Wall Street Transcript Interview with Boris Peaker, Executive Director and Senior Analyst at Oppenheimer & Co. Inc.: Finding Innovation in Biotechnology for Cell Therapy, Oncology and Orphan Drugs
67 WALL STREET, New York - May 1, 2013 - The Wall Street Transcript has just published its Biotechnology and Pharmaceuticals Report offering a timely review of the sector to serious investors and industry executives. This special feature contains expert industry commentary through in-depth interviews with public company CEOs and Equity Analysts. The full issue is available by calling (212) 952-7433 or via The Wall Street Transcript Online.
Topics covered: Health Care - Biotechnology and Pharmaceuticals - Executive Officer Interviews - Biotechnology and Pharmaceutical Investing - Orphan Drug and Biologics Manufacturing - Biotechnology and Pharmaceutical Companies Valuation
Companies include: Celgene Corporation (CELG), Amgen Inc. (AMGN), Celldex Therapeutics, Inc. (CLDX), Aastrom Biosciences, Inc. (ASTM), Pluristem Therapeutics, Inc. (PSTI), Arena Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (ARNA), Immunogen Inc. (IMGN) and many more.
In the following excerpt from the Biotechnology and Pharmaceuticals Report, an expert analyst discusses the outlook for the sector for investors:
TWST: What have been some of the biggest successes and which have been the companies with the biggest successes?
Mr. Peaker: In terms of successes in the oncology space, on the larger-cap side we've had some positive news from Celgene (CELG) for this drug called Pomalyst in myeloma. It's a relatively limited market in our view at this point, but still a novel compound for a high-profile indication.
Recently, Amgen (AMGN) reported very interesting topline results from a melanoma drug, which is also very exciting. We don't know the details, but at least the top line sounds encouraging. My top pick has been and remains at this time, Celldex (CLDX). I think that their targeted antibody-drug conjugate drug is highly innovative and showed very encouraging data.
In cell therapy, I follow several cell therapy companies. Recently there was some negative development for Aastrom (ASTM), which was not surprising. Basically, what it comes down to, and it's something that's always been our thesis, is that while cell therapy may seem attractive because it tends to be very safe and not really have the side effects of traditional oncology drugs, it also has to be relatively easy for the patient and have a pretty broad-based indication. So the reason Aastrom discontinued clinical development wasn't because of failure of outcome for its therapy. It's simply they couldn't get the patient into the study.
It's always been our concern about their particular situation because the actual harvesting of the cell is pretty inconvenient for the patient, and they have such a narrow recruiting criteria that when you put those two together, they couldn't even run a study realistically getting those patients. So cell therapy remains a very interesting area, but I think that there's still a lot...
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