The Motley Fool: Roche Holding Ltd Is Betting Billions on This New Blockbuster

Roche (NASDAQOTH: RHHBY  ) rarely does expensive early stage deals, relying instead upon its deep proprietary pipeline of oncology drug candidates. So when the company commits itself to $725 million upfront and $1 billion more in milestones (to say nothing of the hundreds of millions that will be required for clinical trials) for a new cancer drug approach, investors would do well to pay attention. When that new approach concerns breast cancer, an area where Roche is particularly strong, it's all the more interesting.

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Roche Holding Ltd Is Betting Billions on This New Blockbuster

Investopedia: Drugs Driving JNJ, With Slow Progress In Devices And Consumer

Another quarter is in the books, and not all that much has changed at healthcare giant Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ). The company's drug business continues to grow exceptionally well, lifting margins along the way. Meanwhile, the recovery in the consumer business continues to be slow, as is the progress in producing better growth from the large device business. Although I've been lukewarm on JNJ's shares relative to other (better-performing) stocks in the drug and device space, the shares have done pretty well over the past year and while not cheap, aren't all that expensive for long-term holders.

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A Big Deal For Biotechs - ASCO

One of the major biotech events of the year is fast approaching. The annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) will take place in Chicago from June 4 to June 8, 2010. This event is like Woodstock for biotechnology - if Woodstock were clean, air-conditioned and had plenty of restrooms. If you invest in biotechs or pharmaceuticals that want to play in the huge and well-reimbursed world of oncology, this is one of the major events of the year. 

Ahead of the meeting, ASCO releases a list of abstracts that scientists and companies will present. In some cases, these abstracts give away at least most of the story (efficacy, safety, etc.), while other abstracts are embargoed until the meeting itself. In any case, investors can still look forward to follow-up data (abstracts are submitted well ahead of the meeting) and oftentimes the amount of attention garnered by a presentation reflects overall interest in the compound.

Here we present some of the companies presenting abstracts at ASCO. 

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