Hang On, Folks—It's Going to Be a Bumpy Ride: 2014 Biotech Watchlist Update
Source: Tracy Salcedo-Chourré of The Life Sciences Report  (4/10/14)
Biotech stocks sailed into 2014 backed by a favorable wind, but springtime has stymied the sector in confused seas. Companies on The Life Sciences Report's 2014 Biotech Watchlist have hit the doldrums along with the rest, as faithful followers of the portfolio are doubtless aware. But sector analysts defend the general robustness of the life sciences market as a whole. In this Biotech Watchlist update, we bring you the thoughts of two analysts on the recent market turbulence, and offer brief recaps of Watchlist companies' fortunes year to date. More >

Putting Money Where the Mouse Is: How Animal Studies Lead Medical Research Down Dead Ends
Source: Richard Harris, NPR  (4/8/14)
"If scientists had been more careful with their initial mouse studies, they would have realized that these drugs were never good candidates and that it made no sense to try them in people." More >

How Did High Flyers Turn into Soul Searchers? Maxim Analyst Jason Kolbert on the Highs and Lows of Biotech Valuations
Source: Editors, Streetwise Reports  (4/2/14)
After soaring more than 56% last year, the NASDAQ Biotechnology Index is down almost 15% in March. In this interview with The Life Sciences Report, Jason Kolbert of the Maxim Group points to increased approval rates and a better economic and regulatory environment as the fundamentals behind a revaluation that has occurred in the sector. Kolbert also reflects on recent concerns about pricing and policy changes that have triggered what he considers a normal, healthy correction in an otherwise robust and intact sector. More >

Better, Faster, Cheaper—You Can Have All Three in Medtech: Ben Haynor
Source: George S. Mack of The Life Sciences Report  (3/5/14)
Given that medical technology is an easy target for payers looking to cut reimbursements, it's important for investors to find device and diagnostic companies with the greatest efficiencies. Accuracy, speed and economy command a premium multiple because these features ultimately relieve pressure on margins, improve quality and reduce patient risk and institutional liability. In this interview with The Life Sciences Report, Senior Research Analyst Ben Haynor of Feltl & Co. shares his top two medtech names, which he expects will achieve outsized gains this year. He also delivers a couple of bonus names that investors could parlay into a profitable small- and micro-cap portfolio. More >

Specialty Pharma Bulking Up: $100B Boost in 2013 Market Cap Drives Deals in Early 2014
Source: Andrew Forman, EY  (2/25/14)
"Specialty pharma acquirers accounted for roughly 40% of all 2013 M&A by value, with no fewer than seven offshore deals totaling over US$35B. All of these deals resulted in increased 2014 guidance." More >

Regenerative Medicine Finally Gets Some Respect: Reni Benjamin
Source: JT Long of The Life Sciences Report  (2/11/14)
Of the many themes that propelled the biotech sector to record returns in 2013, regenerative medicine and therapeutics targeting cancer were front and center. In this interview with The Life Sciences Report, Reni Benjamin, managing director and equity research analyst at H.C. Wainwright & Co., talks about two companies with impending catalysts that play on these themes, and offers his take on the prospects for the regenerative medicine sector going forward. More >

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. More >

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. More >

Follow the M&A Money to Small- and Mid-Cap Cardiovascular Medtechs: Jason Mills
Source: George S. Mack of The Life Sciences Report   (1/2/14)
Some investors' eyes glaze over at the mention of medical devices. But it's time to wake up and focus on the stunning growth opportunities in small- and mid-cap cardiovascular medtech. Canaccord Genuity Managing Director Jason Mills covers companies on the front lines of innovation and in sectors where the trifecta of revenue, margins and reimbursement is achieving biotechlike levels. In this interview with The Life Sciences Report, Mills opens the new year with a discussion of the cardiovascular medtech industry and mentions companies that are probable acquisition candidates. More >

Micro-Cap Medtech with Explosive Upside Potential: Brian Marckx
Source: George S. Mack of The Life Sciences Report   (12/19/13)
Combine the complexity of genomic testing with the high risk inherent in micro-cap stocks, and you have investment opportunities that require exceptional diligence. The reward for understanding the value proposition of budding companies? The payoff can be enormous. In this interview with The Life Sciences Report, Senior Medical Device Analyst Brian Marckx of Zacks Investment Research has selected eight micro-cap names that could return triples, quads and more for investors willing to do their homework. More >

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. More >

Global Expansion and Affordable Care Act Boost Life Science Tools and Diagnostics: Bryan Brokmeier
Source: George S. Mack of The Life Sciences Report  (11/7/13)
Two years ago, medtech was thought to be waning. Investors were deserting companies perceived to be short on margins and sure to be demolished by the Affordable Care Act. Today the landscape is transformed: Medtech companies are embracing international markets, preparing for increased volumes of procedures and enjoying new, rich valuations. Do they have what it takes to woo investors back? In this interview with The Life Sciences Report, Bryan Brokmeier of the Maxim Group picks a small group of names that have performed brilliantly over the past year and that he expects will treat investors very well. More >

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. More >

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. More >

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." More >

In Vitro Diagnostics Growth to Spearhead Future of Medtech
Source: Elizabeth Cairns, EP Vantage  (9/23/13)
"The analysis of the top 20 sectors of the worldwide medical device market reveals that the IVD sector is expanding at a CAGR of 5.1%, outpacing the overall medtech market growth rate of 4.5%." More >

Hidden Finds in Regenerative and Medical Technology: Jeff Cohen
Source: Peter Byrne of The Life Sciences Report  (9/12/13)
Ladenburg Thalmann & Co. Inc.'s Jeff Cohen regularly explores the frontiers of regenerative and medical technology looking for solid investment opportunities. In this interview with The Life Sciences Report, Cohen reveals promising finds in one of the world's fastest-growing business sectors. From robotics to skin grafts, Cohen knows his science and his market. More >

Griffin Securities' Keith Markey Gives Performance Reviews on Four Favorite Biotech Names
Source: Peter Byrne of The Life Sciences Report  (9/12/13)
As science director for Griffin Securities, Keith Markey knows his way around the advanced technologies of the most promising research in biotech. In this interview with The Life Sciences Report, Markey explains the science behind new developments in the antibiotic, diabetic and dermatological fields, highlighting ground-floor investment opportunities that investors will not want to miss. More >

Medtech Stock Update: Public Policy Forces Restructuring, M&A Activity
Source: Zacks Equity Research  (9/10/13)
"The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), particularly the medical device excise tax, has taken a heavy toll on the medtech sector, hurting pricing decisions of the companies and subjecting them to tremendous margin pressure." More >

Digging Below the Surface of Neurotechnology: Casey Lynch
Source: George S. Mack of The Life Sciences Report  (9/5/13)
Neuroscience is about as complex as it gets. The central nervous system contains the brain and spinal cord, where hundreds of billions of neurons are located—and that doesn't include the peripheral nervous system. Casey Lynch, managing director of NeuroInsights, works to make sense of both the disease processes affecting the nervous system and potential therapies that could help patients and enrich investors. In this interview with The Life Sciences Report, Lynch brings some clarity to the complexity, and speaks frankly about the wild goose that some Alzheimer's disease investigators have been chasing. More >

Medical Conference Schedule Sept. 2013 through March 2014
Source: Michael King, JP Morgan  (9/5/13)
More >

Breakthrough Therapy Designation Speeds Up Drug Approvals
Source: Patricia Dimond, Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology News  (9/4/13)
"The FDA's new development path is specifically designed for experimental agents that produce large and unprecedented treatment effects in early clinical trials. If a drug is designated a breakthrough therapy, the FDA says it will expedite the development and review of the drug." More >

Adventures in the Biotech Trade with Jim Letourneau
Source: Peter Byrne of The Life Sciences Report  (8/15/13)
Jim Letourneau, publisher of Big Picture Speculator, shares tales of strange biotechnologies worth buying into—such as cures for high dental bills and dog breath—in this interview with The Life Sciences Report. Letourneau likes to invest in biotech firms because their stock values are less volatile than commodity-based companies, which are chained to uncontrollable price fluctuations. You are advised to hold onto your brain (quite literally), while Letourneau describes a few curious—and potentially profitable—biotech investment adventures. More >

Our Worry-Free Way of Investing in Biotech
Source: Greg Madison, Money Morning  (8/2/13)
"We are on the cusp of some truly amazing discoveries. There is a tier of biotech companies working around the clock on products with amazing potential." More >

How to Invest in the Golden Age of Biotech
Source: Diane Alter, Money Morning  (6/26/13)
"Propelled by new drug debuts, research advances and a full pipeline, a long stretch of rewarding breakthrough products should continue to flow in the years ahead." More >