The Biotech Investor: How to Profit from the Coming Boom in Biotechnology [Paperback]

Tom Abate (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0805075089 | ISBN-13: 978-0805075083 | Publication Date: January 1, 2004

“Tom Abate’s reporting on biotechnology has always been ahead of the times. The Biotech Investor tackles the brave new world of stem cells, genomics, and clones and comes up a winner.” —Thom Calandra, editor in chief, CBS MarketWatch

In The Biotech Investor, San Francisco Chronicle biotechnology reporter Tom Abate explains the science, finances, time horizon, and technological and commercial potential of this burgeoning industry.
Abate provides guidelines for assessing company leadership, easy-to-digest reports from the labs, and indispensable investor tools and metrics. He shares strategies for
• tracking the effect of breaking news and the NASDAQ
• anticipating drug trial announcements and FDA approvals
• assessing the potential market, patent rights, and distribution deals for a drug
He looks beyond medicine to biotech-related opportunities in everything from agriculture to jean manufacturing to software development. The Biotech Investor is the comprehensive, expert source for successful and intelligent investing in one of the twenty-first century’s most promising industries.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

With the population aging and eager for medical innovations, the market for biotechnology is vast. But for investors looking at biotech firms, it can be a minefield: before a company’s brilliant ideas pan out as profitable products, they must go through years of costly research and development, clear government regulatory hurdles and sometimes, as with genetically modified foods, weather political controversy. This informative and well-written primer will help individual investors navigate the treacherous terrain of biotech stocks. Abate, a biotechnology and health care reporter for the San Francisco Chronicle, provides an overview of each sector of the biotechnology industry and the leading companies in it, tells where to find up-to-date information on the scientific and medical developments that drive the market, and explains how to evaluate the financial prospects of the often shaky start-ups that crowd the field. His advice is appropriately cautious; he suggests putting no more than 20% of a portfolio in biotechnology, and waiting until a company is in hailing distance of profitability before investing. While the book is pitched at the non-professional, Abate makes it clear that these speculative, volatile and often over-sold stocks demand more effort—he recommends reading scientific journals, attending conferences and perusing the patent literature —than a complacent mutual-fund investor is used to. But for those willing to brave the new world of biotechnology, this is a good place to start. 20 charts and graphs.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

For investors having a hard time grasping concepts in computer technology, the biotechnology business is even more mystifying. With futuristic names like Genentech, Protein Design Labs, and Human Genome Sciences, an excruciatingly long product development cycle, and very light coverage by analysts, this sector is one of the most difficult for the stock-buying public to understand. However, despite a few public mishaps of their own, biotech stocks as a whole have held up better through the downturn than the overall tech sector. Abate is one of the few writers who closely watch this area, and writes the "BioScope" column for the San Francisco Chronicle. He admits that biotech stocks are among some of the most difficult to play, and warns against jumping into any of the speculative startups in this field. Instead he recommends most investors stick to the handful of companies that have already shown a profit. With plenty of charts and detailed coverage of many individual companies, this would be an excellent source to begin research on this area of cutting-edge medicine. David Siegfried
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: Holt Paperbacks (January 1, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0805075089
• ISBN-13: 978-0805075083
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.5 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,004,938 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A strong dose of reality to the often hype driven sector, April 24, 2003

By 

Anthony Barker (Toronto) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Biotech Investor: How to Profit from the Coming Boom in Biotechnology (Hardcover)

Tom Abate has been covered the Biotech industry for the San Francisco Chronicle for years. It shows. He brings a strong dose of reality to this hype driven sector.

Who this book is for:
-Independent investors willing to spend a lot of time doing research
-People looking for a current industry overview
-Job seekers

The Good:
-Extremely well written
-Up to Date (as of spring 2003)
-Knowledgeable - several small tidbits of data pay for the book by themselves

The Bad:
-Will quickly go out of date. For example the Appendix contains a list of firm websites and market caps; Market Caps change - companies disappear.
-Not enough FDA information. This should have been a separate chapter covering the FDA approval process in detail as well as other countries' processes.
-Too much basic investment advice: firm valuation/free cash flow/ portfolio theory / investor risk profile. Other books do a better, more thorough job of this.
-No bibliography

I gave it 5 stars because if you are going to invest in biotech the book will more than pay for itself.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Well structured and interesting, September 16, 2003

By 

PAUL FARRINGTON (ENGLAND, United Kingdom) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Biotech Investor: How to Profit from the Coming Boom in Biotechnology (Hardcover)

An excellent introduction to biotech investing.

Tom Abate is a good writer and knows his subject. I thought this book was written in a guarded, pragmatic way that suits the reader's purpose (presumably investment). The dustjacket shouts of a 'coming boom' but the author can be forgiven for what is basically puffery. Abate is clearly arguing for a period of drawn out growth fuelled by demographics and accelerating technical progress - not an imminent goldrush.

I gained a number of insights I consider valuable:
-An understanding of the mechanism of FDA approval and how companies manage themselves around it.
-The fluid business models of existing companies.
-The way in which institutional fund managers seem to advocate active trading over a 'buy and hold' approach to biotech portfolios (this surprised me).

Timely, relevant and convincingly argued. I'd probably buy another book by this author.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars If you are an investor looking at biotech, you should read this book, August 14, 2009

By 

Mariusz Skonieczny "Author" (Schaumburg, IL) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Biotech Investor: How to Profit from the Coming Boom in Biotechnology (Paperback)

As our population ages, there are more opportunities for companies involved in treating diseases. Companies in the biotech industry have a bright future. But, the author says that investing in biotech is risky. This is understandable because the firms in this industry rely heavily on innovation. New discoveries can make current products obsolete. Many investors lost money investing in these companies because they do not understand the industry and individual companies.

I liked how the author distinguished between high-tech and biotech companies. Successful high-tech companies develop valuable networks. For example, Microsoft has a network of software developers who tailor their programs to run on Windows. Biotech, on the other hand, is an industry of niches. The industry is complicated compared with other industries. However, the author did a good job making it more understandable to readers.

- Mariusz Skonieczny, author of Why Are We So Clueless about the Stock Market? Learn how to invest your money, how to pick stocks, and how to make money in the stock market