Will Illumina Reject Roche's Raised Takeover Bid?
Source: Aabha Rathee, Wall St. Cheat Sheet  (4/17/12)
"Shareholders of the San-Diego based Illumina seem to be collectively siding with their board, which has already rejected two bids from Roche." More >

Superior Biotechnology Leads to Superior Drugs
Source: Ray Blanco, Penny Sleuth  (4/17/12)
"Revolutions in our understanding of the genome and proteome are opening up new pathways toward vanquishing the cancer foe." More >

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 >

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 >

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 >

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 >

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 >

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 >

Looking for Innovative Small-Cap Biotech Companies: George Zavoico
Source: George S. Mack of The Life Sciences Report  (3/22/12)
High-quality science underlies successful drug development companies, even those that turn one company's discarded junk into biotech treasure. That's an example of one compelling investment strategy being employed by Senior Analyst and Managing Director George Zavoico of MLV & Co. In this exclusive interview with The Life Sciences Report, Zavoico lays out a number of solid ideas predicated on good science that growth seekers can leverage for real gains. More >

A Scientist Finds Treasure Researching Oncology Drugs
Source: George S. Mack, The Life Sciences Report  (3/22/12)
I love finding out how people move from point A to point B in their careers. It was an incremental process for George Zavoico, who is today a senior equity analyst at New York City-based MLV & Co., a boutique investment bank focusing on the small cap space. Armed with his doctorate in physiology, Zavoico loves the research model, in both science and finance, and he wants to get as close as possible to the drugs and their targets inside the companies he covers. His current small company niche seems to suit his trained curiosity just perfectly. "I find that I can approach the science, the investigators and the academic researchers developing innovative drugs mainly through smaller-cap companies," he told me in a telephone conversation. . . More >

MedTech Industry Stock Outlook
Source: Zacks Equity Research  (3/6/12)
"Although still saddled with an unfavorable macro environment, the medtech indyustry is expected to fare better in 2012 thanks to attractive growth opportunities and healthy tailwinds including improving hospital spending, emerging markets and pent-up demand." More >

Looking for Solid Science in Biotech
Source: George S. Mack, The Life Sciences Report  (3/5/12)
Solid ideas in biotech come from solid research. I first spoke with analyst Carol Werther in early 1999 when I was preparing to write about Immunex, which had developed Enbrel (etanercept) for rheumatoid arthritis (RA). The product had just been approved by the FDA in November 1998, and it held the distinction of being the first in a new class of anti-tumor necrosis factor (TNF) agents that would treat autoimmune disorders, not just symptomatically but truly as a disease-modifying agent. Along would come others in this innovative category of anti-TNFs that now total approximately $15 billion (B) in annual sales and include the familiar names Remicade (infliximab) and Humira (adalimumab). . . More >

Being Selective in Biotech: Carol Werther
Source: George S. Mack of The Life Sciences Report  (3/1/12)
In an industry steeped in complex research and speculative drug development, successful biotech investing requires real sophistication. Senior Biotechnology Analyst Carol Werther of Boston-based Summer Street Research Partners brings her experience to bear on the trinity of unmet needs, reimbursement and what physicians are willing to support with their prescription pads. In this exclusive interview with The Life Sciences Report, Werther shares her high-percentage picks that present opportunities for significant returns. More >

Biotech Platform Technologies Make Big Promises
Source: George S. Mack, The Life Sciences Report  (2/28/12)
Words to Invest By: Make sure you see a lead development product that big pharma is willing to bet on. I love the idea of a smart technology platform that could feed multiple product candidates into a biotech pipeline. The notion is exhilarating because that's where those rare 10- and 20-baggers come from. . . More >

Biotech Stocks Start Strong in 2012: John McCamant
Source: George S. Mack of The Life Sciences Report  (2/23/12)
After a three-and-one-half year slide, biotechnology stocks started 2012 with a powerful move to the upside. Is this an arms-acquisition race for products in development, or is it about excellent fundamentals that are just getting noticed? Medical Technology Stock Letter Editor John McCamant sees a bit of both, and in this exclusive interview with The Life Sciences Report, he has selected a few names that he believes will rise to the top. More >

Infectious Disease Technologies Could Open Investment Opportunities in 2012: Stephen Dunn
Source: George S. Mack of The Life Sciences Report  (2/16/12)
Investors have avoided infectious disease companies like the plague, but LifeTech Capital President and Senior Managing Director of Research Stephen Dunn doesn't agree, and he has staked out some ideas in this space that could make you financially better off. In this exclusive interview with The Life Sciences Report, Dunn explains the rationale and delivers the names of bug-fighting companies that use the newest technologies to overcome old barriers to success. More >