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. More >

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. More >

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." More >

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. More >

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. More >

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." More >

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. More >

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. More >

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. More >

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." More >

Exuberant, Yes: Michael King on How the Oncology Drug Development Machine Builds Biotech Wealth
Source: George S. Mack of The Life Sciences Report   (3/13/14)
Veteran biotechnology analyst Michael King of JMP Securities has seen drug development evolve from hit-or-miss to the sophisticated, high-throughput discovery techniques in place today. He understands the sector, the entrepreneurs and the valuations as well as anyone on Wall Street. In this interview with The Life Sciences Report, King zeros in on the oncology space, his focus for nearly two decades. Never single-minded, King's stable of thoroughbred names includes a bonus pick he likes very much in the field of fertility. More >

Shining a Light on Overlooked and Underfollowed Biotechs: George Zavoico
Source: George S. Mack of The Life Sciences Report  (3/6/14)
Prospecting for hidden biotech gems makes sense, says H.C. Wainwright & Co. Managing Director George Zavoico, who recently joined the firm's healthcare equity research team. The digging can be hard, but the rewards of successful diligence are huge. In this interview with The Life Sciences Report, Zavoico takes readers on a discovery tour that follows clinical trial data to new ideas that could bring windfalls to portfolios down the road. More >

Evaluate Biotech Stocks with Cynicism: Debjit Chattopadhyay
Source: George S. Mack of The Life Sciences Report  (2/27/14)
Biotech investing is a risky business, so investors should thoroughly examine a company's vital statistics before taking the plunge. That's the recommendation of Managing Director Debjit Chattopadhyay of Emerging Growth Equities, who brings a strict scientific discipline to stock analysis. As a former medical researcher, Chattopadhyay comes by his skepticism honestly, and in this interview with The Life Sciences Report, he brings five exciting—but critically scrutinized—growth names to investors' attention. More >

Pharma Learns to Brave the Patent Cliff
Source: EP Vantage   (2/25/14)
"The pharmaceutical industry is on the brink of another significant patent expiry cliff. Unlike the one it fell off in 2012, though, the latest version will leave it relatively unscathed." More >

Specialty Pharma Bulking Up: $100B Boost in 2013 Market Cap Drives Deals in Early 2014
Source: Andrew Forman, EY  (2/25/14)
"Specialty pharma acquirers accounted for roughly 40% of all 2013 M&A by value, with no fewer than seven offshore deals totaling over US$35B. All of these deals resulted in increased 2014 guidance." More >

Chen Lin's Perfect Biotech Market Prescription: Buy Low, Sell High!
Source: Peter Byrne of The Life Sciences Report  (2/20/14)
Charming and smart, Chen Lin makes a lot of money by jumping in and out of the highly volatile biotech market while obeying a set of simple rules, which he reveals in this interview with The Life Sciences Report. Applying his strong science background, Lin zeros in on biotech firms with solid products. The trick is in having the guts to buy low and sell high, against the market tide, says the editor of the widely respected newsletter, What is Chen Buying? What is Chen Selling? Lin also brings us up to date on his favorite picks. More >

Catalysts Drive These Stocks: Mara Goldstein
Source: George S. Mack of The Life Sciences Report  (2/20/14)
Whether biotech stocks keep up the scorching pace of 2013 remains to be seen, but we can count on one thing going forward, says Cantor Fitzgerald Senior Analyst Mara Goldstein. We are still in a catalyst-driven market. In this interview with The Life Sciences Report, Goldstein discusses four names with approaching milestones that she believes are important growth drivers. Her fifth pick is a binary event story, meaning it could skyrocket on good data or plummet on bad. More >

Big Pharma Continues the Race for Electroporation
Source: Brian Nichols, Wall St. Cheat Sheet  (2/17/14)
"Electroporation is a delivery platform that uses an electrical pulse to create temporary pores in cells." More >

Big Pharma Will Find Good Hunting Among Early-Stage Biotechs: Dhesh Govender
Source: Tracy Salcedo-Chourré of The Life Sciences Report  (2/13/14)
Dhesh Govender, manager of the life sciences portfolio for Cedar Lane Enterprises Inc., has the inside track when it comes to identifying the hottest biotech trends. In this interview with The Life Sciences Report, Govender explains why he thinks plenty of upside remains in the life sciences sector, and reveals trade secrets that every investor should consider when building a successful investment strategy. More >

Regenerative Medicine Finally Gets Some Respect: Reni Benjamin
Source: JT Long of The Life Sciences Report  (2/11/14)
Of the many themes that propelled the biotech sector to record returns in 2013, regenerative medicine and therapeutics targeting cancer were front and center. In this interview with The Life Sciences Report, Reni Benjamin, managing director and equity research analyst at H.C. Wainwright & Co., talks about two companies with impending catalysts that play on these themes, and offers his take on the prospects for the regenerative medicine sector going forward. More >

The Best Biotech Takeover Targets for 2014
Source: Kyle Anderson, Money Morning  (2/10/14)
"Large-cap pharmaceutical companies, instead of starting from scratch on a new patent, want an easier and more effective way to replace their lost "cash-cow" revenue. They will look to acquire biotech companies—and their phase 2 or phase 3 drugs." More >

Do Away with the Pill-A-Day Biotech Model: Steve Brozak
Source: George S. Mack of The Life Sciences Report  (2/6/14)
The U.S. healthcare system is untenable, says Steve Brozak, president of WBB Securities. The solution-oriented Brozak is on the hunt for biotech and medical device companies that fit a new paradigm, in which budgets are restrained and companies generate curative therapies for unmet needs. In this interview with The Life Sciences Report, Brozak takes aim at a broken system and lists ten problem-solving companies that can adapt to the changes he believes must take place for healthcare to be profitable and productive. A bonus: These companies can also add vigor to investment portfolios. More >

Ram Selvaraju: A Pair of Companies Ride the Sea Change in Cancer Therapeutics
Source: George S. Mack of The Life Sciences Report  (2/4/14)
A new generation of oncology treatments is moving through clinical trials toward the market. These proposed products are revolutionary in both their approaches to disease and their expected efficacy. Raghuram "Ram" Selvaraju, armed with his background as a drug developer, has followed dozens of highly innovative small- and mid-cap biotech companies, many of which he originally spotted as micro caps. In his second of three interviews with The Life Sciences Report, the head of equity healthcare research at Aegis Capital Corp. highlights two names with huge growth prospects. More >

Two Companies Follow Unmet Needs to Biotech Profits: Echo He
Source: George S. Mack of The Life Sciences Report  (1/30/14)
Disease progression and drug resistance mean that very sick patients ultimately run out of options. In the case of orphan diseases, patients often run out of alternatives immediately after they are diagnosed. In this interview with The Life Sciences Report, Echo He of the Maxim Group discusses her focus on how patients with unmet needs might ultimately get a fighting chance. To that end, she has selected two names that could produce both welcome cures and stunning share price results for investors who understand the value proposition of last-resort therapies. More >

The Year of RNA?
Source: Karl Thiel, BioSpace.com   (1/28/14)
So 2013 was a huge year for RNA, but could 2014 be even bigger? More >