Vistagen Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VTGN) versus IO Biotech (NASDAQ:IOBT) Head-To-Head Comparison

Vistagen Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VTGN) and IO Biotech (NASDAQ:IOBT) are both small-cap medical companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their valuation, analyst recommendations, profitability, risk, earnings, dividends and institutional ownership.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Vistagen Therapeutics and IO Biotech”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Vistagen Therapeutics	$698,000.00	97.17	-$29.36 million	($1.48)	-1.59
IO Biotech	N/A	N/A	-$86.08 million	($1.37)	-0.72

Vistagen Therapeutics has higher revenue and earnings than IO Biotech. Vistagen Therapeutics is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than IO Biotech, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Volatility and Risk

Vistagen Therapeutics has a beta of 0.56, indicating that its stock price is 44% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, IO Biotech has a beta of 0.22, indicating that its stock price is 78% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

78.4% of Vistagen Therapeutics shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 54.8% of IO Biotech shares are held by institutional investors. 1.3% of Vistagen Therapeutics shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 2.3% of IO Biotech shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares Vistagen Therapeutics and IO Biotech’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Vistagen Therapeutics	-6,777.08%	-48.12%	-43.80%
IO Biotech	N/A	-86.56%	-75.24%

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current recommendations for Vistagen Therapeutics and IO Biotech, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Vistagen Therapeutics	0	0	0	1	4.00
IO Biotech	0	0	2	1	3.33

IO Biotech has a consensus price target of $9.33, indicating a potential upside of 848.32%. Given IO Biotech’s higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe IO Biotech is more favorable than Vistagen Therapeutics.

Summary

Vistagen Therapeutics beats IO Biotech on 7 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Vistagen Therapeutics

Vistagen Therapeutics, Inc., a late clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, primarily focus to transform the treatment landscape for individuals living with anxiety, depression, and other central nervous system (CNS) disorders. The company's pipeline includes six clinical stage product candidates, including five investigational agents belonging to drugs known as pherines. Its product pipeline comprises PH94B, a fasedienol nasal spray, which is in Phase III development for the treatment of social anxiety disorder; and PH10, a Ituvone nasal spray which is in Phase II development for the treatment of major depressive disorder. In addition, the company is also developing PH15, an early-stage investigational synthetic neuroactive steroid for the treatment of cognition improvement; PH80, an odorless and tasteless synthetic investigational pherine for the treatment of menopausal hot flashes and migraine; PH284, an early-stage investigational synthetic neuroactive steroid for the treatment of wasting syndrome Cachexia; and AV-101, an oral nmdr glycine site antagonist for depression and neurological disorders. Further, it has a license and collaboration agreement with EverInsight Therapeutics Inc. to develop and commercialize to address ophthalmologic and CNS disorders. The company was founded in 1998 and is headquartered in South San Francisco, California.

About IO Biotech

IO Biotech, Inc., a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, develops immune-modulating therapeutic cancer vaccines based on the T-win technology platform. The company's lead product candidate, IO102-IO103, which is designed to target immunosuppressive mechanisms mediated by Indoleamine 2,3-dehydrogenase (IDO), and programmed death-ligand (PD-L1) that is in phase 3 clinical trial to treat melanoma, as well as in phase 2 clinical trial to treat lung, head and neck, bladder, and melanoma cancer. It also develops IO112, a product candidate that contains a single Arginase 1-derived peptide designed to target T cells that recognize epitopes derived from Arginase 1 for the treatment of cancers. The company was incorporated in 2014 and is based in Copenhagen, Denmark.