The Next-Gen Sequencing Pot Keeps Bubbling

Last week was a busy one for the advanced life sciences world. Not only did much-heralded Pacific Biosciences file its initial S-1 for an IPO, but established player Life Technologies (Nasdaq:LIFE) announced the acquisition of up-and-coming Ion Torrent for up to $725 million. As Ferris Bueller famously said, "life moves pretty fast," and there is seldom a dull moment in life sciences these days.   

Lust for Life
Life Technologies announced that it would acquire Ion Torrent for $375 million in cash and stock, as well as up to $350 million in future cash and stock milestones. That may sound like a rich valuation for a company that is mostly just IP and demonstration models, but that would understate the potential for Ion Torrent's technology.

Ion Torrent has developed its PostLight sequencing technology around a rather different idea than most other sequencing companies. This technology measures the flow of hydrogen ions produced when nucleotides are added to a DNA strand. More significantly, it takes place on a semiconductor chip and that offers at least the possibility that ongoing advances in semiconductor design will make this technology even more sensitive and effective in the future. 


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Thermo Fisher Gets Cool Reception

The movements of stocks immediately after earnings releases can be so visceral and idiosyncratic that sometimes investors are better off ignoring the noise. Such would seem to be the case for life sciences company Thermo Fisher (NYSE: TMO). Although the stock sold off sharply after earnings, the outlook for this company was not all that bad, and Wall Street's overreaction may give patient investors an interesting long-term opportunity.

The Quarter That Was
Thermo Fisher is never going to be confused with the likes of Illumina (Nasdaq: ILMN) or Luminex (Nasdaq: LMNX) - Luminex is a more diversified, slower-growing play on global life sciences technology. To that point, sales rose more than 6% this quarter, with organic growth a bit below 5%. While Thermo was hurt by weakness in the healthcare and biopharma sectors, and difficult year-over-year comps caused by the H1N1 flu outbreak last year, the industrial side of the business did well. (Learn more about the healthcare sector; see Investing In The Healthcare Sector.)

For the complete piece, please go to:
http://stocks.investopedia.com/stock-analysis/2010/Thermo-Fisher-Gets-Cool-Reception-TMO-ILMN-LMNX-TECH-LIFE-BRKR0729.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

How Much Vigor In Invitrogen? (IVGN, ABI, TMO)

http://community.investopedia.com/news/IA/2008/How-Much-Vigor-In-Invitrogen-IVGN-ABI-TMO1027.aspx