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Author Archive: David Thomas, CFA
David is currently Director of Industry Research and Analysis at BIO in Washington, DC. In this role, he is responsible for financial statistics and analysis of the biotechnology sector and contributes to BIO’s policy activities as well as programming for BIO’s investor conferences. Prior to joining BIO, he was a research scientist at the J. Craig Venter Institute working on the “synthetic cell” team led by Nobel Laureate Hamilton Smith. Before his role in synthetic biology, David worked as a scientist in drug discovery at Amgen, Millennium, and Novartis. His scientific expertise is in protein engineering, enzymology, and synthetic biology. David has earned the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation and holds a master’s degree in biochemistry.
Latest Posts
Posts from the 12th Annual BIO CEO & Investor Conference in New York (Feb 2010)
I created a new page on the blog (now called the “CONFERENCES” tab) where key takeaways from conference panels, speakers, etc., can be posted. My first three are now up from the business panels at last week’s 12th Annual BIO CEO & Investor Conference in New York: NOTES FROM THE M&A PANEL NOTES FROM THE FINANCING PANELS NOTES FROM THE ‘GOING COMMERCIAL’ PANEL -David Thomas
BTK – A Decade of Change
Do you ever wonder what is really behind the often quoted BTK index (“NYSE Arca Biotechnology Index”)? Especially if it is the index you compare your own company’s stock with on a long term chart? If you compare your favorite biotech with the BTK over a 10 year period, here is what you are up against: CHANGE. When the last decade started, in the peak of the genomics bubble, the BTK was made up of Read More >
Many Biotechs Still Operating at Low Cash Levels
The percentage of public biotech companies that still operate with less than a year of cash is at 38% (see chart). Given that we already lost a number of companies in 2009 due to lack of cash to fund research, this is a high percentage for the remaining companies. This is even more interesting when you consider that 2009 was a big year for Follow-On Offerings (FOPOs) and Private Investments in Public Equity (PIPEs). The Read More >
Fewer Public Biotechs in 2010 vs 2008
Back in January 2008, we were tracking 394 “active” public biotech companies. (By “active”, we mean companies that are filing with the SEC and not in bankruptcy or in a major restructuring due financial distress.) As of January 2010, we have 295 – a loss of ~25%. About 48% of the companies that are no longer “active” have been acquired and 52% have gone out of business, filed bankruptcy, or are no longer filing with Read More >
Sector Performance Since the 2007 Market Peak
How does the biotech sector performance rank against the 10 S&P sectors since the S&P500 peak back on October 9th, 2007? As of January 6th, 2010, the Nasdaq Biotech Index (NBI) outperformed all 10 sectors, including the overall healthcare sector and the other traditionally defensive sectors: utilities and consumer staples. The AMEX Biotech Index (BTK) had some unique events in 2009 that helped it not only outperform every sector, but remain in double digit positive Read More >
