One of the Top 10 Equity Analyst Interviews of 2013: Biotech Productivity and Innovation Leads to Significant Stock Price Appreciation
67 WALL STREET, New York - December 6, 2013 - The Wall Street Transcript has just published its Top Ten Equity Analyst Interviews 2013 Report. This special feature contains expert industry commentary through in-depth interviews with highly experienced Equity Analysts. The full issue is available by calling (212) 952-7433 or via The Wall Street Transcript Online.
Topics covered: Acceleration of Biotechnology Innovation and Top Stock Picks and Predictions
Companies include: Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. (REGN), Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorpo (VRTX), Cubist Pharmaceuticals Inc. (CBST), AstraZeneca plc (AZN), Arena Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (ARNA), VIVUS Inc. (VVUS), Alexion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (ALXN), Gilead Sciences Inc. (GILD), Celgene Corporation (CELG), Biogen Idec Inc. (BIIB), Amgen Inc. (AMGN), GlaxoSmithKline plc (GSK), Array BioPharma, Inc. (ARRY), Novartis AG (NVS)
In the following excerpt from the Top Ten Equity Analyst Interviews 2013 Report, an experienced Biotech equity research analyst discusses his top picks and his outlook for the sector for investors:
TWST: This is for our focus on biotech. The group has certainly done well over the last year, particularly versus the market. What's been the driving force in that strong outperformance?
Mr. Tenthoff: So it's interesting. I've worked at Piper Jaffray now for 10 years, and I was at Robertson Stephens for about five years before that, and I have to tell you, I've never been so excited about what's taking place in the biotechnology industry. It's really a matter of technological advances, including the sequencing of the genome, that is leading to accelerated learning in biology. This is in turn yielding a dramatic increase in productivity and innovation that is reflected in FDA-approved drugs.
Firstly, we're seeing several biotech companies launch the drugs themselves, such as Regeneron (REGN) and Vertex (VRTX), and become very profitable, resulting in massive increases in the stock performance. Secondly, we're seeing companies continue to get acquired by Big Pharma for late-stage pipeline. One of our IPOs from 2010, Trius (TSRX), completed two pivotal studies in acute bacterial skin and skin structure infections and was just bought by Cubist (CBST) for more than $800 million this summer. We had another IPO from earlier this year, Omthera, which is developing a new omega-3 fish oil and was acquired by AstraZeneca (AZN). So we're seeing this innovation and this productivity out of the sector yield not only more profitable biotech companies, but also a lot of M&A, and that's really what's garnering investor attention.
TWST: What has enhanced productivity? Has there been change in approach?
Mr. Tenthoff: Not a change in approach per se, but rather an acceleration of learning. At the fundamental level, biology and chemistry and understanding of the cause of disease is all information. Over the last 10 years, we've seen exponential growth in several biotechnologies, such as genomics and genetic information - i.e. the sequencing of the genome - in animal models, in bioinformatics, in chemistry itself and targeted therapies, even just in fundamental pathway biology and the molecular understanding of disease.
When you start to stack exponentially growing technologies on top of each other, it actually starts to yield parabolic growth, and that's what we're now seeing. So it's not any one individual technology, but rather this whole transformational process of moving from the bench top to the clinic to new drugs.
TWST: Is there more to go or have we pretty much run the course on this?
For more of this interview and many others visit the Wall Street Transcript - a unique service for investors and industry researchers - providing fresh commentary and insight through verbatim interviews with CEOs, portfolio managers and research analysts. This special issue is available by calling (212) 952-7433 or via The Wall Street Transcript Online.
