GW, I think there is little doubt about who has the most respected management in the scientific community, and that is Chiron. However, I think they make up in lack of business acumen what they have in medical know-how. Overall, I think you get the best response and most timely approval if you have a big drug co. backing you as a partner. Exceptions would be Biogen and Amgen, but I am not sure that even they get stuff through as easily as Genentech, which has Hoffman-LaRouche as a sugar daddy.
Cephalon was my biggest long stock winner of the past decade. I originally bought it at $7 and sold my last third at $49, then traded it several times successfully after that. But they did blow it. To tell you the truth, I always worried about their hyping, but I did like the ride up. And caught at least some of the ride down. Buying calls was inbecilic. That isn't what companies are supposed to do. However, they do have a nice looking pipeline and I think they will do better in the future. If you can get it cheap, it is a good buy. MB |
