From established players to up-and-coming firms, Canada’s pharmaceutical landscape is diverse and dynamic.
Canadian drug companies are working to discover and develop major innovations amidst an increasingly competitive global landscape. Rising technologies such as artificial intelligence are playing a role in the landscape as well.
Read on to learn about what’s been driving the share prices of the best-performing Canadian pharma stocks.
1. NurExone Biologic (TSXV:NRX)
Year-on-year gain: 44.44 percent
Market cap: C$54.28 million
Share price: C$0.78
NurExone Biologic is behind ExoTherapy, a drug-delivery platform that uses exosomes, which are nano-sized extracellular vesicles, to create treatments for central nervous system disorders, spinal cord injuries and traumatic brain injuries. It is a less invasive alternative to cell transplantation, which requires surgery and carries the risk of rejection.
NurExone’s first nano-drug, ExoPTEN, uses a proprietary sIRNA sequence delivered with the ExoTherapy platform to treat spinal cord injuries. ExoPTEN received orphan drug designation from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in October 2023. As of 2025, NurExone is progressing toward clinical trials, with the first-in-human study expected in 2026, pending regulatory approvals.
It continues to make significant progress, with recent preclinical studies demonstrating strong, dose-dependent vision recovery in glaucoma models and improved motor function in spinal cord injury models.
2. HLS Therapeutics (TSX:HLS)
Year-on-year gain: 40.5 percent
Market cap: C$175.14 million
Share price: C$5.62
HLS Therapeutics focuses on drugs for cardiovascular and central nervous system problems, often through partnerships. The company specializes in acquiring and commercializing pharmaceuticals that address unmet needs, including Vascepa to reduce cardiovascular risk and Clozaril for treatment-resistant schizophrenia.
HLS is also currently working to bring cholesterol-lowering therapies NEXLETOL and NEXLIZET to Canadian markets. As of August, the company is targeting Health Canada approval by Q4 2025 and a commercial launch in Q2 2026.
Additionally, the company generates revenue from a diversified portfolio of royalty interests on various products marketed by third parties.
3. Satellos Bioscience (TSXV:MSCL)
Year-on-year gain: 14.49 percent
Market cap: C$141.04 million
Share price: C$0.79
Satellos Bioscience is a Canadian pharmaceutical company expanding treatment options for muscle disorders. The company has focused specifically on Duchenne muscular dystrophy, developing therapies to regenerate and repair muscle tissue by targeting the specific biological pathways involved. Its lead candidate SAT-3247 targets a protein called AAK1, which regulates the activity of stem cells that activate and differentiate new muscle fibers.
The company began enrollment for a multiple-ascending-dose arm of the Phase 1 study for SAT-3247 last November after no drug-related adverse events were reported in the single-ascending-dose group.
Satellos reported positive Phase 1b clinical trial results demonstrating safety, tolerability and pharmacokinetic profiles, along with promising improvements in muscle strength and lung function in treated participants. In Q4 2025, the company is commencing follow-up Phase 1b studies in adults and Phase 2 studies in pediatric patients.
4. Medexus Pharmaceuticals (TSX:MDP)
Year-on-year gain: 10.34 percent
Market cap: C$87.1 million
Share price: C$2.88
Medexus Pharmaceuticals specializes in bringing drugs to treat rare diseases to North America.
The company manages the entire process through its fully integrated operations, from acquiring and developing drugs to marketing and selling them. Some of its key products include treatments for hemophilia B and rheumatoid arthritis, as well as a line of drugs for autoimmune diseases like lupus and allergy treatments.
In November 2024, Medexus Pharmaceuticals announced it had successfully negotiated with the pan-Canadian Pharmaceutical Alliance to make treosulfan, which Medexus commercialized in Canada under the name Trecondyv, available to publicly funded drug programs and patients. Trecondyv is indicated as part of conditioning treatment prior to bone marrow transplants in patients with certain types of blood cancers.
Medexus also has the exclusive commercialization rights to treosulfan in the US, where it received approval from the FDA this past January. Its successful launch in the US generated US$3 million in product-level net revenue in its fiscal Q1 2026, according to the company’s most recent earnings report.
Securities Disclosure: I, Meagen Seatter, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.