GERN: Many Years to Go (From RealMoney)
04/03/03 09:37 AM EST Reader: Would Sally Yanchus still short Geron (GERN:Nasdaq) if she were able to borrow the stock? Does she have any update? -- Charles Kornblith
Sally Yanchus: Yes. GERN is many years from getting a drug on the market. All of the news reports ("hype") are about their stem cell research and liver cell research -- emphasis on the word "research." These are experiments still in the test tube, and even getting them to the Phase 1 and 2 stages will require significant amounts of additional R&D (people, time and money).
The company has $47 million in cash, or less than $2 per share. Look for them to do a financing sometime before year-end 2003, as this amount won't last them more than 12 months or so.
Sally Yanchus
Sally Yanchus is an analyst and consultant for health care clients. From 1997 through 2001, Yanchus worked as a buy-side analyst covering biotech and pharmaceuticals, first at Zurich Scudder Investments and most recently at The Galleon Group. For eight years before joining the buy side, Yanchus was a sell-side analyst covering biotech, pharmaceuticals and medical devices at Smith Barney, Morgan Stanley, Lehman Bros. and CIBC (now Oppenheimer). |
