ATPblog

Going against the Grain: Is it time to take a stand against “Asset Favoritism”?

In his 2004 Chairman’s Letter at Berkshire Hathaway, Warren Buffet offered sound advice to those trying to find the best time to invest in equities: “be fearful when others are greedy and greedy when others are fearful”.   For equity investing, this strategy seems to work very well.  Selling at the end of a long bull run, just as others are piling in on the back of historical gains was the right strategy in 2008.  Buying up distressed assets at a time when most potential purchasers are too fearful to move, keeping prices depressed, was surely the right strategy in the years that followed the crash.  But is going against the grain also a winning strategy for private equity investors in high-risk biotech ventures?

Is Pharma's Perfect Storm Biotech's Greatest Opportunity?

Many folks within pharma lament the current challenges and look back to a gilded era when blockbusters provided rivers of cash flow and supported growth based activities - both R&D and marketing. And yet, could this present biotech's greatest opportunity as an industry?

SuperGen Acquires Astex: The Biotech Funding Relay Race

Last week witnessed an interesting M&A deal between SuperGen and Astex. Here, we look at investor returns and wonder what could be in store for the enlarged company?

Biotech Survival Lessons from the Inuit

I've recently been following the BBC's excellent "Human Planet" series. Last week's program was a fascinating insight into how the Inuit of the Arctic have adapted human existence, over centuries, to live in one of the harshest environments known to man. Why mention this on a blog about biotech funding?

Does R&D Pay? (journal article)

This month we highlight a paper published earlier this year in Drug Discovery Today. The article, "Does R&D Pay?" looks at the effectiveness of different R&D strategies. This is achieved by looking at 10 year historical financial performance of different types of drug firms (big pharma, specialty/ generic, and biotech).

And it leads to some interesting conclusions about where investors might get the best return...

The Biotech Life Cycle - Seattle Revisited

BMS is currently in discussions to buy Zymogenetics, from Seattle. While some will mourn at the loss of another regional leader, we see things a different way.

A recent article from the Seattle Times highlights why recycling is so important to building biotech into a

Market Access: How Does it Affect Biotech Funding Prospects?

Does it work?  Once upon a time it was sufficient to determine if a drug, diagnostic or device delivered some benefit.  A significant effect in a randomized, placebo-controlled trial was necessary and sufficient to identify efficacy.  Combined with demonstration of safety, this was enough to garner regulatory approval and with it a sizeable profit. But not any more.

Biotech Funding: Feel a Breeze From the IPO Window?

What do the following biotech stocks have in common - Anthera (NASDAQ:ANTH), Ironwood (NASDAQ: IRWD), Aveo (NASDAQ:AVEO), NeoVacs (EPA:ALNEV) and Nupathe (NASDAQ:PATH)? They are all biotech companies that achieved fundings through IPOs in 2010. And ALL are underwater compared to

The New Reality Starts to Hit Home

We all know the mantra of the post-credit crunch pharma and biotech world – lean, mean and focused in the era where cost-effectiveness is king. The message is that we have learnt from our mistakes of the past, embracing now instead strategic flexibility and a global focus on delivery of healthcare to the individual. The industry has made lots of resolutions – but is it walking the walk as well as talking the talk?

Look Behind the Numbers...

A recent article from FierceBiotech discusses the last year’s share price recovery of CRO stocks in the US. It refers to a panel at the recent Partnerships in Clinical Trials conference in Orlando:

Declining Exclusivity: are Patents now Redundant?

Because new medicines have such a high burden of R&D costs to recuperate, their commercialisation in a protected environment is essential to the innovator business model. That protection has historically been offered through the patent system, but for how much longer, given the increasing time taken to innovate?

And an IPO window is an even more distant panacea...

...as evidenced by two IPOs that went out in 2010, with substantial haircuts:

Anthera Pharmaceuticals, reported in WSJ:

Acquisitions & Licensing: No Panacea

A recent Lex article from the FT highlights some of the recent deals done, both acquisitions and licensing, between big pharma and biotechs. Usefully, it serves to remind us, that while the popular headlines capture pharma's and bigger biotech's need to buy-in research programs from R&D stage companies, this is no sure thing for earlier stage companies.

A Penny for Your Thoughts - how much value does an idea have today?

I remember very well a meeting in the mid 1990s when a venture capital partner told me that “a good idea is worth a million’. He didn’t specify whether his bon mot was denominated in pounds, dollars or euros, but as an inventor of early stage technologies it was music to my ears.  Perhaps more importantly, he didn’t specify

A Pharma Stock "Stocking Filler" - LLY

Part of our remit at ATPBio is to uncover value within the healthcare sector. More usually, this is in the form of working with clients to assist with strategy, asset work-up, due diligence and identifying key value drivers. Though, as we approach the festive season and thoughts turn

To be or not to be: The Pros and Cons of the Virtual Biotech Company

 

It is more than a decade since the classical model of a biotech company ruled unchallenged: the glass-fronted building on the gleaming modern science park, with the best part of a hundred doctoral level scientists working seemingly double shifts to deliver an entire pipeline of high value

Creative Financing - in a brave new world

This month we were invited to participate on a panel at UK Trade and Investment (UK TI) in Boston looking at issues affecting life sciences companies across both sides of the Atlantic. Several of the interesting presentations focused on experiences of companies in the US and UK, each

M&A Trials: Importing a Culture

In March this year, Roche and Genentech agreed to a friendly acquisition of Genentech, in a deal valued at $46.8 billion. Obvious attractions for the deal included access to Genentech's lead cancer drugs and a highly regarded

Creative financing - the Vertex way

Does the current pain of financing just affect small underfunded companies, with weak pipelines? It seems not. Last month, Vertex announced it was selling its European milestone payments for its ph III program, Telaprevir for hepatitis C. Key points in the release, regarding the value of these

Tough medicine: Schwarzenegger plan to slash $26 billion deficit

How do governments get out the growing mountain of debt, balance their budget deficits, and avoid crippling their own economies going forward? Simple: spend less and earn more.

Arnold Schwarzenegger, Governor of California has taken it one step further and