Junior Resource and Biotech Investing Share Profit Potential
Source: Alex Daley and Doug Hornig, Casey Research  (4/12/12)
Several Casey Research publications focus on the junior resource sector because this is a prime speculative market—one where individual investors can still turn a small amount of money into a fortune, provided they bring the proper tools to the table. Yet resource juniors by no means stand alone. Biotechnology is another good market for speculation. In fact, despite the very different science and economics at work, the biotech and junior resource sectors share some interesting traits. Investors will find a lot to like in both. More >

Vaccine Therapies Hold Promise for Investors: Stephen Dunn
Source: George S. Mack of The Life Sciences Report  (4/12/12)
Developing vaccines to treat and/or prevent disease promises life-changing benefits for patients and unique opportunities for investors. In this interview with The Life Sciences Report, LifeTech Capital Senior Managing Director and President Stephen Dunn discusses the roadblocks encountered by some developers of immune therapies and how other companies are working around those obstacles, producing investment opportunities in the process. More >

Playing the Immune System for Profit
Source: George S. Mack, The Life Sciences Report  (4/12/12)
I had an opportunity to pose some questions once again to Stephen Dunn who is president and senior managing director of research at LifeTech Capital, a division of Aurora Capital, which has a presence in growth hotbeds India and China. LifeTech is one of those boutique investment banks that researches small-cap stocks that need capital and attention. The firm specializes in biotech and medtech, and it really does get an opportunity to get inside little companies to know the people and to understand the science. Dunn gets to do things that he wouldn't get to do in a bulge-bracket banking environment, and after 25 years in his industry he has done nearly everything, including negotiations for intellectual property agreements to product deals, venture capital and mergers and acquisitions. . . More >

Weight Loss Stocks Race to End the Obesity Epidemic
Source: Diane Alter, Money Morning  (4/10/12)
"The economic burden of obesity is estimated to be 10% of total health care costs, with projections continuing to grow as the obesity epidemic spreads. For investors, that means weight loss stocks are poised to gain." More >

Breaking the Mold of Oncology Drug Development
Source: Seeking Alpha, Brian Nichols  (4/10/12)
"Looking at all oncology products on the market, it is striking to note how each targets a single factor in the complex processes that control tumor growth and invasion. It is almost like attempting to stop traffic in a city by blocking a single avenue: It only slows down traffic but doesn't stop it completely." More >

Fatty Acids Fight Cancer Spread
Source: News Medical  (4/9/12)
"Tiny agents found in omega-3 could potentially be used to block the path of primary cancer tumors, preventing the advance to secondary-stage cancers." More >

Nanotechnology Used to Hunt for Hidden Pathogens
Source: ScienceDaily  (4/9/12)
"The new nanoparticle-based technique may be used to detect microbes that have challenged scientists for centuries because they hide deep in human tissue and are able to reprogram cells to successfully evade the immune system." More >

Biotech Stocks: How to Invest in the Buyout Binge
Source: William Patalon, Money Morning  (4/9/12)
"The very same problem that has big pharma execs wringing their hands is also creating one of the biggest profit opportunities we've seen in years." More >

Studies Suggest that When It Comes to Drug Development Success, Size Matters
Source: Alex Philippidis, Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News  (4/9/12)
"Studies have come to the conclusion that biologics hold better prospects than traditional small molecules of advancing all the way from the lab to the clinic to the market." More >

The Generic Drug Boom
Source: Patrick Cox, The Daily Reckoning  (4/9/12)
"Many popular and profitable medicines are nearing the end of their patent-protection periods. As blockbusters begin to face competition from generics, big pharma stands to lose." More >

Small-Cap Ideas with Double-Digit Growth Potential: Frederick "Rick" Wise
Source: George S. Mack of The Life Sciences Report  (4/5/12)
You can own large medtech and diversified medical supply companies for low volatility and incremental upside in a trending economy (yawn. . .), but small- and mid-cap companies offer the real double-digit growth possibilities. In this exclusive interview with The Life Sciences Report, Analyst and Managing Director Frederick "Rick" Wise of Leerink Swann shares small-cap ideas that could wake up investors' portfolios. More >

Beautiful Music from Small Medtech
Source: George S. Mack of The Life Sciences Report  (4/5/12)
I was already aware that the Manhattan School of Music (MSM) produced the world's greatest musicians, but I didn't know that great sellside analysts were also minted there. Managing Director Frederick "Rick" Wise of New York City-based Leerink Swann is a proud MSM graduate, and he likes to say that he took the "classical route" to Wall Street. "I believe music was great preparation for being an analyst," he says. "I've been deciphering symbols and interpreting them and conveying the bottom line to people on a stage." More >

Antibody Offers Hope Against Cancers
Source: San Francisco Chronicle, Victoria Colliver  (4/3/12)
"In a potential breakthrough for cancer research, Stanford immunologists discovered they can shrink or even get rid of a wide range of human cancers by treating them with a single antibody." More >

Technology Improves Neural Imaging, Human Brain Research
Source: Laboratory Equipment  (4/2/12)
"A new cost-effective neural imaging system allows researchers to make much more complex maps of the brain with just one camera and one imaging system." More >

With or Without "Obamacare," Healthcare Stocks Are Headed Higher
Source: Don Miller, Money Morning  (4/2/12)
"With the bill's fate up in the air, major players will have to devise new strategies for either outcome." More >

Early Third-Party Testing Benefits Medical Devices Producers
Source: Today's Medical Developments, Pam Streed  (4/2/12)
"Early engagement of third-party testing partner yields significant benefits to medical device manufacturers." More >

Personal Gene Mapping Has Its Limits
Source: HealthDay, Amanda Gardner  (4/2/12)
"The costs of whole genome sequencing are plummeting, making the test more accessible to more people, yet the ability of the test to provide useful information to patients has not been studied quantitatively." More >

Chasing Cheaper Cancer Drugs
Source: Reuters, Ben Hirschler  (4/2/12)
"A new model that takes advantage of the highly specific nature of modern targeted therapies could slash drug development timelines and costs." More >

Orphan Drugs: Small Is the New Big
Source: Medical Marketing & Media Deborah Weinstein  (4/1/12)
"Big Pharma is used to thinking big, but more and more companies are turning to the rare diseases category and to conditions that affect patient groups with populations less than than some small towns." More >

FDA Issues New Guidance Considerations for Medical Device Approval Decisions
Source: Infection Control Today  (3/30/12)
"The Food and Drug Administration has published first-of-kind guidance for medical device manufacturers, describing how the benefits and risks of certain medical devices are considered during pre-market review." More >

Sharpen Your Medtech Investing Edge with Genomics, Imaging and Diversified Supplies: Junaid Husain
Source: George S. Mack of The Life Sciences Report  (3/29/12)
Medical supplies and diagnostics may not sound exciting, but recurring revenue is key to restful nights and steady growth. Dougherty & Company Vice President and Senior Medical Technology Analyst Junaid Husain has a rule-based approach for selecting winners. In this exclusive interview with The Life Sciences Report, he offers his best ideas and the logic behind them. More >

The Medical Device Tax? No Big Deal.
Source: Medical Device +Diagnostics Industry, Brian Buntz  (3/29/12)
"There is a lot of price pressure in the medical device sector, acknowledged Pivot Medical's Julian Nikolchev at the Bay Area Biomedical Device Conference. 'But we have more than enough leeway.'" More >

Great Values Among Battered Medical Technology Stocks
Source: George S. Mack, The Life Sciences Report  (3/29/12)
No industry in the healthcare sector has been shrouded with more pessimism than medical technology. It would be easy to check off all the boxes on your list of gloomy headwinds, dust off your hands and find another story for your investible dollars. Starting in 2013 the medical device tax is slated to empty $20 billion (B) from the pockets of medtechs over 10 years, and there seems to be no respite from FDA's prolonged approval times and ever-increasing demands for additional data. Combine these annoyances with a recession hangover, and you've got a classic case of malaise. Senior Medical Technology Analyst Junaid Husain of Minneapolis-based investment bank Dougherty & Company told me all the news isn't bad, however. In fact, if you know what you're looking for, there are real actionable ideas on the table.. . More >

The Supreme Court, the Affordable Care Act, and the Economy
Source: Tara Clarke, Money Morning  (3/26/12)
"The biggest issue is whether or not Congress has the constitutional power to require nearly every American to obtain health insurance or risk paying a penalty." More >

Big Returns Come from Small-Cap Medical Technology
Source: George S. Mack, The Life Sciences Report  (3/26/12)
A decade ago medtech was in its heyday. Baby boomers were already feeling the discomforts of osteoarthritis and other age-related diseases, and they wanted to be active longer. Device and instrument developers could innovate and get products through the FDA and market them in the U.S. where dynamic pricing power would expand margins and bottom lines. Newer technologies such as minimally invasive surgical procedures were fueling more orthopedic surgeries, because smaller wounds mean lower rates of infection, less discomfort and quicker rehab. The winds of recovery following the dot-com bust were about to carry smaller health-related stocks higher. . . More >