IJ,
On AMEV I'm basically trailing in the wake of RKRW - usually a very smart place to be. <g>
If you listen to MEDI's recent analyst day, you'll see AMEV's projects featured prominently. They've clearly been very successful in engineering a better Synagis antibody - perhaps 20X more potent, or even more in some models. That, together with Lilly coming back to the AMEV well twice (threee deals in all), indicates to me that their technology is broadly applicable.
There are some big-selling antibodies out there, and improved versions would all be big sellers - lower cost of goods (important w/ biologics) and very likely enhanced efficacy to boot.
They also have a nice mixture of partnered programs and their own stuff, and the stock is still not real expensive even after their run-up.
I do have a little MLNM bought this year, but not enough to make it into my top holdings. It drives more focused guys like Rick crazy, but I hold a lot of stocks in smallish amounts. Because I am so concentrated in biotechs overall (and this stock concentration has if anything increased over the years) I need to diversify within biotechs as much as is reasonable. I basically hold very few non-biotech stocks - a few energy plays mainly, together with some US bonds and foreign (mostly Euro) bonds. I also have some broad non-biotech short positions as a hedge against an overall market decline.
But note that although I am diversified, I do considerably over-weight some issues - notably the top ones listed previously. Most (but not all) of the overweighting is simply Darwinian - I usually let my winners ride for several years. REGN is mostly more recent and about the only holdings in that list that isn't there largely by virtue of price appreciation. (SEPR is a mixture of price appreciation and continued overweighting both before and while they were in the doldrums; AMEV is a mixture of recent purchases and price appreciation).
For REGN I'm just patiently waiting for a juicy VEGF trap partner.
Peter |
