Steve, I expect Biotechs to do well. Here's H&Q's van den Broek's BUY rec on LGND:
Ligand Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
LGND (Nasdaq): $12 3/8
Rating: BUY
Healthcare
Initiating Coverage with a BUY Recommendation
December 9, 1996 (11 pp.)
Richard A. van den Broek
(212) 207-1412
rbroek@hamquist.com
Please refer to the relevant definitions of the legal disclosures (notes) and security ratings.
Ligand is a world leader in the emerging paradigm of target-driven drug design -- the
application of biotechnology to discover cellular targets to develop small-molecule
chemical drugs. The company is working on a variety of biological targets in several
disease areas, with a proprietary focus on cancer. Several of the company's drug
candidates are in late-stage clinical trials, and it is possible that Ligand's first product will
receive FDA approval by year-end 1997 or early 1998.
In addition, Ligand has six active collaborative relationships with some of the world's
leading multinational pharmaceutical companies, which provide significant validation of the
value of the company's scientific expertise, as well as substantial financial support.
In our opinion, the company embodies two of the important themes in biotech investments:
late-stage product opportunities and a broad, proprietary technology platform. The
company has sufficient resources ($85 million in cash) and an experienced management
team to bring the company to profitability in the next three years, with the prospects for
substantial profitability beyond that. We view Ligand as the first company successfully
executing the business model of the next generation of biotech companies, and
subsequently initiate coverage with BUY recommendation. |
