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Biotech / Medical : Ligand (LGND) Breakout! -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Henry Niman who wrote (19250)	4/17/1998 10:36:00 PM
From: TomOrt	Respond to of 32384

Does anyone know who will represent Biotec, at W.S.W. with Lew, at next week's "Health Special"?

To: Henry Niman who wrote (19250)	4/17/1998 11:02:00 PM
From: WTDEC	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 32384

Henry, the trend reported in the article "investors have remained somewhat receptive to such "toolbox" biotechs on the theory that they are less risky and more likely to make money in the short term" seems to be one that is also being followed by vc's investing in start ups. I got a strong impression that the focus now is on 'tools' and medical devices rather than drug development. Aside from the ability of these sorts of companies to generate cash flow sooner and their being more "IPOable", the vc's seem leery of the huge amount of drug development already underway. The good news is that creation of potentially competitive drug development companies is likely to remain low (exception - where large pharma backing is available up-front). The challenge will be successfully dealing with the new tools and technology in the drug development process. There is an expectation that the process of drug discovery and approval is going speed up significantly, thus obsoleting new drugs at a more rapid rate. This has obvious implications for investment payback and returns. I'm sure you know Birndorf. He has been involved in a number of very successful biotech start ups, so it is probably a good idea to put Nanogen on the radar screen. Regards, Walter