Investopedia: The Week In Healthcare

The last week of August proved to be a relatively significant one for multiple med-tech companies. Although the Labor Day holiday is likely to keep a lid on the news flow in the first week of September, there are a few upcoming earnings reports. What's more, the timing of restructurings, acquisitions and the like are inherently unpredictable and I would not be surprised to hear more news along these lines.

Helicos Looks Like It's Out of Moves
Few readers are going to be familiar with Helicos BioSciences (OTC:HLCS), as this tiny life sciences company has failed to successfully commercialize its direct DNA and RNA molecule sequencing technology. Although the technology is legitimately interesting, the company's execution mistakes left it with basically a long-shot survival strategy - suing other, larger, life science companies like Pacific Biosciences (Nasdaq:PACB), Life Technologies (Nasdaq:LIFE) and Illumina (Nasdaq:ILMN) for patent infringement.

Continue reading here:
http://www.investopedia.com/stock-analysis/2012/The-Week-In-Healthcare-ILMN-STJ-BSX-AZN0831.aspx

Limited Love For Life Sciences

Oh, how times have changed. Back in the very late 1990s, as the Nasdaq bubble was filling up ahead of the final pop, life sciences IPOs basked in a frenzy of investor attention. Many lousy (or at least seriously under-developed) companies debuted to eye-popping valuations and saw strong follow-on interest in the market. 

Nowadays, it is a decidedly different market. Whether in spite of Illumina's (Nasdaq:ILMN) ongoing commercial success, or perhaps because of it, investor enthusiasm for new science mousetraps is decidedly more muted. Two recent IPOs, Pacific Biosciences (Nasdaq:PACB) and Complete Genomics (Nasdaq:GNOM), have debuted to something less than rampant applause, while Rules-Based Medicine has recently decided to postpone its public offering.

Please follow the link for the full piece:
http://stocks.investopedia.com/stock-analysis/2010/Limited-Love-For-Life-Sciences-PACB-GNOM-ILMN-WGBS-HLCS1118.aspx

Illumina A Bright Spot In Its Industry

Sometimes a theme can be completely valid, and yet most investors make no money from it. Investing in bleeding edge life sciences research is a good case in point. There is no question that researchers are gaining insights every day that have already led to changes in how the medical community approaches disease and how healthcare companies approach research into new drugs.

What is more questionable is whether individual investors have profited from it all. If you invested in Affymetrix (Nasdaq:AFFX), Caliper (Nasdaq:CALP) or Helicos (Nasdaq:HLCS), you might have a very different perspective on the industry. But, if you have invested in Illumina (Nasdaq:ILMN), you have done quite well over the last five years. And looking at the second quarter, it looks like those who have stuck by Illumina thus far still have a good reason to hang on.

For the complete piece:
http://stocks.investopedia.com/stock-analysis/2010/Illumina-Bright-Prospects-But-Not-For-Investors--ILMN-AFFX-CALP-HLCS-LIFE-RHHBY-LMNX0728.aspx

Sequencing Wars - The Third Generation

Forget the white lab coats and the quiet demeanors. In biology labs across the country, and in corporate R&D labs, there is an all-out war going on. Researchers are pushing themselves and their gear in an effort to understand human disease and find new pathways for treatment, while companies are pushing each other on a relentless drive to build better, faster, and cheaper research equipment. (Learn more about the importance of Research and Development, see: Buying Into Corporate Research & Development (R&D).)

We are now on the cusp of a new battle - the sequencing wars to be fought with third-generation sequencing equipment. Third-gen systems promise more accuracy, faster results, better economics, and a new round of sales for major corporations. The combatants will include some of the better-known names in life sciences research, while the victors will almost certainly include all of us, as these technology innovations should ultimately lead directly to better healthcare treatments.   



For the full column, please continue on to: 
http://stocks.investopedia.com/stock-analysis/2010/Sequencing-Wars---The-Third-Generation-ILMN-LIFE-A-CALP-GE0610.aspx

I also would like add that IBM is working on a next-gen platform as well. IBM's idea is to use microtubules that read the charge of the base-pairs in the DNA. IBM thinks they may be able to produce entire genomes in under an hour with this technology. It's very interesting technology, but it's a long way from "interesting in the lab" to break-out commercial success.