By Miguel Ángel Boggiano, CEO of Carta Financiera
During the dot com bubble, much fuss was also made about biotechnology companies associated with the mapping of the human genome. The main example at that time was Celera Genomics, which would later be acquired by Quest Diagnostics (DGX).
A question thus arises: are we faced once more with a speculative bubble surrounding biotechnology? Are there concrete advances and improvements or are we just discussing futuristic cures that are impossible to imagine in the here and now?
Reality starts with demonstrating palpable solutions. But most importantly of all the market confirms with its prices that the sector is changing in a revolutionary manner. The index of share prices of biotechnology companies, the Amex Biotech Index (BTK) is currently at a historical high.The index has risen 24% so far this year, making it one of the highest risers of the year, if we disregard volatile and leveraged products.
Why should we expect that what’s happening now will be different from what happened at the end of the 90s?
In contrast to that period, today biotechnology firms have become more disciplined in their research and development spending (their main investment to ensure future growth). Efforts are today concentrated on specific diseases, with fewer general clinical trials without specific aims.
This has led to the appearance of a series of drugs approved by the FDA (Food & Drug Administration) or ones that are very close to approval.
As the title promises, I hereby present the top ten companies of the moment:
1. Amgen Inc. (81.42B)
2. Gilead Sciences Inc. (78.38B)
3. Biogen Idec Inc. (51.04B)
4. Celgene Corporation (49.39B)
5. Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. (21.12B)
6. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. (17.53B)
7. BioMarin Pharmaceutical Inc. (8.45B)
8. Illumina Inc. (7.77B)
9. Onyx Pharmaceuticals Inc. (6.85B)
10. Seattle Genetics (4.51B).
I’ll finish with a brief summary of the 5 largest companies:
Amgen (AMGN): Develops, produces and sells therapeutic products for areas of treatment including cancer, inflammations, nephrology and bone diseases in the United States, Canada and Europe. Its share price reached a historical high last week.
Gilead Sciences (GILD): Develops, produces and sells products to combat terminal diseases such as HIV and liver diseases (mainly) in North America, Asia and Europe. Its share price reached a historical high last week.
Biogen (BIIB): Develops, produces and sells drugs for neurodegenerative diseases, hemophilia and autoimmune disorders throughout the world. Its share price reached a historical high last week.
Celgene (CELG): This bio-pharmaceutical company is dedicated to the development and sale of therapies for treating diseases such as cancer and other immuno-inflammatory diseases. Its products mainly reach Europe and the USA. Its share price also reached a historical high last week.
Regeneron (REGN): This biopharmaceutical company develops, produces and sells medicines for the treatment of serious, difficult to treat diseases (macular degeneration – sight problems; colon cancer) Its share prices also reached a historical high last week.
All these companies, in addition to the 5 on the list, are good candidates for purchase. Pharmacylics is one of those chosen and soon we will include some of the other big names.
