Streetwise Biotechnology / Pharmaceuticals Articles
The Naysayers Are Wrong: Rohit Vanjani on How You Can Make Money with Generics and Diagnostics
Source: George S. Mack of The Life Sciences Report (5/22/14)
The concept that generic and specialty pharmaceutical drugs cannot command pricing power and growth is a misunderstanding, according to Director and Senior Analyst Rohit Vanjani of Oppenheimer and Co. Diagnostics also offer upside to investors: In fact, some recent returns disprove misconceptions in a spectacular fashion. The secret to making excellent margins in generics is to find markets where a vacuum has been created and product safety can be assured. The trick with diagnostics is to offer new tests that save steps, increase accuracy and reduce the burden on payers. In this interview with The Life Sciences Report, Vanjani discusses three names that fit the bill for investors seeking powerful growth in not-so-obvious sectors.
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New Wave of M&A: Divestitures, Swaps and Inversions
Source: Andrew Forman, EY Life Sciences Blog (5/22/14)
"This latest quarter, which kicks off a third year of negative growth, seems to have been the tipping point for pharma companies to finally emerge from a long M&A hibernation."
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Think Like a Brain Surgeon: Dr. Christopher James Offers Fresh Perspectives on Six Exciting Biotechs
Source: George S. Mack of The Life Sciences Report (5/15/14)
New perspectives on well-followed biotech stocks are greatly appreciated. That's what we get here from Managing Director and Senior Biotechnology Analyst Christopher S. James M.D. of Brinson Patrick Securities. Something else that's treasured is discovering a brand-new biotech stock that no other analyst is covering. In this interview with The Life Sciences Report, James ushers readers to the head of the line to look at a new and exciting name with an extraordinary technology and phenomenal prospects for growth.
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J.P.Morgan's Geoff Meacham Plucks Biotechs with Upside from a Down Market
Source: George S. Mack of The Life Sciences Report (5/15/14)
A downtrending market is troublesome for investors, but does present interesting opportunities through creation of lower valuations. Finding the right names in the wobbly life sciences environment requires a sharp eye and depth of experience. In this interview with The Life Sciences Report, J.P.Morgan Senior Biotechnology Analyst and Managing Director Geoff Meacham, a veteran analyst and cell biologist, brings eight important names to investors' attention and explains why they are still growth stories.
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Live Longer, Get Richer with Patrick Cox
Source: Peter Byrne of The Life Sciences Report (5/8/14)
It's what every biotech investor dreams of: transformational advances in healthcare technologies that allow us to live for centuries and accumulate wealth exponentially. Patrick Cox, editor of the Transformational Technology Alert, is doing his part to make the dream reality. In this interview, Cox tells The Life Sciences Report about two companies with proprietary intellectual property in DNA-based therapeutics and regenerative medicine that could change the world.
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7 Bits of News that Will Reshape Your Investment Outlook
Source: Stephen Petranek, The Daily Reckoning (5/7/14)
"If you've ever wondered why developing a drug has to be so expensive, imagine what is going on in labs around the world, where scientists have been trying to figure out how to make a diet pill that turns off FTO, the so-called fat gene discovered seven years ago."
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X-Ray Vision or Due Diligence? How SeeThruEquity Analysts Find Hidden Small-Cap Biotech Plays
Source: Peter Byrne of The Life Sciences Report (5/1/14)
SeeThruEquity stays an arm's length away from the small biotech firms it analyzes for investors, but gets intimate enough to discover firms that hold promise. In this interview with The Life Sciences Report, senior analyst Brandon Primack and the firm's CEO, Ajay Tandon, explain why they find this handful of small biotechs intriguing.
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6 Drugs that Could Move the Pharma Market
Source: Katey Troutman, Wall St. Cheat Sheet (4/30/14)
"It's estimated that as many as 76 new drugs could be launched worldwide this year, a cohort capable of generating as much as $23B by 2019."
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New Melanoma Therapies Are Ready for Prime Time: Sanjiv Agarwala
Source: George S. Mack of The Life Sciences Report (4/29/14)
Melanoma confronts patients and their physicians with unique barriers to treatment and successful outcomes. In this interview with The Life Sciences Report, Dr. Sanjiv Agarwala, chief of medical oncology and hematology at St. Luke's University Hospital, illuminates some of the new paradigms being developed in the treatment of this deadly skin cancer. Along the way, he spotlights interesting companies working in the field.
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Charles Duncan: 2014 Is for Careful Stock Pickers, Not Dart Throwers
Source: George S. Mack of The Life Sciences Report (4/24/14)
Veteran Senior Biotechnology Analyst Charles Duncan of Piper Jaffray & Co. sees platform companies as the perfect way to play a consolidating market. We've had a big run in biotech, and Duncan believes now is the time to identify, through careful diligence, companies that can advance in a more temperate market. In this interview with The Life Sciences Report, Duncan discusses five biotech and specialty pharma innovators poised to produce therapies enabled by versatile and scalable technology platforms that target multiple disease indications.
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Do the Math: Ram Selvaraju on the Appeal of Biotechs in Orphan Diseases
Source: George S. Mack of The Life Sciences Report (4/22/14)
To cast a spotlight on disruptive biotechnology stocks, Raghuram "Ram" Selvaraju of Aegis Capital Corp. taps his experience as a molecular biologist, preclinical investigator and sellside analyst. In this, the last of his three interviews with The Life Sciences Report, Selvaraju highlights micro-, small- and mid-cap biotech names with therapies that may add years to patients' lives and liftoff to investor portfolios.
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The Traffic Jam that Kills Thousands of People Every Day
Source: Juan Enriquez, Tomorrow in Review (4/22/14)
"But the real question is by not approving drugs in the renal and cardiac unit, did he also kill people by not acting? Are there consequences to not acting? Because sometimes by not acting, by being too careful, by making it too expensive, maybe we're killing more people than regulation is saving."
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Four Hidden Australian Life Sciences Growth Stocks Revealed: Scott Power
Source: George S. Mack of The Life Sciences Report (4/17/14)
To find undiscovered stories, investors must venture into unfamiliar territory. In this interview with The Life Sciences Report, we go halfway around the world to speak with Scott Power of Morgans Financial Ltd. about companies under coverage in Australia. Power helps investors get comfortable with the idea of putting money into newfound names, and unveils four strong ideas that could invigorate adventuresome portfolios and investors hungering for excitement.
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Build Biotech Wealth on Solid Platforms: Grant Zeng
Source: Peter Byrne and Tracy Salcedo-Chourré of The Life Sciences Report (4/17/14)
Potential. That's what every investor is looking for in a biotech investment. Grant Zeng of Zacks Small-Cap Research zeroes in on three primary factors when he looks at whether a particular company has the potential to succeed in the fast-moving life sciences industry. In this interview with The Life Sciences Report, Zeng dissects his process and names 10 companies that have survived his exacting examination.
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There Is No Biotech Bubble; Here's the Real Story
Source: Ernie Tremblay, Money Morning (4/11/14)
"The job in the startup phase is R&D, not market performance."
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Don't Miss the Boat on Big Biotech Catalysts: Keith Markey
Source: George S. Mack of The Life Sciences Report (4/10/14)
Keith Markey, veteran analyst and science director of Griffin Securities, tells us the 2014 pipeline calendar positively glows with important milestones that could ignite portfolios. In this interview with The Life Sciences Report, Markey talks about four powerful biotech names with exciting early- to late-stage development projects, and one medical device and supply company with serious growth potential. Be warned—huge catalysts are on the horizon that investors won't want to miss.
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Hang On, Folks—It's Going to Be a Bumpy Ride: 2014 Biotech Watchlist Update
Source: Tracy Salcedo-Chourré of The Life Sciences Report (4/10/14)
Biotech stocks sailed into 2014 backed by a favorable wind, but springtime has stymied the sector in confused seas. Companies on The Life Sciences Report's 2014 Biotech Watchlist have hit the doldrums along with the rest, as faithful followers of the portfolio are doubtless aware. But sector analysts defend the general robustness of the life sciences market as a whole. In this Biotech Watchlist update, we bring you the thoughts of two analysts on the recent market turbulence, and offer brief recaps of Watchlist companies' fortunes year to date.
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Putting Money Where the Mouse Is: How Animal Studies Lead Medical Research Down Dead Ends
Source: Richard Harris, NPR (4/8/14)
"If scientists had been more careful with their initial mouse studies, they would have realized that these drugs were never good candidates and that it made no sense to try them in people."
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Venture Capitalist Ran Nussbaum Brings Big Finance to Little Biotechs
Source: George S. Mack of The Life Sciences Report (4/3/14)
Biotech companies don't come into the world fully formed. Like most fledglings, they need guidance to grow, prosper and eventually thrive in public markets. Venture capitalist Ran Nussbaum of the Pontifax Group nurtures tiny biotech and medtech startups, finding capital for their growth and maturation. In this interview with The Life Sciences Report, Nussbaum discusses exciting private equity holdings that are close to going public, and makes a case for one public company he knows quite well.
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How Did High Flyers Turn into Soul Searchers? Maxim Analyst Jason Kolbert on the Highs and Lows of Biotech Valuations
Source: Editors, Streetwise Reports (4/2/14)
After soaring more than 56% last year, the NASDAQ Biotechnology Index is down almost 15% in March. In this interview with The Life Sciences Report, Jason Kolbert of the Maxim Group points to increased approval rates and a better economic and regulatory environment as the fundamentals behind a revaluation that has occurred in the sector. Kolbert also reflects on recent concerns about pricing and policy changes that have triggered what he considers a normal, healthy correction in an otherwise robust and intact sector.
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Medical Marijuana in Canada: A Growth Industry
Source: Visual Capitalist (3/30/14)
"With new federal legislation in effect as of April 1, 2014, the market for medical marijuana in Canada is changing drastically."
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From Lab Bench to Bedside: David Lowe Brings Common Sense to Neuroscience Investing
Source: George S. Mack of The Life Sciences Report (3/26/14)
Billions of dollars have been spent chasing molecular targets in neurological diseases that now appear to be worthless. Effective therapies remain rare. But the market is enormous—and low risk—if a company can get a truly workable solution to patients. Consultant and neuroscientist David Lowe, president and CEO of NeuroAssets, helps biotech firms identify targets and find innovative ways to rapidly move drugs into the clinic. In this interview with The Life Sciences Report, Lowe describes one company with exciting preclinical and clinical-stage assets, and advances two more names worthy of investor attention.
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Apply Market Savvy to Bear Market Debris; Uncover Biotech Treasures: Cleland and Ireland
Source: George S. Mack of The Life Sciences Report (3/20/14)
Starting a new investment company and investing in very small biotechs can be a minefield. Because the business is fraught with bad science and liquidity traps, it takes insight and industry experience to ensure investment capital doesn't drop down a foxhole. Roadmap Capital CEO and Founder Hugh Cleland is in the process of negotiating the minefield now. In this interview with The Life Sciences Report, Cleland and Stephen Ireland, Roadmap Capital principal and healthcare partner, discuss five growth names with merit, plus two brief bonus picks.
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Promising Biotechs Target New Ways to Kill Bad Bugs: Venture Capitalist Dennis Purcell
Source: George S. Mack of The Life Sciences Report (3/18/14)
Dennis Purcell, senior managing partner of Aisling Capital, has seen the biotechnology industry morph from exciting science project to a full-blown, multibillion-dollar industry producing blockbuster products that routinely save lives. Now a new crisis is looming, as drug-resistant bacteria evolve, proliferate and wreak havoc. With this dire need driving interest, Purcell believes a change of focus, from oncology and orphan drug indications to anti-infectives, will develop in 2014 and beyond. In this interview with The Life Sciences Report, Purcell shares ideas that could offer a definitive cure for your portfolio.
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2014: The Year Gene Editing Shocks the World
Source: Ray Blanco, The Daily Reckoning (3/18/14)
"In labs, researchers can go in and they can basically rewrite the code of life, the genome encoded on the DNA molecule."
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