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MEMO
To: Brett Milan
From: Philip Prukop
Subject:
Investment Recommendation
Date: April 12, 2008
This report is in response to your request for an overall analysis of selected biomedical
company’s to help make decisions on future investments. Five companies,
Applera Corp-Celera, Onix Pharmaceuticals, United Therapeutics, Crucell, and Mankind Corp were analyzed and compared for four
factors. The factors taken into consideration were: individual 52 week stock
reports, length of time on the stock market, available treatments or development projects, and partnerships.
Summary
Based on research gathered from the company websites and stock
market, Applera Corp-Celera, United Therapeutics, and Mankind Corp all look to have promising futures, but currently lack
the strengths of Crucell and Onyx Pharmaceuticals based on their platform drug lines, partnerships, and market value. Furthermore, what Crucell lacks in immediately available drug lines, it makes up for
in affordability and development programs. To reduce risk, it is recommended
that the investment be diversified between the well-established Onyx and the very promising Crucell.
Findings
52 week stock reports. To
date, all five companies show excellent market growth over the past year with Applera Corp-Celera being the only one of the
five to not double their value in the past 52 weeks. United Thearpeutics was
the most expensive stock at $100.69/share, and Mankind Corps had the lowest price at $15.65.
Length of time on the stock market. All
companies are less than thirty years old. The most established is Onyx Pharmaceuticals
which was founded in 1992, and the youngest is the Mankind Corporation which was founded in early 2001. Most of the companies
traded on more than one stock exchange.
Available treatments or development projects.
Two of the five companies, Crucell and Celera, have no medications that have exited testing and thus are still relying
heavily on grants through colleges and other forms of government or private aid to conduct their research. This factor, while it is not critical to the company’s success, certainly does play a role in their
future in the competitive biomedical marketplace. Crucell is one of the companies
with no licensed medications but they do boast an advanced product pipeline for many of the world’s most deadly viruses
including HIV and Yellow Fever. Onyx has approved medications to treat both kidney
and liver cancer. Their melanoma and lung cancer treatments are in stage 3 of
development. The companies range in their research focus, but most specialize in cancer medication and other various
chronic illness treatments. United Therapeutics is currently the least involved
with cancer-related medication and instead have most of their focus in cardiovascular diseases.
Partnerships. Notable partnerships include Onyx’s relationship with Bayer
and Pfizer, Celera with Seattle Genetics and Medarex, and Crucell with Vendor and Berna Products. Onyx’s “blue chip” partnerships give it a big edge because of the financial and R&D
backing of the prominent Bayer and Pfizer Pharmaceuticals.
Recommendations
After a thorough analysis of the proposed biomedical group’s
stock records, available treatments and product development, and partnerships, the recommendation is to invest in two companies:
Curell and Onyx Pharmaceuticals.
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