Analyzing Scilex (NASDAQ:SCLX) and Genocea Biosciences (NASDAQ:GNCA)

Scilex (NASDAQ:SCLX) and Genocea Biosciences (NASDAQ:GNCA) are both small-cap medical companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their valuation, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, dividends, earnings, profitability and risk.

Volatility & Risk

Scilex has a beta of 0.68, indicating that its share price is 32% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Genocea Biosciences has a beta of 1.61, indicating that its share price is 61% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings and target prices for Scilex and Genocea Biosciences, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Scilex	0	0	2	0	3.00
Genocea Biosciences	0	0	0	0	N/A

Scilex currently has a consensus price target of $8.00, indicating a potential upside of 829.37%.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

69.7% of Scilex shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 0.6% of Genocea Biosciences shares are held by institutional investors. 8.7% of Scilex shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.6% of Genocea Biosciences shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Scilex and Genocea Biosciences’ gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Scilex	$46.74 million	3.06	-$114.33 million	($1.29)	-0.67
Genocea Biosciences	$1.91 million	0.00	-$33.20 million	($0.61)	N/A

Genocea Biosciences has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Scilex. Scilex is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Genocea Biosciences, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Profitability

This table compares Scilex and Genocea Biosciences’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Scilex	-244.60%	N/A	-112.17%
Genocea Biosciences	N/A	-182.88%	-62.76%

Summary

Genocea Biosciences beats Scilex on 6 of the 11 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Scilex

Scilex Holding Company focuses on acquiring, developing, and commercializing non-opioid pain management products for the treatment of acute and chronic pain. Its commercial products include ZTlido (lidocaine topical system) 1.8% (ZTlido), a prescription lidocaine topical product for the relief of neuropathic pain associated with postherpetic neuralgia (PHN), which is a form of post-shingles nerve pain; ELYXYB, a ready-to-use oral solution for the acute treatment of migraine with or without aura in adults; and GLOPERBA, a liquid oral version of the anti-gout medicine colchicine indicated for the prophylaxis of painful gout flares in adults. The company is also developing three product candidates, including SP-102 (10 mg dexamethasone sodium phosphate viscous gel) (SEMDEXA), a novel viscous gel formulation of a used corticosteroid for epidural injections, which has completed a Phase 3 study to treat lumbosacral radicular pain or sciatica; SP-103 (lidocaine topical system) 5.4% (SP-103), a formulation of ZTlido for the treatment of chronic neck pain and low back pain (LBP) that has completed a Phase 2 trial; and SP-104 (4.5 mg low-dose naltrexone hydrochloride delayed-release capsules) (SP-104), a novel low-dose delayed-release naltrexone hydrochloride, which has completed Phase 1 trials for the treatment of fibromyalgia. The company is headquartered in Palo Alto, California.

About Genocea Biosciences

Genocea Biosciences, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company, discovers and develops novel cancer immunotherapies. The company uses its proprietary discovery platform, ATLAS, which profiles each patient's CD4+ and CD8+ T cell immune responses to every target or antigen identified by next-generation sequencing of that patient's tumor. Its products include GEN-011, an adoptive T cell therapy, which is in Phase 1/2a clinical trials for the treatment of solid tumors; and GEN-009, a neoantigen vaccine candidate, which is in Phase 1/2a clinical trials that delivers adjuvanted synthetic long peptides spanning ATLAS-identified anti-tumor neoantigens. The company was incorporated in 2006 and is based in Cambridge, Massachusetts. On July 5, 2022, Genocea Biosciences, Inc. filed a voluntary petition for reorganization under Chapter 11 in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Massachusetts.