Paul,The following may warm your heart. It is interesting that Ligand is so far down the list for Mr Larson.
SAN DIEGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 12, 1998--If you want to catch the next wave in biotechnology, follow a five-year plan says a successful long-time biotech investor.
Jerry Larson, a major biotechnology investor and one of the few individual investors regularly invited to institutional conferences, says the waves come every five years. ''I've seen companies lose a chairman and the stock goes up, and I've watched firms declare that drugs work and the stocks go down,'' Larson quipped. ''The sector seems to move every five years, not necessarily for rhyme or reason. That means we may not see broad improvement until 1999.''
Larson, a stock picker, typically owns only 10 biotech stocks. ''Isis (Nasdaq:ISIP - news) is my best value right now. They've got seven products in the clinic and more in development, great technology, patents. These are products they own by themselves, not in partnership, yet look where the stock's trading.'' ISIP trades around 13.
Larson's Top Ten in order of preference are: Isis Pharmaceuticals, AXYS Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq:AXPH - news), Agouron Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq:AGPH - news), Icos Corp. (Nasdaq:ICOS - news), Alteon (Nasdaq:ALTN - news), Cephalon (Nasdaq:CEPH - news), Sugen (Nasdaq: SUGN - news), Cor Therapeutics (Nasdaq:CORR - news), Gilead Sciences (Nasdaq:GILD - news) and Ligand Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq:LGND - news).
Associate biotech analyst Michael Wood at Hambrecht & Quist hopes good results and drug-approvals propel selected stocks. Wood blames ''a significant number'' of clinical trial failures for sector softness. Sangstat Medical (Nasdaq:SANG - news)--''We expect approval for Cyclosporine in roughly two months and profitability by year's end''--Incyte Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq:INCY - news) among drug discoverers, and Biochem Pharma (Nasdaq:BCHE - news), which may have approval for its hepatitis B drug in Asia and South America by mid-year, are top picks, Wood said. |
