Financial Review: Hepion Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:HEPA) vs. Salarius Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:SLRX)

Risk & Volatility

Hepion Pharmaceuticals has a beta of 1.79, indicating that its share price is 79% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Salarius Pharmaceuticals has a beta of 0.42, indicating that its share price is 58% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Hepion Pharmaceuticals and Salarius Pharmaceuticals”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Hepion Pharmaceuticals	N/A	N/A	-$48.93 million	($219.00)	0.00
Salarius Pharmaceuticals	N/A	N/A	-$12.54 million	($7.07)	-0.10

Salarius Pharmaceuticals is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Hepion Pharmaceuticals, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Profitability

This table compares Hepion Pharmaceuticals and Salarius Pharmaceuticals’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Hepion Pharmaceuticals	N/A	-812.56%	-207.31%
Salarius Pharmaceuticals	N/A	-140.28%	-105.76%

Insider and Institutional Ownership

17.2% of Hepion Pharmaceuticals shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 11.9% of Salarius Pharmaceuticals shares are held by institutional investors. 4.7% of Hepion Pharmaceuticals shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.4% of Salarius Pharmaceuticals shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

About Hepion Pharmaceuticals

Hepion Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company, focuses on the development of drug therapy treatment for chronic liver diseases in the United States. It develops Rencofilstat, a cyclophilin inhibitor that has completed Phase 2a clinical trials to target multiple pathologic pathways involved in the progression of liver disease; and is in phase 2 clinical development for the treatment of non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), as well as preclinical studies of Rencofilstat shows reduction in liver fibrosis, liver inflammation, liver tumor burden, and titers of HBV, HCV, HDV, and HIV-1, and has demonstrated antiviral activities for hepatitis B, C, and D viruses through several mechanisms. The company was formerly known as ContraVir Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and changed its name to Hepion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. in July 2019. Hepion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. was incorporated in 2013 and is headquartered in Edison, New Jersey.

About Salarius Pharmaceuticals

Salarius Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a clinical-stage biotechnology company, focuses on developing treatments for cancers with unmet medical need. Its lead candidate is Seclidemstat (SP-2577), a small molecular inhibitor which is in Phase I/II clinical trial for the treatment of advanced solid tumors, as well as Ewing sarcoma. The company also offers SP-3164, a small molecular protein degrader for the treatment of hematological and solid tumors. It has a strategic partnership with The University of Utah Research Foundation for the exclusive license with respect to patent rights protecting SP-2577 and related compounds and Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas for product development activities. The company is headquartered in Houston, Texas.