Streetwise Biotech / Pharmaceuticals Articles
The Last Word: Place Your Biotech Bets on Solid Management and Hot Therapy Areas
Source: Tracy Salcedo-Chourré of The Life Sciences Report (1/23/14)
Who got the last word at the 2014 Biotech Showcase? A portfolio manager specializing in healthcare, an award-winning analyst, and a pair of venture capitalists with global viewpoints and a focus on clinical-stage companies. In the closing event of the showcase, cohosted by The Life Sciences Report, this panel of experts offered insights into trends that will influence the biotech universe in 2014.
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Biotech Watchlist 2014: Sound Science, Innovative Ideas and a Sprinkle of Pixie Dust
Source: Tracy Salcedo-Chourré of The Life Sciences Report (1/15/14)
2013 was a banner year for the life sciences sector, with biotech, pharmaceutical and medtech companies buoyed by advances in therapeutic techniques, a friendly regulatory environment, lucrative partnerships and the overall market upswing. The 2013 Biotech Watchlist, which was released at the Biotech Showcase in San Francisco, reflected this robustness, boasting a year-to-date return that blew past those posted by the major indices. Credit the basket of stocks picked by industry experts, weighted heavily with winners. Can our panel of experts pick another winning portfolio in 2014? Find out which companies they've chosen for the 2014 Watchlist in this exclusive from The Life Sciences Report
and Sagient Research.
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Sorting Through the Chaff: The Michael J. Fox Foundation's Tracey Mumford on the Quest to Cure Parkinson's Disease
Source: George S. Mack of The Life Sciences Report (1/9/14)
The business of drug development survives by saving lives, but sometimes nonprofit, private activism is needed to kick-start a new medicine into development. The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research is the world's largest nonprofit funder of Parkinson's disease research, having awarded more than $400 million in grants during its 13-year existence. Senior Associate Director of Research Partnerships Tracey Mumford is the foundation's link to companies with good ideas. In this interview with The Life Sciences Report, Mumford discusses exciting companies that have warranted foundation support—companies that investors might find very interesting.
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The Biological iPhone
Source: Ray Blanco, The Daily Reckoning (1/3/14)
"The next Steve Jobs might be tinkering with DNA molecules instead of circuit boards."
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5 Companies with Upcoming Catalysts that Should Rally into 2014
Source: Scott Matusow, BioMed Reports (12/31/13)
"In the developmental biopharma segment of the market that we follow daily at stockmatusow, stock prices sometimes experience volatile moves, especially as a near-term catalyst event approaches."
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Coming of Age: Experts Reflect on the Extraordinary Promise of the Cell Therapy Sector
Source: Tracy Salcedo-Chourré of The Life Sciences Report (12/26/13)
Without innovation and risk-taking, modern medicine would be missing staples of the physician's armamentarium: antibiotics, radiation therapies, vaccines. The idea of taking a tonic to cure what ails you is thousands of years old, but the science behind that tonic may be revolutionary. Enter stem cell technologies. Given the promise backing the science—and the sector's position on the cusp of breaking out—companies with cell therapies got plenty of attention from investment analysts and experts in 2013. Read what those experts, including George Zavoico of MLV & Co., Steve Brozak of WBB Securities, Jason Kolbert of the Maxim Group, and Kevin DeGeeter of Ladenberg Thalmann & Co., had to say about prospects for stem cell companies in this special retrospective article from The Life Sciences Report.
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The New Year Heralds a Transition in Stem Cell Development: Jason Kolbert
Source: George S. Mack of The Life Sciences Report (12/17/13)
The cell therapy industry has been mired in phase 1 and 2 studies for what seems like a lifetime. But 2014 is shaping up to be a banner year for share-moving phase 2 data and pivotal phase 3 activity. Jason Kolbert, managing director for biotechnology research at Maxim Group, leverages his deep understanding of the stem cell space to uncover viable therapies that double as excellent business models. In this interview with The Life Sciences Report, Kolbert guides investors to regenerative medicine companies that have evolved beyond great science projects into businesses capable of generating huge margins and disrupting the paradigm of medical practice.
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3-D Printing: Will Drug Production Become a DIY Project?
Source: J.D. Tuccille, The Daily Reckoning (12/13/13)
"Both research and production look poised for a revolution as 3-D printing applies its high-tech charms to the business of creating chemical compounds and turns the production of medicine into a DIY project."
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Shopping for Biotech Growth Names: Reni Benjamin
Source: George S. Mack of The Life Sciences Report (12/12/13)
Get ready for a bonanza of biotech names. Managing Director and Equity Research Analyst Reni "Ren" Benjamin is a new arrival at H.C. Wainwright & Co., and he's busy doing diligence on a lot of stocks. Along with three Buy-rated biotechs he's already initiated coverage on, Benjamin brought The Life Sciences Report a bonus package of names that could fatten investors' portfolios. Backed by Benjamin's extensive industry knowledge, this long shopping list includes companies poised to make drug development history.
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How to Pick Biotech Stocks
Source: David Petch, Wealth Daily (12/9/13)
"Intellectual property is one of the most important and valuable assets a company has. IP essentially gives someone a monopoly for producing a product against certain indications for up to 20 years. Finding companies with great ideas that follow through with investing in patent protection creates a potential short list of investments, as a successful product could have exclusivity in the marketplace."
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Eight Catalyst-Driven Biotechs Ready to Advance: Michael Hay and Jocelyn August
Source: George S. Mack of The Life Sciences Report (11/26/13)
Investors are attracted to small- and micro-cap biotech stocks because their life cycles are filled with share-moving milestones. Michael Hay and Jocelyn August of Sagient Research handicap those milestones and calculate the probabilities that drugs in development will be approved and successful in the marketplace. In this interview with The Life Sciences Report, Hay and August set a table investors can be thankful for, naming companies with upcoming catalysts and real potential for upside.
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How to Invest in the Most Expensive Drugs on the Market
Source: Charles Rice, Money Morning (11/22/13)
"The diseases are chronic, brutal and life-threatening. The drugs that treat them are the priciest you can buy. Five approved by the FDA this year cost $150,000 per person and three cost more than $300,000, according to Forbes."
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The Stunning Potential of Gene Silencing: Nobel Laureate Craig C. Mello
Source: George S. Mack of The Life Sciences Report (11/21/13)
The era of gene regulation has begun in earnest. Craig Mello and Andrew Fire won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 2006 for discovering RNA interference, which can stop genes in their tracks. Drug therapy traditionally has been about finding a molecule that would bind to a protein and short-circuit the reaction pathway that led to disease. Thanks to Mello and Fire, it is now possible to prevent synthesis of the protein itself. In this interview with The Life Sciences Report, Craig Mello, professor at the University of Massachusetts Medical School and investigator with the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, discusses the stunningly disruptive potential of technologies that can silence genes. He also mentions some interesting companies in the field.
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Drug Stocks to Buy: New Statin Guidelines Are a Shot in the Arm
Source: Diane Alter, Money Morning (11/15/13)
"Over the last five years, statin prescriptions in the United States have grown nearly 20% to 264M a year. Total global sales of cholesterol-treating medicines, including statins, were $35B last year, according to IMS Health. Statin sales amounted to $29B worldwide and $10B in the United States."
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Seven Investments on Biotech's Cutting Edge: Joseph Pantginis
Source: George S. Mack of The Life Sciences Report (11/14/13)
Phase 1 and phase 2 biotech companies offer great upside for investors who understand the risks and the critical need for diversification. ROTH Capital Partners Senior Research Analyst Joseph Pantginis has staked out a basket of small-cap oncology biotech names with cutting-edge technology platforms that have realistic opportunities for success. In this interview with The Life Sciences Report, Pantginis makes meticulous arguments for seven names that offer huge upside.
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Six Opportunities in the Specialty Pharmaceutical Space: Scott Henry
Source: Peter Byrne of The Life Sciences Report (11/7/13)
The specialty pharmaceuticals universe encompasses a variety of technologies, among them innovative drug delivery systems and unique pain management and orphan disease treatments. In this interview with The Life Sciences Report, Scott Henry of ROTH Capital Markets touts the value of "sound business models" in the specialty pharma space, and names six companies with interesting prospects and/or stock-moving catalysts on the horizon.
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Here's How Pharma Stocks Are Outperforming the S&P 500
Source: Ryan Allway, Wall St. Cheat Sheet (11/5/13)
"While a lot of uncertainties remain within the healthcare system, the innovation coming out of the pharmaceutical sector continues to drive financial results and equity valuations higher."
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2013 Biotech Watchlist Update: Companies Climb and Crumble on Catalysts
Source: George S. Mack of The Life Sciences Report (10/31/13)
The Life Sciences Report's Biotech Watchlist, introduced in January 2013, is composed of 17 companies that industry analysts felt showed promise for the coming year—companies with productive pipelines, good management and stock-moving catalysts on the horizon. The new year presented legitimate prospects for portfolio growth and, indeed, that has been the case. In this update, we summarize the current status of Watchlist companies and introduce our Portfolio Tracker, showing the status of each company in real time.
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Categorizing LifeSci Investments + 2 Niche Market Picks
Source: Brian Wilson, BioMedReports (10/28/13)
"This is not to say that investors should necessarily avoid small or medium-sized clinical life science companies. The high risk comes with a high potential for return, although investors will probably have to spend a lot more time with their due diligence. Also required is a strong stomach for the volatility of these stocks."
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This Biotechnology Platform Could Save Millions of Lives: Patrick Cox
Source: George S. Mack of The Life Sciences Report (10/24/13)
Patrick Cox, editor of the brand-new publication Transformational Technology Alert, is acutely aware of how transformational technology platforms can enable efficiencies and improve scale a la Moore's Law. A sweeping new synthetic vaccine platform that poses infinite possibilities for researchers and could produce novel preventive and therapeutic drugs is a quintessential example. In this interview with The Life Sciences Report, Cox delivers a single name that holds the potential to save lives on a mass scale, cheaply and efficiently, in both the developed and developing world—and deliver health and wealth to investors' portfolios as well.
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4 Pharma Stocks Could Deliver Earnings Surprises
Source: Zacks Equity Research (10/22/13)
"New products are expected to support top line going forward. This, along with increased pipeline visibility and smart utilization of cash, should increase confidence in the sector."
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A Compulsion for Brain Science: Zack Lynch
Source: George S. Mack of The Life Sciences Report (10/17/13)
Roughly a third of the world's population feels the burden of some type of brain, spinal cord or peripheral nerve disease: dementia, depression, compulsion, infection, trauma. Understanding the need for investment, awareness and public policy advocacy in finding solutions for these afflictions, Zack Lynch founded the Neurotechnology Industry Organization in 2006, and serves as its executive director. In this interview with The Life Sciences Report, Lynch makes a bullish case for a growing industry and discusses how he proposes to increase funding for neuroscience from both private and public sources, thereby increasing options for patients and opportunities for investors.
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The Best Small-Cap Biotech Picks for the Rest of 2013
Source: Scott Matusow, BioMedReports (10/15/13)
"We have compiled five of our best end of year, and long-term small-cap developmental biopharma companies we feel have an excellent chance to be long-term 'multibaggers.'"
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Backing Biotech Growth with Manufacturing Strength: Brian Wilson
Source: Daniel Levy of The Life Sciences Report (10/10/13)
The focus of most small biotech and pharma companies is on discovery—looking for that next breakthrough in gene therapy, diagnostics, drug delivery and the like. While Bio-Wire.com's Brian Wilson has explored and written about the possibilities in these fields, he sees potential outside the traditional discovery sphere, in companies focused on low-profile tasks like contract manufacturing services. In this interview with The Life Sciences Report, Wilson names one of his favorites in that space, and discusses a pair of companies using contract manufacturing services to advance their own development strategies.
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Biotech Companies Record Another Positive Quarter
Source: Peter Winter, BioWorld (10/7/13)
"In all there were 27 public offering transactions generating $1.26 billion in the third quarter, with companies continuing to take advantage of their higher stock valuations and welcoming capital markets to raise funds for their operations."
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