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 >

Cell Therapy 2015: With Maturity Comes Promise
Source: Tracy Salcedo-Chourré of The Life Sciences Report  (12/23/14)
A number of new and innovative medical paradigms are being explored by companies in the life sciences sector, with one of the front-runners being cell therapy—a disruptive technology that has, in the past few years, progressed out of preclinical studies and into clinical development. To learn more about the transformative promise of regenerative medicine, and what investors might expect from companies working in the sector in 2015, The Life Sciences Report asked analysts Jason Kolbert of Maxim Group and Dr. Christopher James of Brinson Patrick to discuss the advances that could generate robust returns on investment in coming years. 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 >

Wedbush Securities' David Nierengarten on Genetic Cures for Disease: Impossible Dream Come True?
Source: George S. Mack of The Life Sciences Report  (12/11/14)
Clinicians like to speak in terms of "managing" disease. That term of art is an admission that, in most cases, they can't cure the serious problems confronting patients. In this interview with The Life Sciences Report, David Nierengarten of Wedbush Securities explores gene therapies that actually correct an inborn mutation in human DNA, creating permanent change, actual cures and better lives for patients. It sounds beyond the reach of medicine. . .and therein lies the opportunity: Investors in gene therapy companies may capture serious returns on risk capital when the cure is attained. More >

Could Pinky the 'Super Mouse' End Alzheimer's?
Source: Ray Blanco, The Daily Reckoning  (12/5/14)
What would happen if you took Pinky and swapped some of his brain cells with human ones? As it turns out, what you might get is a really smart mouse. But that's not all you'd get. You'd get a potential new therapy, capable of curing Alzheimer's, Lou Gehrig's disease. . .even multiple sclerosis. 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 >

Thinking Differently About Ebola Virus Disease: WBB Securities' Steve Brozak
Source: George S. Mack of The Life Sciences Report  (11/13/14)
What do you get when you combine a top-ranked industry analyst with a retired lieutenant colonel from the U.S. Marine Corp.? You get Steve Brozak, who brings his one-of-a kind perspective on the intricacies of Ebola virus disease to this interview with The Life Sciences Report. His military background, combined with 20 years as a biotech and medtech analyst, has allowed the WBB Securities cofounder to develop a reasoned perspective on how West Africa's Ebola epidemic might be humanely halted. Brozak also mentions small-cap names that could considerably enhance investors' portfolios. 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 >

It's a Record Year for Biotech IPOs and Still More to Come
Source: Peter Winter, BioWorld  (11/11/14)
"The total of IPOs completed by biotech companies, whose primary focus is on developing therapeutics, this year now stands at 67, a milestone that no one in the industry could ever have predicted at the beginning of this year." More >

Biotech Watchlist Update: Small-Cap Biotechs Struggle to Rebound
Source: Tracy Salcedo-Chourré of The Life Sciences Report  (11/6/14)
When the biotechnology market hit a speed bump in early 2014, every stock in the sector was jolted. Large-cap biotech and big pharma have largely recovered, but small- and micro-cap companies haven't yet entirely recouped the losses. The performance of Streetwise Reports' Biotechnology Watchlist to date reflects this trend: The portfolio lingered in negative territory after the late-winter punch, and hovers near breakeven as of Nov. 3. To get a handle on the drivers of small-cap stock price volatility, The Life Sciences Report turned to a pair of the analysts who selected companies for the 2014 Watchlist, John McCamant of the Medical Technology Stock Letter and George Zavoico of MLV & Co. In this recap, the two experts offer updates on the companies they selected for the portfolio. More >

R. Lee Buckler: How RepliCel Is Harnessing the Awesome Power of Cell Therapy
Source: George S. Mack of The Life Sciences Report  (11/6/14)
Regenerative medicine and cell therapies hold possibilities for achieving near miracles in a multitude of indications, from life-saving treatments to aesthetic applications. RepliCel Life Sciences Inc. (RP:TSX.V; REPCF:OTCQB) is tackling a mix of medical and cosmetic issues that include hair regeneration, repair of painful and debilitating tendon injuries and rejuvenation of damaged skin. In this interview with The Life Sciences Report, R. Lee Buckler, the company's new vice president of business and corporate development, discusses his firm's innovative technology platform and the upcoming milestones that could affect its shares. More >

Orphan Drug Price Rises Indicate Sector Trends
Source: EP Vantage   (11/5/14)
"The report indicates that orphan drugs have been successful in sustaining their eye-watering prices. But with so many non-orphan drugs coming in at tens of thousands of dollars, payers may grow intolerant of steep price rises across the spectrum." More >

Huge Growth Delivered in Very Small Packages: SeeThruEquity's Ajay Tandon and Brandon Primack
Source: George S. Mack of The Life Sciences Report  (10/30/14)
Institutional investors are, by and large, unable to own shares in companies with market valuations of less than $100 million, which means most sellside analysts don't write research on very small companies. The paradox: The micro-cap space is where investors can find the tenbaggers. That disconnect and its attendant irony are not lost on SeeThruEquity's Ajay Tandon and Brandon Primack. In this interview with The Life Sciences Report, Tandon and Primack discuss four companies nurturing seeds of dramatic growth that could materialize in the wake of upcoming catalysts. More >

The Game-Changing Potential of DNA Vaccines: Inovio's Dr. Joseph Kim
Source: George S. Mack of The Life Sciences Report  (10/29/14)
Since Edward Jenner's development of the smallpox vaccine in the late 1790s, humankind has enjoyed the benefit of immunization, which has saved many millions of lives. Today, Inovio Pharmaceuticals Inc. (INO:NASDAQ) is in the forefront of developing DNA vaccines, inserting engineered genes into cellular machinery to synthesize proteins that, in turn, generate antibodies that fight disease. An additional benefit is a powerful T-cell response, which harnesses the patient's own capacity to fight infections and cancers. If pivotal studies read out favorably, DNA immunization could prove a true game changer in healthcare. In this interview with The Life Sciences Report, Inovio President and CEO J. Joseph Kim discusses his company's platform technology, which addresses both therapeutic and preventive methods of fighting disease. More >

Is Biotech M&A Mojo Here to Stay? Bright Prospects and Rising Firepower Drive Deals
Source: Andrew Forman, EY  (10/23/14)
"Despite modest revenue growth, the industry has provided a total return to shareholders in excess of the performance of most major stock indices in 2014." More >

Japan Gives a Hug to the Cell Therapy Industry: R. Lee Buckler
Source: George S. Mack of The Life Sciences Report  (10/22/14)
Last year, Japan rolled out the red carpet for cell therapy developers with new legislation designed to expedite development of regenerative medicine solutions for all manner of disease. In this interview with The Life Sciences Report, former regenerative medicine consultant R. Lee Buckler, now a vice president with RepliCel Life Sciences Inc., puts his consultant's hat back on to talk about Japan's hospitable stance on proposed cell therapies. He provides an update on the meaning of the new law and discusses a small cohort of companies poised to reap the advantages. More >