Capture Growth with Baskets of Biotechs: LifeSci Advisors' Andrew McDonald
Source: George S. Mack of The Life Sciences Report  (2/5/15)
Andrew McDonald believes investors fundamentally underestimate the risk of investing in companies with drugs in development. To address the inherent hazards, McDonald cofounded LifeSci Advisors, which created the BioShares Biotechnology Clinical Trials and BioShares Biotechnology Products exchange-traded funds to limit risk. In this interview with The Life Sciences Report, McDonald describes how funds can be designed to grow on product sales and data generated via milestones in clinical development, and also names four companies he's included in the two portfolios. More >

Changing of the Guard at FDA: Is Califf the Next Commissioner?
Source: Damian Garde, FierceBiotech   (2/5/15)
"Under Margaret Hamburg's watch, the FDA instituted a slew of programs designed to speed up the review process for new drugs, and 2014 saw the agency approve a 20-year-record 51 novel therapies." More >

Buy on the Biotech Dip
Source: Greg Guenthner, The Daily Reckoning  (2/5/15)
"Biotechs are still on the rampage. Feeble market in January? Biotechs don't care. They just kept bulldozing forward. In fact, biotechs were some of the only stocks popping to start the year." More >

Watchlist Analysts Forecast Continued Blue Sky for Biotech Industry
Source: Tracy Salcedo-Chourré of The Life Sciences Report  (1/29/15)
For the last two years the biotech sector has experienced market-beating gains, even taking into account the industry-wide hiccup in early 2014. Can this trend continue? The five analysts who selected names for The Life Sciences Report's 2015 Small-Cap Biotech Watchlist spend their days considering this question; it comes into play with every recommendation they make. The topic came up in various contexts during the Watchlist panel at the 2015 Biotech Showcase: Here are four factors investors should consider as they move into 2015. More >

What Will Herald the End of the Biotech Boom?
Source: Karl Thiel, BioSpace.com  (1/28/15)
"The truth is, I don't think there's a coming crash for the biotech sector—at least not in the near-term. But reasonable arguments can be made that we're in for a big reversal, and one of the keys to successful investing is to consider the other side of a trade." More >

The Small-Cap Biotech Watchlist 2015 Unwrapped: Who Are These Guys? And Why Are They Here?
Source: Tracy Salcedo-Chourré of The Life Sciences Report  (1/27/15)
At the Biotech Showcase 2015 in San Francisco, five biotech analysts examined the burgeoning small-cap life sciences marketplace and found every reason to believe its good health would continue into 2015 and beyond. The experts also sent investors who attended the panel discussion of The Life Sciences Report's 2015 Small-Cap Biotech Watchlist home with a bundle of robust investment opportunities, including a few new names. Read on to see which companies made the list, and why. More >

Convert Catalysts into Profits: Sagient Research's Edward Stopke
Source: Peter Byrne of The Life Sciences Report  (1/22/15)
The biotech sector is teeming with companies racing to bring the hot new drug or therapy to the marketplace. But realistically assessing the therapeutic potential of pipeline products is the healthy approach for selecting a winner. In this interview with The Life Sciences Report, Edward Stopke of Sagient Research unveils his list of companies with catalytic moments in the making. More >

Rip-Off of the Century?
Source: Stephen Petranek, Daily Reckoning  (1/21/15)
"Nothing quite this uncompetitive has ever happened before with drugs, but you can be sure that insurance companies weren't about to watch their massive profits of the last decade erode for very long." More >

Oppenheimer Analyst Rohit Vanjani's 2015 Pipeline: Pot, Pain, and Babies
Source: Peter Byrne of The Life Sciences Report  (1/15/15)
Building on another blockbuster year in specialty pharmacy and generics, Rohit Vanjani, a senior analyst at Oppenheimer & Co., has reason to be excited for 2015. Vanjani specializes in nurturing firms developing novel ways to treat some of humanity's most persistent medical problems, and in this interview with The Life Sciences Report, he describes some of the most promising therapies, and companies, in the life sciences sector. More >

The JP Morgan Mood: Damn the Biotech Valuations and Full Speed Ahead in 2015
Source: John Carroll, FierceBiotech  (1/14/15)
"The mood of the industry this year was exceptional. Even some of the most grizzled veterans who have been making the annual trek to San Francisco for years noted they've never seen anything like this before." More >

Medical Marijuana Goes to Market: Daniel Pearlstein of M Partners
Source: George S. Mack of The Life Sciences Report  (1/7/15)
Life sciences analyst Daniel Pearlstein of Toronto-based M Partners brings knowledge of the biotech sector and hands-on experience in the startup realm to understanding value and growth in small- and micro-cap life sciences companies. In this interview with The Life Sciences Report, Pearlstein offers his perspectives on six Canadian biotech and specialty pharma names with different value propositions and the capacity to grow multiples of invested capital, including one company in the budding medical marijuana field.
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Will Biotech Fire on All Cylinders in 2015?
Source: Tracy Salcedo-Chourré of The Life Sciences Report  (12/30/14)
Making predictions for the New Year may feel as productive as peering into a crystal ball. But in the life sciences, hard science and long experience back prognostication. The biotech market enjoyed a stellar 2013 and withstood a solid check in early 2014 before rebounding, essentially following the upward trend that most experts forecast. What is in store for 2015? The Life Sciences Report turned to newsletter writer John McCamant and WBB Securities' Steve Brozak for insight. More >

BioWorld's Top 10: Biggest Biotech News Makers and Stories of 2014
Source: BioWorld  (12/29/14)
To say that 2014 was a good year for the biopharma industry would be a radical understatement. The flourishing capital markets, the record-breaking number of companies successfully going public via initial public offerings and the validation of scientific breakthroughs that only a few years ago had been mere theories all made for a banner year for the sector More >

The Best Biotech Stocks to Buy in 2015
Source: Kyle Anderson, Money Morning  (12/22/14)
Market corrections are always a possibility – especially in biotech, which is one of the more volatile sectors. That's why the most important thing for investors in 2015 is finding companies with real value. Biotech companies that make good drugs that meet critical needs will be the sector's best profit opportunities. More >

2015 Small-Cap Biotech Watchlist Announced
Source: Staff of The Life Sciences Report  (12/18/14)
In its third year, The Life Sciences Report's 2015 Small-Cap Biotech Watchlist currently includes 12 drug development companies selected by leading analysts in the sector. With catalysts on the horizon and pipelines that encompass a variety of indications and innovative platforms, these biotechs are primed to return multiples on investment. More >

Doug Loe: Canada Has Earned Its Spot in the Biotech All-Star Team Photo
Source: George S. Mack of The Life Sciences Report  (12/18/14)
Biotech investors in the United States who overlook investment opportunities across the borders are missing out on huge opportunities, says Douglas Loe, healthcare equity analyst with Euro Pacific Canada. In this interview with The Life Sciences Report, Loe gives the Canadian life sciences industry an upbeat prognosis, and offers ideas on companies that could realize generous returns in the sector in 2015. More >

BioPharm Executive: Top 7 Trends of 2014, with Predictions for 2015
Source: Karl Thiel, BioSpace.com  (12/15/14)
"The cancer immunotherapy area will heat up further. . .And while there won't be rush of approvals for RNAi, antisense, and gene therapy drugs in 2015, we'll get data that puts us a lot closer." More >

Brinson Patrick's Christopher S. James: All Catalysts Are Not Created Equal
Source: George S. Mack of The Life Sciences Report  (12/4/14)
Why do some good-news milestones cause stocks to languish, or even fall? Neurosurgeon Christopher James, managing director and senior biotechnology analyst at Brinson Patrick Securities, performs due diligence on stocks, in part, by connecting his clinical experience to the readiness of physicians and patients to adopt new therapies. In this interview with The Life Sciences Report, James gives real-life examples of catalysts and their effects, and highlights three strong biotech plays that could return multiples of invested capital. More >

Cowboy Up for a Biotech Stock Winner Has Wall Street Fooled
Source: Michael Robinson, Money Morning  (12/2/14)
"Sovaldi sales are slowing down for a simple but lucrative reason. Gilead Sciences is set to release a new drug that will soon replace this blockbuster—and that may do even better." More >

Taking Multiple Shots on the Cancer Treatment Goal: Rexahn's Peter Suzdak
Source: George S. Mack of The Life Sciences Report  (11/28/14)
Rexahn Pharmaceuticals Inc.'s cancer-fighting drug development platform is built on a theme that focuses on targets exclusive to tumor cells—the ultimate strategy in the silver-bullet theory of dealing with disease because it can increase efficacy while reducing off-target effects, including heart and liver toxicity. Moreover, lower toxicity enables higher drug doses, which could enhance the desired therapeutic effects. In this interview with The Life Sciences Report, Rexahn CEO Peter D. Suzdak, Ph.D. talks about his company's clinical-stage drug candidates, and links their mechanisms of action to the ultimate value proposition for owning company shares. More >

Rolling with Biotech's Regulatory Punches: Chen Lin
Source: Peter Byrne of The Life Sciences Report  (11/25/14)
Being temporarily burned by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration can be a mixed blessing for a biotech with a good product in the pipeline. In an interview with The Life Sciences Report, Chen Lin, publisher of the investor newsletter What is Chen Buying? What is Chen Selling?, explains how to make money on biotech trades in sync with both the good regulatory news and the bad. More >

Investment Banker Dick Huebner on How to Uncover Micro-Cap Biotechs that Deliver on Promises
Source: George S. Mack of The Life Sciences Report  (11/20/14)
Micro-cap stocks suffer from all sorts of ills. They are often illiquid, and companies can be unable to raise new funds under reasonable terms, if at all. Investing in these equities requires extraordinary expertise and experience, and that is where micro-cap investment banker Richard "Dick" Huebner excels. In this interview with The Life Sciences Report, Huebner, a senior managing partner with Denver-based GVC Capital, discusses the downside and the upside of micro-cap biotech investment, and the desirable characteristics risk takers should be looking for in very small companies. More >

Pharma Must Navigate New Payer Landscape
Source: Patrick Flochel, EY  (11/19/14)
"Navigating the complex and fragmented payer landscape at a time when health care is dramatically changing—both in how it is delivered and in how it is paid for—has been challenging for pharma and raised many questions about what payers want, their attitudes and how best to engage with them." More >

Another Huge Stride in the Fight Against Cancer
Source: Stephen Petranek, The Daily Reckoning  (11/17/14)
"The age-old pessimism that has pervaded the diseases we call cancer may, just a few years after Jobs died, finally be turning. The National Institutes of Health lists 45,571 clinical trials underway for cancer therapies right now." More >

Ebola's Silver Lining: MLV & Co.'s George Zavoico
Source: George S. Mack of The Life Sciences Report  (11/12/14)
A working knowledge of molecular biology is essential for a biotech investor, but it helps when someone with deep knowledge of science and medicine can bring understanding to the people who commit capital to growth ideas. George Zavoico of MLV & Co. has that advantage, having been a senior investigator at a large pharma before moving on to research at smaller, pure biotech firms. In this interview with The Life Sciences Report, Zavoico brings a wealth of experience to bear on the valuations of smaller companies with phenomenal growth prospects, and discusses how the quest for a cure for Ebola could disrupt—and improve—our approach to medical crises. More >