Regenerative Medicine Follows the CAR T-Cell Gravy Train: Maxim Group's Jason Kolbert and Jason McCarthy
Source: George S. Mack of The Life Sciences Report  (12/2/15)
Why have stem cell and regenerative medicine companies underperformed other segments of biotech? Maxim Group's Jason Kolbert and Dr. Jason McCarthy identify a possible answer: Investors believe stem cell data has yet to definitively reach proof of concept in the blockbuster indications that the companies are pursuing. They want to see results like those shown by gene therapy/CAR-T companies, such as bluebird bio Inc. ("the Bird") in sickle cell disease. In this interview with The Life Sciences Report, Kolbert and McCarthy tackle the issues that have frustrated investors, and leave readers with a list of names that could reap multiples on investment while patients enjoy longer lives. More >

Raymond James Analyst Reni Benjamin: Regenerating Portfolios with Cell Therapies, Antibodies and Small Molecules
Source: George S. Mack of The Life Sciences Report  (11/4/15)
Reni Benjamin of Raymond James has watched biotechnology move into a new era in which cells and genes can be manipulated to produce true disease-modifying results. In this interview with The Life Sciences Report, Benjamin outlines the groundbreaking work being done by a number of companies with the potential to return multiples on investment over the next two to three years. More >

Eight Ways to Leverage the Small-Cap Biotech Bull Market: Ajay Tandon and Jay Albany of SeeThruEquity
Source: Gail Dutton of The Life Sciences Report  (10/28/15)
SeeThruEquity's Ajay Tandon and Jay Albany are riding the biotech bull by harnessing the huge upside potential of micro-cap companies working in multiple subsectors, particularly in the rapidly advancing cancer immunotherapy sector. In this interview with The Life Sciences Report, Tandon and Albany toss the names of several companies into the arena for investors' consideration. More >

Advocacy and Technology Move Stem Cell Research Forward: Bernie Siegel of the Genetics Policy Institute
Source: Dan Levy of The Life Sciences Report  (10/7/15)
Regenerative medicine through stem cell technology is a source of hope for many suffering from ailments including Alzheimer's disease, diabetes, spinal cord injury and cancer. While new therapeutic options are continually in development, progress has, until recently, been hampered by political and medical ethics arguments. Because of patient advocacy, new technologies are now advancing, from development of an artificial pancreas to the hope of culturing intact human organs. In this interview with The Life Sciences Report, Bernie Siegel, founder and executive director of the Genetics Policy Institute, describes recent progress and developments in the regenerative medicine universe. More >

Breakthrough Potential: BriaCell Therapeutics Takes Its Cancer Vaccine to the Next Level
Source: Gail Dutton of The Life Sciences Report  (9/30/15)
Immuno-oncology has the potential to not only transform medicine, but also to become a multibillion-dollar market for a drug developer with the right team and the right compound. In this interview with The Life Sciences Report, BriaCell Therapeutics Corp. executives Joseph Wagner, Charles Wiseman and Saeid Babaei describe their company's new therapeutic, which has generated stunning results in early trials, making "breakthrough" designation by the FDA a realistic possibility. More >

Slaying Oncology and Infectious Disease with Immunotherapy's Double-Edged Sword: Maxim Group's Jason McCarthy
Source: George S. Mack of The Life Sciences Report   (9/23/15)
Maxim Group Equity Analyst Jason McCarthy has developed a biotechnology theme that leverages immunotherapy platforms serving both cancer and infectious disease indications. It's an elegant dual premise that enables one side to fund development of the other, and it seems to be working beautifully for companies and their shareholders. In this interview with The Life Sciences Report, McCarthy explains the principle and describes five companies proving up the model's profitability. More >

CAR T-Cell Therapeutics: Alan Leong of BioWatch Looks Beyond the Buzz for Solid Early-Stage Plays
Source: Gail Dutton of The Life Sciences Report  (9/9/15)
CAR T-cell therapies show amazing potential in treating blood cancers, but there's a lot of work to do before the cells are ready for commercialization. Alan Leong, senior analyst with BioWatch, tells The Life Sciences Report about the latest in CAR T-cell therapeutics and how some companies are hedging their bets by developing bispecific antibodies. He also describes the reality behind the growing excitement in regenerative medicine, and what investors should know about some very innovative, but often overlooked, small companies. More >

Novel Technology Platforms with Dramatic Growth Potential: Wedbush's David Nierengarten
Source: George S. Mack of The Life Sciences Report  (8/26/15)
In the past five years, development of new therapies has aimed for true disease modification and actual cures. Many novel ideas are now in the clinic, and have opened up fresh opportunities for dramatic industry growth, especially in the gene and cellular therapy realm. In this interview with The Life Sciences Report, David Nierengarten of Wedbush Securities brings a handful of select names to investors' attention, including a couple of companies with technologies that could revolutionize medicine. More >

Harness Biotech Volatility with an Options Strategy: Theta Strategy Capital's Eden Rahim
Source: George S. Mack of The Life Sciences Report  (8/12/15)
Volatility is the nature of the biotech beast, and it must be tamed or utilized to advantage. That's the philosophy of Eden Rahim, portfolio manager and option strategist at Theta Strategies Capital. Can you grow a portfolio if some of your more successful names are called away by option buyers before the stock goes into the stratosphere? The answer is yes, and in this interview with The Life Sciences Report, Rahim describes his technique and leaves readers with six names that he fully expects to reap very large gains. More >

The Next Phase for MultiStem: Athersys' Gil Van Bokkelen
Source: George S. Mack of The Life Sciences Report   (8/12/15)
Regenerative medicine is surging toward the mainstream, and Athersys Inc. is riding the crest. Potential safety concerns surrounding cell therapies have been largely addressed, and now the efficacy of the company's MultiStem platform in several massive markets, including stroke, heart attack and acute pulmonary disease, are ready to be tested. As the company advances its portfolio of programs, Chairman and CEO Gil Van Bokkelen tells The Life Sciences Report about the promise that MultiStem holds for both patients and investors. More >

Regenerative Medicine in Japan: CJ PARTNERS' Colin Lee Novick
Source: Gail Dutton of The Life Sciences Report  (8/5/15)
Regenerative medicine is just beginning to be understood by governments and investors alike. Last autumn, new regulations took effect in Japan that promise to speed patient access to some of these new therapies. In this interview with The Life Sciences Report, Colin Lee Novick, managing partner with CJ PARTNERS, describes Japan's regenerative medicine frontier and lists investment-worthy companies that are pushing the boundaries. More >

Cantor Fitzgerald's Caroline Corner: Cutting-Edge Devices and Diagnostics Deliver Drugs and Profits
Source: George S. Mack of The Life Sciences Report  (7/29/15)
Medical technology is not considered a huge-margin investment in the way that the biotech and drug industries are. However, some of today's medtech blurs the line, including hybrid companies developing stem cell and drug-device delivery systems that address complex disease indications ranging from blindness to spinal paralysis. Caroline Corner of Cantor Fitzgerald follows companies with technologies that can both address dire diseases and reap windfalls for investors. In this interview with The Life Sciences Report, Corner brings important names to investors' attention. More >

Probe Biotech's Diverse Subsectors for Undervalued Companies: Van Leeuwenhoeck's Marcel Wijma
Source: Gail Dutton of The Life Sciences Report  (7/1/15)
The life sciences industry is evolving rapidly. Many say it's at the beginning of an explosive growth stage that will see the development and commercialization of novel therapeutics and diagnostics still being imagined in scientific laboratories today. This explosion of innovation also means an explosion of investment opportunity. In this interview with The Life Sciences Report, Marcel Wijma, chief research analyst at Van Leeuwenhoeck Institute, explores some smaller companies working on the industry's forefront. More >

The Big Picture: Edison's Pooya Hemami Looks Beyond Cancer for Biotech Winners
Source: Peter Byrne of The Life Sciences Report  (6/10/15)
Analyst Pooya Hemami of Edison Investment Research casts a wide net when it comes to investment opportunities in the life sciences. You name it, his universe includes it: artificial sweeteners, blood tests, sleep aids, cancer treatments, brain health. In this interview with The Life Sciences Report, Dr. Hemami reflects on the biotech market at midyear, and describes a robust basket of outstanding companies with pipeline treasures. More >

A Bull Run Hiccup: 2015 Small-Cap Biotech Watchlist Update
Source: Staff of The Life Sciences Report  (5/13/15)
It's been four months since The Life Sciences Report's 2015 Small-Cap Biotech Watchlist was announced at the Biotech Showcase in San Francisco. The year is off to a bumpy start, though the rough ride is not predicated, necessarily, on individual company performance. Read on for highlights of the Watchlist's Q1/15 performance. More >

Fire Up the Immune System to Fight Cancers and Boost Portfolios: John McCamant
Source: George S. Mack of The Life Sciences Report  (5/12/15)
An immunotherapy revolution is rocking biotechnology, and investors are searching for just the right way to play the new trend. Do you go with an unknown company where the upside could be unparalleled? Do you go with an older name that has established partnerships with major pharmas? John McCamant, editor of the Medical Technology Stock Letter, has performed some serious diligence, and tells The Life Sciences Report about a handful of names with a range of market caps and the potential to achieve significant investment upside. More >

Alabama Institute of Medicine's Tory Williams Unites Patient Advocacy with Stem Cell Funding in the Deep South
Source: Gail Dutton of The Life Sciences Report  (4/29/15)
Stem cell research is controversial, little understood by both the public and the legislators who set the framework governing it. In this interview with The Life Sciences Report, Tory Williams of the Alabama Institute of Medicine describes how her patient advocacy group is working with research institutes to advance stem cell science and provide the early-stage funding and contacts that researchers and young companies need to grow and prosper. More >

How to Grow a Regenerative Medicine Industry in Canada: Michael May of CCRM
Source: George S. Mack of The Life Sciences Report  (4/23/15)
There's a new kind of incubator in town. The Centre for Commercialization of Regenerative Medicine (CCRM) is a Canadian nonprofit that fosters hands-on association between academia, government, industry and investors to grow stem cell and regenerative medicine companies from the ground up. In this interview with The Life Sciences Report, CCRM President and CEO Michael May guides us through the process that brings ideas out of academia and adds the essential nurturing elements to get startups off the ground and into commercial development. Along the way, he mentions a few names that may interest investors. More >

Why Investors Shouldn't Worry About Explosive New Drug Pricing: Maxim's Jason Kolbert
Source: George S. Mack of The Life Sciences Report  (4/8/15)
It's the daring Phase 2-stage molecules of today that will bring patients a generation of biotech drugs that could cure certain deadly diseases tomorrow. The candidates that succeed will also energize the portfolios of investors who have exercised patience. Jason Kolbert of New York City-based Maxim Group relishes finding early-stage, cutting-edge, small-cap names that he believes will change the paradigm of medical practice. In this interview with The Life Sciences Report, Kolbert shares a list of favorite biotechs developing products that will command premium pricing and sustained performance in the marketplace. More >

Three Biotechs that Could Radically Change the Practice of Medicine Forever: Wasatch Analyst Jill Wahleithner
Source: George S. Mack of The Life Sciences Report  (3/25/15)
Buyside analysts don't publish ratings and target prices for the public: Nearly all their notes, analyses and projections are top secret. However, in this interview with The Life Sciences Report, Wasatch Advisors' Jill Wahleithner breaks that tacit rule. Wahleithner, a former big pharma scientist, identifies three unusual biotechs with advanced therapeutic technology platforms that could turn the tide against conditions that have plagued humankind for eons, and the potential returns on investment matches the potential to completely and radically change the practice of medicine forever. More >

Why Your Last Investment Blew Up
Source: Karl Theil, BioPharm Executive  (3/24/15)
"There are tightly designed, highly predictive Phase 2 studies, and then there are Hail Mary studies aimed at moving into pivotal trials, fingers crossed, as quickly as possible. You can't tell where a given program may lie on the spectrum based on headlines. . ." More >

How ARM's Edward Lanphier Is Fighting for Cell Therapy Cures that Save Patients and Portfolios
Source: George S. Mack of The Life Sciences Report  (3/19/15)
Stem cell, gene therapy and genetically modified cell therapy companies have begun to attract serious capital from investors who understand biotechnology and have the wherewithal to move products into the clinic and into the market. But battles still loom on the political and reimbursement front. Edward Lanphier, founder and CEO of Sangamo BioSciences Inc. and current chairman of the Alliance for Regenerative Medicine, sees near-term milestones on the horizon, as well as additional inflows of validating capital from prominent investors. In this interview with The Life Sciences Report, Lanphier describes upcoming milestones and share-moving catalysts, some of which will be revealed at ARM's Regen Med Investor Day. More >

Will Stem Cell Profits Measure Up?: NxR Biotechnologies' Alain Vertès
Source: George S. Mack of The Life Sciences Report  (3/17/15)
It makes no sense to look at stem cell companies differently from drug or biologics companies. The technology may be different, but the diseases they seek to treat are the same. In fact, cell therapies may ultimately be more useful and more curative than drugs, and hence more valuable. That's the way Alain Vertès of NxR Biotechnologies sees it. In this interview with The Life Sciences Report, Vertès talks about some of the stem cell names he knows well, and draws comparisons investors can bank on. More >

How Alan Leong of BioWatch News Keeps Successful Biotech Investing Simple
Source: George S. Mack of The Life Sciences Report  (3/4/15)
Biotechnology can be daunting to comprehend, but understanding is critical to successful investment. BioWatch News Founder Alan Leong has a nose for growth names, and his goal is to make their technology platforms clear to investors who might not be able to make sense of peer-reviewed scientific literature but want the big upside that science promises. In this interview with The Life Sciences Report, Leong brings seven micro-cap names with massive potential to investors' attention. More >

Changing of the Guard at FDA: Is Califf the Next Commissioner?
Source: Damian Garde, FierceBiotech   (2/5/15)
"Under Margaret Hamburg's watch, the FDA instituted a slew of programs designed to speed up the review process for new drugs, and 2014 saw the agency approve a 20-year-record 51 novel therapies." More >