Forget Coronavirus Stocks: Buy This One Instead

Amid the COVID-19-fueled market correction, some stocks have performed well. In particular, several biotech companies that are racing to develop vaccines or treatments for the rapidly spreading disease have been crushing average market returns. Shares of Inovio Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: INO) are up by 153% since the beginning of the year. In February, Inovio claimed it had developed a potential vaccine for COVID-19 in three hours after the genetic sequence for the SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes the disease was made public by Chinese researchers on Jan. 10.

The company is planning on starting clinical trials for its potential vaccine -- dubbed INO-4800 -- sometime this month. Similarly, shares of Moderna (NASDAQ: MRNA) -- another biotech company racing to develop a vaccine for COVID-19 -- are up by 66.5% year to date. Despite these stellar performances, though, both Inovio and Moderna seem like risky bets at this point. It is far from a sure bet that either one will successfully develop a vaccine for COVID-19, and neither has any approved product on the market yet. Investors looking for biotech stocks to buy should look elsewhere. One company whose stock I think is worth serious consideration is Acceleron Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: XLRN).

Image Source: Getty Images.

Source Fool.com