The biotechnology sector is suffering from a bit of sentiment driven uncertainty right now on the back of the political healthcare environment in the US. Many claim to have a clear picture of what the implications of a Trump driven, and Republican backed, healthcare model might be for the space, from the point of view of drug pricing, development expenditure, etc. In reality, however, nobody really has much of a clear idea, as nobody really knows what any healthcare bill is going to look like if and when it passes. This is leading to a number of opportunities to pick up under the radar exposures that risk aversion is keeping out of the spotlight.Early March, we said that readers should keep an eye on Rexahn Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NYSEMKT:RNN) as 2017 matures. The company had basically run flat throughout January, and then took a little jump during February. For March alone, however, the company has gained over 100%, and markets are looking at the stock now in an attempt to try and figure out what's next.The thing is, there's not been much in the way of corporate updates across the last few weeks, and when taken in consideration with the upside run, this has may operators claiming that what we're seeing us unsupported, and that Rexahn is going to correct severely when the smart money starts to unload, or that the smart money us already out, and the stock is about to leave the latecomers holding the bag.We don't think this is accurate.The last time we took a look at the stock, we pointed out that Rexahn had so many catalysts set to hit press over the coming six to twelve months that it was tough to see how it could hold at its then current PPS. The company had just put out some financials and a corporate update outlining these catalysts, but not in as clear a fashion as it might have, and this kept the potential for running under the radar a bit.Now markets are starting to pay attention to what might be around the corner, and we think that recent gains are representative of traders loading up in anticipation of the catalysts that should hit press this year. In turn, not only do we expect that the current price will hold, but that there's likely some further upside momentum on offer before we see any numbers hit press.So what are we looking out for?The company has recently updated its corporate presentation, and with the update has cemented some dates to watch near term. There are four specific releases that we are looking to as having the potential to inject some real upside momentum into the stock.The first is the release of topline data from a phase IIa study of the RX-3117 in metastatic pancreatic cancer. This one is reported as set to hit press at the end of the second quarter, but could delay slightly into early third quarter. The study is looking at the drug's potential as a third line treatment, and is a sort of lead in to another study (one that won't read out until next year) investigating 3117 as a potential first line combination with Celgene Corporation (NASDAQ:CELG)'s Abraxane.Second catalyst is the same drug, but in a muscle invasive bladder cancer indication. This one's a potential billion-dollar market if it gets a green light from the FDA, and it's set to read out at pretty much the same time as the above – end second, start third quarter this year.Third comes a drug called Supinoxin, which the company is investigating as a treatment for triple negative breast cancer. This one's a $6 billion plus market potential, and is currently in phase IIa, just like the above. Data should hit during the third quarter, and based on the separation between the 3117 releases and the Supinoxin releases, we expect late third.Finally, and the nearest term (likely) we're looking to a renal cell carcinoma asset called Archexin. This one's also phase II, and should hit press at some point during mid 2017. It's not going to be a massive release, with the market potential on this one around $500 million peak if it hits shelves, but there's still some upside to be had, and if it's positive, it's going to draw a lot of speculative volume from traders looking to pick up an exposure to the other assets in anticipation of them following suit.There was $20 million on hand at end 2016, and the company is burning at a rate of $3.7 million. This removes dilution risk until mid 2018, and with the catalyst set to hit between now and this risk realizing, there's a good chance that Rexahn will be trading at multiples of its current circa $120 million capitalization as and when it needs to issue to raise.We will be updating our subscribers as soon as we know more. For the latest updates on RNN, sign up below!Disclosure: We have no position in any of the securities mentioned and have not been compensated for this article.
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