Biotech at the Beach -- Hot Technology, Part I :: Michael Shulman's Biotech Blitz

Biotech at the Beach -- Hot Technology, Part I

What have I looked at for your reading and investing pleasure?

- genomics
- RNA interference
- alternative research models for Alzheimer's disease
- computer modeling of treatment protocols
- and some other stuff I am still sifting through.

You are probably familiar with much of the hope and hype of genomics and RNA interference. Every year ChangeWave surveys of physicians and researchers in the health care space tell me genomics is the place with the most intensive research efforts and the most hope for major breakthroughs. Tomorrow (maybe Saturday, depending on the weather and whether my kids want to wake up to play golf) I will explore genomics, but my current belief is that is more hype than concrete hope, we are quite far away from therapies, and the place you need to be putting investment dollars in diagnostics and equipment and services for actual research. If I sound too cautious, remember, when scientists say they have mapped the Human Genome, they forget to mention they are not looking at junk DNA -- and junk DNA is about 97%-98% of the DNA floating around.

RNAi has been hot -- in the stock market -- due to deals and acquisitions, but only one drug is in late stage trial. Logically, this is a very promising area and I have taken a lot of grief about warning investors to stay away it was too early. I forgot that desperate Big Pharma outfits make desperate mistakes and they have bid up the value of little guys in this arena. In the next couple of days I will spend more time on RNAi -- again, weather permitting -- and try to sort the wheat from the chaff, the fundamentals from the press releases, in this segment.

Stay tuned -- I am poaching one of my kids' laptops, my wireless card is too weak to pick up a signal from somewhere between my house and the beach, or the canal, or the wetlands, or the Inner Coastal Waterway -- it is a great spot -- and if you have something to add on these and other topics, please post.

Comments

After a few days at the beach, and some fun (for me) reading, it is clear there are few, if any, "hot" technologies in biotech that are dominating research efforts the way monoclonal antibodies did a generation. Nor is there a giant wave of money flowing into one approach as could be seen with anti-sense technology a decade ago. Monoclonal antibody research eventually produced some important drugs; anti-sense, is, well, nonsensical. What have I looked at for your reading and investing pleasure? - genomics - RNA interference - alternative research models for Alzheimer's disease - computer modeling of treatment protocols - and some other stuff I am still sifting through. You are probably familiar with much of the hope and hype of genomics and RNA interference. Every year ChangeWave surveys of physicians and researchers in the health care space tell me genomics is the place with the most intensive research efforts and the most hope for major breakthroughs. Tomorrow (maybe Saturday, depending on the weather and whether my kids want to wake up to play golf) I will explore genomics, but my current belief is that is more hype than concrete hope, we are quite far away from therapies, and the place you need to be putting investment dollars in diagnostics and equipment and services for actual research. If I sound too cautious, remember, when scientists say they have mapped the Human Genome, they forget to mention they are not looking at junk DNA -- and junk DNA is about 97%-98% of the DNA floating around. RNAi has been hot -- in the stock market -- due to deals and acquisitions, but only one drug is in late stage trial. Logically, this is a very promising area and I have taken a lot of grief about warning investors to stay away it was too early. I forgot that desperate Big Pharma outfits make desperate mistakes and they have bid up the value of little guys in this arena. In the next couple of days I will spend more time on RNAi -- again, weather permitting -- and try to sort the wheat from the chaff, the fundamentals from the press releases, in this segment. Stay tuned -- I am poaching one of my kids' laptops, my wireless card is too weak to pick up a signal from somewhere between my house and the beach, or the canal, or the wetlands, or the Inner Coastal Waterway -- it is a great spot -- and if you have something to add on these and other topics, please post.