When investors are talking about striking it rich in the stock market, they often speak on a few industries. One of them being technology, and the other being pharmaceutical stocks.

In fact, buying a clinical trial stage Canadian pharmaceutical stock and hoping that it takes off is a popular strategy among hyper-aggressive investors.

Judging by the fact you've landed on our page that will discuss the top Canadian pharmaceutical stocks to buy right now, I'm guessing you might fit the description above.

For the most part, chasing after these types of Canadian pharmaceutical stocks will only leave you with an empty wallet

This isn't the proper way to invest, and it isn't something we advocate for here at Stocktrades. The good news though? Among Canadian stocks there are lots of solid pharmaceutical companies that are established, with solid revenue streams and strong reputations.

As the Canadian population gets older, the need for pharmaceutical companies will grow

In 2019, healthcare spending per Canadian eclipsed $7000 a year. This is the average number for every single Canadian in the country. $7000 doesn't seem like a lot, but when you consider some people don't visit the doctor or utilize the medical system for the whole year, this average is quite high.

In fact, healthcare spending is expected to exceed $310B in 2021, and is showing no signs of slowing down. So if you'd like to take advantage of this through the purchase of Canadian pharmaceutical stocks, we've got 3 of the best in the country right here.

Knight Therapeutics (TSX:GUD)

Knight Therapeutics (TSE:GUD) is a manufacturer of both generic and specialty drugs. The company has an interesting way of operating its business. Knight Therapeutics will look to identify and purchase underrated drugs from Big Pharma, ones that these major companies do no want to invest the time and capital into getting approved in nations like Canada.

Knight Therapeutic's CEO Jonathan Goodman has been involved in the pharma business his whole life.

When he was 26 years old Goodman took Paladin Labs public and earned a whopping 27% annual return for shareholders over nearly two decades.

After Paladin, Goodman started Knight, and many investors expected the same results. Thus far, it has generally been a disappointment. The company hasn't made any significant moves, at least not ones to drive growth and many investors have become impatient.

However, when it comes to Goodman, if there is one thing he does have, it is patience. The company is sitting on over $220M in cash and has an exceptionally strong balance sheet. The company has zero debt and over 100 products in its portfolio.

The bulk of the company's revenue comes from Brazil, and the majority of its revenue comes from products used to treat infectious diseases, and oncology. The company is partnered with some of the largest pharmaceutical companies in the world like AstraZeneca, Bristol Myers Squibb, and Pierre Fabre.

An investment in Knight Therapeutics is a large play on the company's management, particularly Goodman. He's frustrated investors up to this point, but he has shown he can execute exceptionally well in the past, and if he continues to do so Knight could end up being a strong Canadian pharmaceutical stock moving forward.

Viemed Healthcare (TSX:VMD)

Viemed Healthcare (TSE:VMD) isn't a pharmaceutical stock in the traditional drug production sense. Instead, it is a play on home respiratory care, which is a booming industry. With a market cap of less than $300M, Viemed is the smallest stock on this list of Canadian pharmaceutical companies.

Viemed is one of the largest non invasive ventilation companies in the US home respiratory health care industry. The company has grown revenue fourfold since 2016 and is currently serving over 30,000 customers.

The company started out in 2006 as Sleep Management, before expanding into things like non invasive ventilators. In 2015 it was acquired by a public company in PHM and it spun out to create Viemed healthcare in 2017. It listed on the Venture, but due to strong results quickly up-listed to the TSX and NASDAQ the next few years.

The company's primary focus is on treating COPD. When we look to the fact that not only are 10,000 baby boomers turning 65 every single day in the United States, but over $50B of annual healthcare costs in the United States go to treating COPD, we can see the large potential for Viemed right now.

25 million people in the US have COPD, 2.5 million of them being stage 4. This is where a company like Viemed comes in. With only 10% of the market share in terms of non-invasive ventilators, there is plenty of room for this company to grow.

Revenue is dipping, and there has been some concerns that growth is starting to sputter for the company moving forward. However, it will be interesting to see how well Viemed can perform in a normal operating environment, and it's a pharmaceutical stock you'd be wise to keep a close eye on moving forward.

HLS Therapeutics (TSX:HLS)

Much like Knight, HLS Therapeutics (TSE:HLS) is a pharmaceutical company that focuses on the acquisition of late-stage and commercial-stage branded pharmaceutical products. The key difference here being the company focuses on the North American markets.

The company focuses on drugs targeting the central nervous and cardiovascular systems.

The company's flagship product is Vascepa, a drug used to reduce the risk of cardiovascular events like heart attacks in those with diabetes, heart disease, or patients with high triglycerides.

The company has partnered with Pfizer to expand physician coverage and be somewhat of a promotion partner. The company figures the promotional partnership will result in a 3x increase in sales representatives and 4x increase in coverage.

This partnership is a significant event. Pfizer doesn't just choose to promote any drug. In fact, it's quite picky. The fact it picked Vascepa is a sign the drug has strong potential. The company now has the backing of one of the largest pharmaceutical companies in the world, and even pre-partnership we were seeing strong growth in terms of prescriptions with Vascepa. This should not only solidify, but increase that momentum moving forward.

The company is relatively young and has struggled in terms of performance. This is typical of a younger pharmaceutical company with "irons in the fire" so to speak. But if we look to forward estimates, analysts expect some significant growth from HLS moving forward, likely because of this flagship product.

In fact, revenue expectations of $250M in 2023 would represent a more than 300% increase from Fiscal 2020 levels.

Overall, these 3 top Canadian pharmaceutical stocks all have some potential

You don't need to be chasing what I would call the "bingo cards" of the investment world in early to mid-stage clinical trial pharmaceutical stocks. There is money, albeit less, to be made in companies with developed products.

Will you strike it rich buying more established companies versus ones that have no developed product but many promising ones in the pipeline? No.

However, there is significantly lower risk of ruin. Especially if you are just learning how to buy stocks, it is important to remember that as investors the preservation of the capital we currently have should be our top priority.