Comparing Scilex (NASDAQ:SCLX) and Lantern Pharma (NASDAQ:LTRN)

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

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current recommendations and price targets for Scilex and Lantern Pharma, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Scilex	1	0	0	0	1.00
Lantern Pharma	1	0	0	0	1.00

Volatility & Risk

Scilex has a beta of 1.77, indicating that its stock price is 77% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Lantern Pharma has a beta of 2.1, indicating that its stock price is 110% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

69.7% of Scilex shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 28.6% of Lantern Pharma shares are held by institutional investors. 4.1% of Scilex shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 8.5% of Lantern Pharma shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares Scilex and Lantern Pharma’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Scilex	-1,185.78%	N/A	-178.57%
Lantern Pharma	N/A	-150.76%	-108.38%

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Scilex and Lantern Pharma”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Scilex	$30.25 million	3.13	-$358.73 million	($36.45)	-0.31
Lantern Pharma	N/A	N/A	-$17.12 million	($1.57)	-1.42

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

Summary

Lantern Pharma beats Scilex on 6 of the 10 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 Lantern Pharma

Lantern Pharma Inc., a clinical stage biotechnology company, focuses on artificial intelligence, machine learning, and genomic data to streamline the drug development process. Its product pipeline comprises LP-300, which is in phase 2 clinical trial in combination therapy for never-smokers with non-small cell lung cancer adenocarcinoma; LP-184, which is in phase 1 clinical trial for the treatment of solid tumor, such as pancreatic, breast, bladder, and lung cancers, and glioblastoma and other central nervous system cancers; and LP-284, which is in phase 1 clinical trial for the treatment of non-Hodgkin's lymphomas, including mantle cell lymphoma and double hit lymphoma. The company develops STAR-001, which is in preclinical development for the treatment of glioblastoma, brain metastases, atypical teratoid rhabdoid tumors, and pediatric rare disease designation. In addition, it provides ADC program, an antibody drug conjugate therapeutic approach for cancer treatment. Further, the company's artificial intelligence platform RADR uses big data analytics and machine learning for combining molecular data. Lantern Pharma Inc. has a strategic AI-driven collaboration with Oregon Therapeutics to optimize the development of its first-in-class protein disulfide isomerase inhibitor drug candidate XCE853 in novel and targeted cancer indications. The company was incorporated in 2013 and is headquartered in Dallas, Texas.