1 Stock Worth Buying Near Its 52-Week Low, According to Wall Street

Prosper Junior Bakiny, The Motley Fool

Sat, Mar 22, 2025, 10:56 AM 4 min read

Iovance Biotherapeutics (NASDAQ: IOVA) is a biotech company with an innovative approach to developing cancer medicines. Though the company reached a significant milestone last year -- with regulatory approval of a key therapy -- its shares have significantly lagged the market.

The stock is down by 74% over the trailing-12-month period and, at under $4 per share, is barely above its 52-week low. Still, Wall Street analysts are bullish on Iovance. Their lowest price target is $6, the highest is $32, and the average is $19.54, according to Yahoo! Finance.

Do Iovance's prospects justify these projections? Here's what investors need to know about this small-cap biotech company.

Iovance Biotherapeutics develops therapies that harness the power of tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs), immune cells that can target and destroy cancer cells. Iovance's TIL-based treatments are made from the patient's cells through a proprietary procedure. The company's Amtagvi, a medicine for melanoma that earned approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) last year, takes 34 days to manufacture.

Amtagvi became the first therapy of its kind to notch an indication to treat a solid tumor, demonstrating Iovance's innovative capabilities. The patient-specific treatment does face some issues, though, including the 34 days it takes to make. Complicating matters even more, Amtagvi is administered in specialized treatment centers. This expensive and lengthy process makes it challenging to roll out the product to enough patients to generate significant sales while keeping costs down.

Still, Iovance is making progress. Last year, it reported $164.1 million in revenue (the amount it had in 2023 was not meaningful). It's only begun to scratch the surface of the 20,000 patients with melanoma eligible for Amtagvi in the U.S. And the company is seeking to earn approval for the medicine in more countries: It could get the nod in the U.K., the European Union, and Canada in 2025, and still get regulators on board in other countries next year.

There is a massive market here: Iovance estimates 325,000 annual cases of melanoma worldwide. If the company makes significant headway in its addressable market, Iovance's sales will continue moving in the right direction.

Many investors worry that Iovance Biotherapeutics will have trouble becoming profitable, due to the expensive and lengthy TIL manufacturing process. That's one of the reasons the stock continues to lag the market, and it is a legitimate concern. It's also essential to factor in potential regulatory setbacks for Amtagvi.