ones that do can significantly change a company's valuation and potentially alter an investor's returns.
That's the nature of biotechnology stocks. It's arguably one of the few sectors where an FDA announcement can move a stock significantly in either direction. This volatility may make many investors cautious, but it's also part of what attracts investors to the sector.
2026 is shaping up to be an interesting year for biotech stocks. CRISPR gene therapies are continuing to transition from experimental treatments toward wider commercial adoption, while AI is increasingly being used to accelerate parts of the drug discovery process.
This article covers five biotech stocks worth watching in 2026: three established US names and two UK companies that are positioned differently but tied to the same underlying growth in gene and cell therapy.
Apart from that we’ll also have a concise look at biotech ETFs for those who'd prefer not to pick individual names.
The information in this article is provided for educational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice. Consult a financial advisor before making investment decisions.
Table of Contents
- What are Biotech Stocks?
- Top Biotech Stocks to Watch in 2026
- UK Biotech Stocks to Watch in 2026
- How to Evaluate Biotech Stocks
- How to Invest in Biotech Stocks
- Top Biotech ETFs: A Way to Invest Without Picking Individual Stocks
- Bottom Line on Biotech Stocks
- Frequently Asked Questions on Biotech Stocks
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This article looks at five biotech stocks to watch in 2026: Vertex Pharmaceuticals, Amgen, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Oxford Nanopore Technologies, and Oxford Biomedica. These companies are exposed to areas such as gene therapy, rare disease treatment, genomics infrastructure, biotech manufacturing, and AI-supported drug discovery. |
What are Biotech Stocks?
| Biotech stocks are shares in companies that use biological science to develop medicines, diagnostics, and treatments. An early-stage biotechnology company typically derives its value not from current earnings but from the drugs and therapies it is developing, many of which may be years away from generating revenue. A single FDA approval or clinical trial result can move a biotech stock significantly in either direction. |
That makes biotech one of the most volatile sectors in the market. It also makes stock selection genuinely important. For example, a company with three approved products and $10 billion in free cash flow is a very different risk profile from one burning cash on a single phase 2 trial.
The three US stocks in this article sit toward the established end of that spectrum, whereas the two UK stocks are still earlier in building commercial scale.
Before diving in, if you're already looking to act on what you read, Admirals offers access to thousands of stocks and ETFs, including a few covered in this article.
Top Biotech Stocks to Watch in 2026
The three US stocks below all reported strong results in their most recent earnings, with growing revenues, approved products already on the market, and pipelines that give them reasons to keep watching beyond this quarter. They are not speculative bets on a single trial. The upside, if it comes, sits on top of businesses that are already working.
Top Biotech Stocks List
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1. Vertex Pharmaceuticals
| VRTX: NASDAQ | NASDAQ-100, S&P 500 | United States | Market Cap ~$110B | 🧬 Gene Therapy |
Vertex is a biotech company that develops medicines for serious genetic diseases. These are conditions caused by a fault in a person's DNA that conventional drugs can't fix. It made its name treating cystic fibrosis, and its Trikafta/Kaftrio franchise still leads the market globally. What's changed in 2026 is that the diversification is finally showing up in the numbers. Casgevy, the world's first approved CRISPR gene therapy, is treating patients with sickle cell disease and beta thalassemia.
JOURNAVX, a non-opioid pain treatment launched in early 2025, has crossed one million prescriptions. A kidney disease drug, Povetacicept, completed its rolling FDA submission for accelerated approval in March 2026.
Q1 2026 revenues came in at $2.99 billion, up 8% year-on-year. Full-year guidance sits at $12.95–$13.1 billion, and the company holds $13 billion in cash.
That said, cystic fibrosis still drives the majority of revenue. The newer products are growing, but they're not yet big enough to move the needle significantly.
2. Amgen Inc
| AMGN: NASDAQ | NASDAQ-100, S&P 500, Dow Jones | United States | Market Cap ~$178B |
Amgen is one of the world's largest biotechnology companies, with a portfolio spanning treatments for cancer, bone disease, cardiovascular conditions, and inflammation.
For investors researching biotech stocks to watch, the company’s diversified product portfolio may appeal to those seeking exposure to the sector without relying entirely on the outcome of a single clinical trial or regulatory decision.
In 2025, it reported $36.8 billion in revenue (+10% YoY), and Q1 2026 added $8.6 billion (+6%), prompting a raised full-year guidance of $37.1 to $38.5 billion.
The story investors are watching most closely is MariTide, Amgen's obesity drug candidate. Its potential edge over rivals like Ozempic and Wegovy is dosing frequency. MariTide is being developed for monthly or quarterly injections rather than weekly. Late-stage trials are fully enrolled, with a new study testing whether patients can switch from existing weekly GLP-1 drugs to MariTide on a longer schedule. Trial readouts in 2026 could influence how the market views the stock.
3. Regeneron Pharmaceuticals
| REGN: NASDAQ | NASDAQ-100, S&P 500 | United States | Market Cap ~$78B | 🤖 AI & Genetics |
Regeneron develops treatments across immunology, oncology, and eye disease. Its flagship, Dupixent, is one of the most broadly used antibody drugs in the world, approved across eight conditions, from asthma and eczema to COPD, with over 1.4 million patients currently on it.
In Q1 2026 revenues came in at $3.6 billion, up 19%, with Dupixent growing 33% to $4.9 billion. Libtayo, its cancer treatment, grew 54%.
What makes Regeneron structurally interesting for the longer term is less about any single product and more about how it finds them. The Regeneron Genetics Center has sequenced nearly three million exomes, the protein-coding portions of the human genome, and uses that database alongside AI and machine learning to identify new drug targets. It's a research advantage that takes years to build and is genuinely difficult to replicate quickly.
In April 2026, the FDA approved Otarmeni, the first-ever gene therapy for genetic hearing loss, adding another commercial programme to the portfolio.
A temporary manufacturing issue in Ireland trimmed Regeneron's margin guidance for 2026, though management expects it to be resolved by mid-year.
UK Biotech Stocks to Watch in 2026
Unlike the US market, which has many listed specialist drug developers, the LSE offers fewer pure-play biotech companies. Instead, investors often gain exposure through companies supplying tools, platforms, or services to the biotech sector. The two biotech stocks UK below reported strong recent revenue growth, although both remain loss-making, making them less mature businesses than the three US names above.
1. Oxford Nanopore Technologies
| LSE: ONT | FTSE 250 | Market Cap ~£1.15B | 🧬 Gene Therapy | ⚙️ Genomics Infrastructure |
Oxford Nanopore doesn't make medicines. It makes the technology used to read DNA and RNA. These are portable, scalable sequencing devices that can analyse genetic material in real time, from a clinical laboratory or directly in the field. Its MinION device is small enough to fit in a pocket. Its PromethION platform is designed for high-throughput pharmaceutical and clinical work.
In full-year 2025, revenue grew 22% to £223.9 million, slightly ahead of its own guidance. Growth was broad across sectors, clinical use up 60%, biopharma up 30%, and its PromethION platform up over 40% for the year.
As commercial gene therapy volumes grow, demand for rapid, accurate sequencing at scale grows with it, and Oxford Nanopore's biopharma segment is one of its fastest-growing customer categories.
However, one thing to note is that the company is not yet profitable and is not expected to reach EBITDA breakeven until 2027.
2. Oxford Biomedica
| LSE: OXB | FTSE 250 | Gene Therapy CDMO | 🧬 Gene Therapy | ⚙️ CDMO Manufacturing |
Oxford Biomedica sits even closer to the gene therapy supply chain. It is a contract development and manufacturing organisation (CDMO), a specialist manufacturer that produces the viral vectors used to deliver gene therapies into patients. When a biotech or pharmaceutical company develops a gene therapy, it needs to manufacture the biological vehicle that carries the treatment into the body. That process is technically complex, highly regulated, and Oxford Biomedica's core business.
In full-year 2025, revenue grew 33% at constant currency to £168.7 million, nearly double its 2023 revenues. The company achieved EBITDA profitability for the first time in its history. Order backlog grew 36% to £204 million, giving meaningful revenue visibility into 2026 and early 2027.
Oxford Biomedica is EBITDA profitable, but still net loss-making as the net income for 2025 was £(30.6) million. The revenue growth and improving profitability metrics point in the right direction, but the business has not yet converted commercial momentum into bottom-line profit. Furthermore, if a key client's gene therapy programme stalls, Oxford Biomedica feels its impact.
How to Evaluate Biotech Stocks
When evaluating biotech stocks, investors commonly focus on four areas:
- Pipeline stage: Later-stage programmes, such as Phase 3 trials or treatments awaiting approval, may carry less uncertainty than early-stage trials.
- Cash position: Strong cash reserves can help fund research, clinical trials and regulatory delays.
- Revenue diversification: Multiple approved products may reduce reliance on a single drug or regulatory outcome.
- Upcoming catalysts: FDA decisions, trial readouts and clinical data releases can move biotech stocks sharply.
None of these factors on their own makes a biotech stock a sound investment. They are starting points for research, not a checklist for a decision. Biotech investing may reward those who understand both the science and the financials, and the risks that sit between them.
How to Invest in Biotech Stocks
To invest in biotech stocks, investors typically need a brokerage account and access to the stock exchanges where these companies are listed. Before investing, some investors compare factors such as product pipelines, clinical trial progress, revenue growth, financial strength, and valuation.
With Admirals, you can buy biotech stocks by opening a live trading account and completing the onboarding process.
If you’re researching biotech stocks to buy, here’s how you can get started after opening your account:
- Log in to the Dashboard from the Admirals website. From here, you can manage all of your trading and investing accounts and download different trading platforms.
- Click on the Trade icon next to one of your accounts. This will automatically open the MetaTrader 5 WebTrader platform so you can start investing in biotech stocks without needing to download a desktop platform.
- Type in the biotech stock you wish to invest in. Admirals offers over 3,000 global stocks and ETFs to invest in. For US stocks, the commission is $0.02 per share with a minimum commission of $1.
- Click on New Order to open a trading ticket. Input your entry, stop-loss, and take profit price levels and quantity of shares.
Top Biotech ETFs: A Way to Invest Without Picking Individual Stocks
| Biotech ETFs are exchange-traded funds that hold multiple biotechnology companies in a single investment product. Instead of buying individual biotech stocks, investors gain diversified exposure to the sector through one ETF. |
The two most widely tracked are XBI and IBB.
| ETF | Description | Structure | 1-Year Return* |
| SPDR S&P Biotech ETF (XBI) | Tracks the S&P Biotech Select Industry Index. 150+ holdings across large, mid, and small cap. |
Equal-weighted index | 58.56% |
| iShares Biotechnology ETF (IBB) | Tracks all US-listed biotech stocks. 250 holdings with top 10 accounting for almost 50% of assets. | Market-cap weighted | 32.35 |
*Returns of XIB as of 30 April 2026 and IBB as on 31 March 2026. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future results.
The practical difference between XBI and IBB is meaningful. XBI's equal weighting means a small-cap drug approval has a real impact on the fund's returns, but also more volatility.
IBB's market-cap weighting means performance tracks the largest biotech companies more closely, with names like Vertex and Amgen heavily represented.
Bottom Line on Biotech Stocks
Biotech remains one of the most dynamic areas of the market, driven by advances in AI-led drug discovery, gene therapy, and next-generation obesity treatments. While clinical and regulatory developments can create volatility, companies with approved products, scalable platforms, and well-funded pipelines may be better positioned to benefit from long-term industry growth.
Frequently Asked Questions on Biotech Stocks
What are AI biotech stocks?
AI biotech stocks are shares in companies that use artificial intelligence as a core part of their drug discovery or development process. Among the stocks in this article, Regeneron is the clearest example. Its Regeneron Genetics Center uses machine learning across a database of nearly three million sequenced exomes to identify new drug targets.
Which are the biotech stocks with biggest upside potential?
The highest upside in biotech typically comes from smaller, earlier-stage companies where a single approval could multiply the share price, but those same companies carry the highest risk of failure.
Are biotech stocks a good long-term investment?
Biotech can reward long-term investors, but it requires active attention. The companies that tend to hold up over time are those with multiple approved products, diversified revenue streams, and enough cash to fund their pipeline through setbacks. Even so, the sector remains high risk, with companies exposed to clinical trial failures, regulatory delays, competitive pressure, patent expirations, and uncertain commercial outcomes.
Source: ¹How drugs go from discovery to the pharmacy shelf
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