Closing In On Cancer
A lot of the most exciting research and best investment opportunities are at smaller biotechs.
Daily breakthroughs in science are making it increasingly possible that you'll live to see a cure for cancer. Some daring investors may get a chance to profit too. The worldwide market for cancer therapeutics is worth $16 billion now, and a flood of new drugs is in development. Yes, Big Pharma is one way to play this burgeoning sector. But a lot of the most exciting research--and the best investment opportunities--can be found at smaller biotech companies. Less pressured to meet quarterly profit expectations, they tend to be more adventuresome. None of these companies guarantees a cure--and all come with huge risks--but a single successful drug can give your portfolio a healthy boost.
One biotech with extremely promising research is Cell Genesys (CEGE, $18). It is targeting common forms of the disease--prostate, lung, and pancreatic cancer--with new forms of gene therapy. Rather than trying to prevent cancer, the company's GVAX line of vaccines, which are being developed to work in conjunction with established treatments like chemotherapy, modify cancerous cells. Those cells are then reintroduced into the patient, inducing the immune system to destroy tumors. In May the company made news with the results of early-stage trials of GVAX: The tumors in some terminally ill patients--who had not responded to conventional treatment--disappeared completely. "We're working on things that are the first of their kind," says Cell Genesys CEO Steve Sherwin.
Sherwin, a veteran of biotech giant Genentech, has the added advantage of being on solid financial ground. The Foster City, Calif., company has $232 million in cash and a 10% stake in fellow biotech Abgenix worth $250 million. That means Cell Genesys' $620 million market value isn't much greater than its tangible assets. "The valuation is low considering what they have in their pipeline," says Faraz Naqvi, manager of the Dresdner RCM Biotechnology fund, the sector's longtime top performer.
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